broody duck?

[suburbanite]

I have read many of the threads on this, but haven't come up with a clear answer.

My duck flock consists of a rouen drake, a khaki campbell duck, and 3 pekins, 2 ducks, 1 drake.

the pekins are about 3.5 months old now, the other two are about 4 to 4.5 months old.

All of my ducks are free range. I have a large yard and they are never penned up. they spend most of the day swimming in my goldfish pond or lounging under a shrub in the back yard. and of course foraging for bugs and such in the lawn. But, they are inseperatable. The rouen and campbell have been together, side by side since they were a day or two old.

In the past week and a half or so, I have noticed the roen drake mating with the khaki campbell many times. I thought it may be a little early (age) for this, but oh well.
This morning, I walked outside to open my rabbit barn and feed the ducks, turkeys and chickens, but noticed Mildred was nowhere around.
Mildred is my khaki campbell. She and the rouen drake will never go more than a couple feet away from each other, and she is boss. she has made sure all of the duck know this too. where she goes, they follow. but now she is gone.

She is the smallest of all my ducks, and often she will fly several yards at a time, but none of the other ducks fly at all. I am thinking she may have been attacked by a predetor last night, but she would be the one duck that could escape easiest.

So I am wondering, could she have possibly built a nest somewhere and have a clutch of eggs that she is laying on? Would the rouen drake leave her side if she does?

I have searched our yard, and the yard of the abandoned house next door and see no signs of her anywhere, nor any feathers scattered about like you might expect if she was attacked.

any ideas?

 

[Amiga]

It could be either - a hidden nest, or she was taken by a predator. How are the others acting?

Longer term, it would be much safer, and relieve your worries, to have a night shelter for them that would protect them from predators. It doesn't need to be totally posh - just sturdy enough to keep out the predators.

Peanut, a duck, was taken by a bird of prey but escaped several miles away from her home. As it turned out, she ended up at a family member's home and she was able to be returned home. So these things happen. Sometimes it turns out okay.

 

[suburbanite]

the pekin ducks are acting normal, but the rouen is acting a little funny. he will swim around and eat/drink a little, but then will just stand tall at attention, quacking in his low, soft raspy voice for a couple minutes, then go back to doing what he was doing and the other ducks are doing.

when he is calling out like that, I swear he is calling for her as he has his neck stretched to the limit and looks around while he is calling.

if she was taken by an animal, wouldn't there be feathers laying about from a struggle?


as far as shelter, I had a 6 by 12 pen that they stayed in at night, but for the past month and a half or so, they have just stayed out all night. I suppose I better start putting them up at night again