Ducks are quite low on the food chain, these animals are eaten by many predators, their eggs are eaten by predators too. Raising ducks can be difficult as you have to keep them protected from a number of egg-eating animals.
If there are raccoons in the area are you may be wondering whether they will eat your duck’s eggs, this article explores the question of “do raccoons eat duck eggs?”
Raccoons do eat duck eggs, these mammals happily eat the eggs of a variety of birds, ducks included. If a raccoon gets access to your duck’s pen, it will happily clear out all the eggs
Table of Contents
Do raccoons eat duck eggs?
Raccoons are not picky eaters, these animals will eat a wide variety of plants and animals.
Raccoons will happily eat fruits, vegetables, plants, rabbits, moles, mice, frogs, chickens, ducks, shrews, and turkeys to name a few.
They will even go as far as going through our trash to get a meal, so duck eggs are a delicious food for them.
Eggs are a major part of a raccoon diet, duck eggs included. If you’re raising ducks on your property, and they are raccoons in the area, you should be concerned for your birds and eggs
Health benefits of raccoons eating duck eggs:
Duck eggs are very nutritious to raccoons, they are a great source of omega-three fatty acids, iron, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin B12, thiamine, selenium, and calcium.
Not only are they very nutritious, but they are quite delicious to raccoons as well.
Why raccoons enjoy duck eggs so much:
Raccoons are wild animals, these animals are always on the hunt for an easy food source. Raccoons enjoy eggs because eggs are an easy source of food for ducks. If eggs are left unprotected, raccoons will likely try to eat them.
A mother duck may try to protect her eggs, but the raccoon’s strong sharp, and long claws and teeth will kill the mother duck quite quickly. If the raccoon is hungry enough, it may even kill the mother and drag her away to eat her later.
Killing and eating the mother duck and eating the eggs results in more food for the raccoon.
Raccoons are quite strong animals, they may not be able to kill a human but the average adult raccoon is more powerful than almost any dog and it is certainly stronger than any duck.
When raccoons eat duck eggs, they will crack the egg open with their teeth, suck the contents out of the egg, then discard the shell. If the raccoon is very hungry, it will eat the shell too.
These animals enjoy duck eggs so much that they can single-handedly empty out a large nest full of eggs in a small space of time
Where wild raccoons find duck eggs:
Ducks enjoy living in water, raccoons also have a fondness for water, these mammals will create homes close to water bodies in order to have access to water and to the animals living in water bodies, this includes ducks and their eggs.
These omnivores are lazy, they look for the easiest possible food to eat, eggs do not have to be chased, and offer no resistance to being eaten, raccoons love this.
Raccoons eat ducks as well, this article explores this topic further
How do I protect duck eggs from raccoons?
Spices:
Raccoons have a very advanced sense of smell, many foods can irritate their sense of smell, you can use this to your advantage. Keep raccoons at bay by applying spices or hot sauce around your duck eggs, raccoons will be repelled by the spices or hot sauce
Citrus:
This is another way to use a raccoon’s sense of smell against it. Raccoons do not like citrus, keep them away from your duck eggs by leaving citrus peels around the eggs, you can also apply orange essential oil around the eggs
What animal would eat duck eggs?
Duck eggs are attractive foods for many animals because they are not only delicious and nutritious, but they are also an easy meal for many animals. Animals that eat duck eggs include:
- Snakes
- Foxes
- Weasels
- Hawks
- Owls
- Eagles
- Squirrels
How to protect duck eggs from predators?
The best way to keep predators away from duck eggs is to create a pen for the mother duck to nest and lay her eggs in. This is the best way to keep the eggs and mother protected.
These enclosures need a hardware cloth roof and should be surrounded by a hardware cloth fence. This hardware cloth fence should be buried 12 inches into the ground to prevent raccoons and other predators from digging under it.
Also, make sure you use something more complicated than a hook and eye latch on the enclosure, raccoons can get into those
Conclusion
In conclusion, yes, raccoons eat duck eggs.
Not only are duck eggs a delicious and nutritious meal for a raccoon, but they are also easy to find and snatch, mother ducks are no match against a raccoons claws and teeth
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other raccoon related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Do raccoons eat ducks?, Do raccoons eat safflower seeds?, Do raccoons eat thistle seeds?, Do raccoons eat nyjer seed?