Help! Missing duck, one lonely duck left

[Palinor]

If you haven't found any sign of your drake, no blood, no feathers, it is very likely he was taken by a Coyote or a Fox. Do you have Foxes or Coyotes where you live? It could also be a (wild) dog. I lost my big drake Donald in the very same way, my wife had spotted two Coyotes some days before and i have seen a fox checking out my ducks two days ago.
As others have written before: Such a predator will come back for more, so the only ways to prevent further losses are fortification (I hooked up a neon transformer to my outer fences overnight), hunting the predator down or (life) trapping and disposing.
So sorry for your loss! - I felt numb for days after Donald's disappearance.
But your lonely duck needs you now! As it is a female you could scout the local farm supply stores and look for the oldest ducklings you can find and buy two or more as company for her. She will not be happy as a lonely duck, especially not when she had company in the past.
Another possibility is CraigsList, maybe somebody is giving away a drake, sometimes even for free.
Good Luck!

Also does her new companion need to be a male or can it be a female?

 

[DuckyBabies]

Just looked, one drake for free on there but he isn't a nice duck and doesn't like chickens. Don't think that will go well with our flock. I'm putting feelers out on some other sites.

I ended up finding a drake that was around the same age as mine at a hatchery. She had a bunch of older drakes because no one wanted them. I’m not sure if you have something like that close by, but that could be an option.

 

[Palinor]

I ended up finding a drake that was around the same age as mine at a hatchery. She had a bunch of older drakes because no one wanted them. I’m not sure if you have something like that close by, but that could be an option.

good idea! I'll search around

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Also does her new companion need to be a male or can it be a female?

If you can have only two ducks, my recommendation is another female. Drakes are being overwhelmed by hormones in spring and if there's only one other duck to mate with - you get the picture…
The difference in the amount of work you have to perform between two and some more ducks (i.e. 5-6) is marginal and ducks are flock animals and are happier with more ducks around.
Ducks do have some kind of a pecking order, but is is by far not so enforced as it is in a flock of chickens. I have not heart about a duck killing another duck.
Ducklings: If you manage to get your hands on some just two week old ducklings they are not much more work than grown up ducks, especially if they have an older duck guarding them. They may need a heat-lamp in the coop during the night and duckling food with more niacin but other than that they can pretty much take care of themselves already.
I just had 14 ducklings and was surprised how fast they grow and how much they can take care of themselves.

 

[thumper650]

If you only plan on keeping the two, I'd get a female. If your Drake is too Randy, he'll go after your chickens, and that's bad.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

If you only plan on keeping the two, I'd get a female. If your Drake is too Randy, he'll go after your chickens, and that's bad.

Yupp! Forgot about the chickens! They can suffer heavy (deadly!) injuries from a drake.

 

[Palinor]

If you can have only two ducks, my recommendation is another female. Drakes are being overwhelmed by hormones in spring and if there's only one other duck to mate with - you get the picture…
The difference in the amount of work you have to perform between two and some more ducks (i.e. 5-6) is marginal and ducks are flock animals and are happier with more ducks around.
Ducks do have some kind of a pecking order, but is is by far not so enforced as it is in a flock of chickens. I have not heart about a duck killing another duck.
Ducklings: If you manage to get your hands on some just two week old ducklings they are not much more work than grown up ducks, especially if they have an older duck guarding them. They may need a heat-lamp in the coop during the night and duckling food with more niacin but other than that they can pretty much take care of themselves already.
I just had 14 ducklings and was surprised how fast they grow and how much they can take care of themselves.

All the birds share one coop. We already don't have enough room for the chickens and the ducks. Right now there isn't another option to build a separate house for the ducks. So I can't imagine more than two ducks in there with the 7 chickens. I' ve put some feelers out for a grown duck for my girl. Hopefully something comes through

 

[Palinor]

Yupp! Forgot about the chickens! They can suffer heavy (deadly!) injuries from a drake.

gotcha. hopefully, I can find a female. I have no idea where to start this search

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

All the birds share one coop. We already don't have enough room for the chickens and the ducks. Right now there isn't another option to build a separate house for the ducks. So I can't imagine more than two ducks in there with the 7 chickens. I' ve put some feelers out for a grown duck for my girl. Hopefully something comes through

Understood! - It isn't a good idea to house ducks together with chickens in the same house. They can forage together, but i wouldn't have them sleep in the same house:

• Chickens roost, ducks sleep on the ground, so they may be pooped on.
• Ducks release much more moisture into the air than chickens do, during cold weather the ducks a sleeping comfortable in the bedding while the chickens are exposed to the moist air, which conducts warmth away from a body better
• If there is a »disagreement« between chicken and duck, the duck almost always draws the short straw and looses an eye…

Just some thoughts… - I don't have chickens. (Yet!)

 

[Palinor]

Understood! - It isn't a good idea to house ducks together with chickens in the same house. They can forage together, but i wouldn't have them sleep in the same house:

• Chickens roost, ducks sleep on the ground, so they may be pooped on.
• Ducks release much more moisture into the air than chickens do, during cold weather the ducks a sleeping comfortable in the bedding while the chickens are exposed to the moist air, which conducts warmth away from a body better
• If there is a »disagreement« between chicken and duck, the duck almost always draws the short straw and looses an eye…

Just some thoughts… - I don't have chickens. (Yet!)

We totally understand! We just don't have another option right now to keep them safe. The runners slept in a corner in the coop with fresh straw while the chickens roost in other parts of the coop. So far the ducks have never been pooped on. I check on them in the night often and they seemed to have this arrangement. My boyfriend has wanted to update the coop but we don't have the finances at the moment.