Dozens of young ducks stolen in raid on farm

crime: Police believe birds may have been taken to stock another poultry unit

Police believe dozens of young ducks stolen in a raid on a Mearns farm may have been taken to stock another poultry unit.

The 230 laying birds, worth around £3,000, were removed from a shed at a farm near Laurencekirk in the early hours of last Friday.

The unusual heist is the latest in a series of Scottish livestock rustling incidents contributing to a rural crimewave which hit British farmers to the tune of £3 million last year.

The young females were among 2,000 birds within a number of pens at the farm and are thought to have been stolen between midnight and 3am.

Investigating officer PC Marc Camus said the scale of the theft and its specific nature could point towards a planned raid to stock another unit with the potentially valuable birds.

“Due to the number of ducks taken it is believed that a vehicle similar in size to a pick-up truck or a transit van would have been sufficient to transport the animals,” he said.

“They are Khaki Campbells, which are predominantly brown, and French Cherry Valleys, primarily white in colour.”

The majority of the birds were some three months old, and with an egg-laying life of two years one theory is that they will find their way into another farmer’s stock.

If anyone has any information about this incident they are asked to call police on 101 or independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

An NFU Scotland spokesman said: “These tend not to be opportunist crimes. There needs to be an element of organisation and transport must have been involved in this case.”

These tend nottobe opportunist crimes. NFUS SPOKESMAN