I Had 4 Ducklings

[swampducks]

Momma duck, my lone female muscovy hatched 4 little ducklings last week. The other day she started taking them to the pond then bringing them back to sleep in the garage at night. I don't know what I was thinking!

This afternoon the inevitable happened. I found her back in the garage already and only 3 ducklings were with her. DH and I searched around the pond but we suspect a hawk or something equally deadly got it. The garage door is now shut and in a few days we'll separate them and put the ducklings in a brooder. We tried a few minutes ago but they can still squeeze through the wire. Then we'll kick momma outside so she can breed with Mr Duck again.

 

[toletiquesbysam]

Sad, but thankful you still have 3 left!!!

 

[Cetawin]

Have you made sure there are no turtles in the pond...if it is large enough I mean?

Thankfully you only lost one.

 

[Ducklove334]

taking babies awya from momma is going to stress her even more than just losing one at a time.

if you must insist on taking the ducklings away, find a way to do it like a predator would, take one at a time, every couple days, do it fast, do it quiet, like a stealthy predator, towards evening or at night, them shut those babies up somewhere where momma can't see or hear them calling for her.

don't let her SEE you taking the babies, or she'll associate you with her babies disapearing and she may not let you around the next time, if she thinks a "predator" got her babies, she'll be ready to breed much faster. AND she'll be a smidge smarter and more watchful too next time round.

 

[Camelot Farms]

We had the same problem last year. Mama started out with 8 and ended up with just one....turtles, catfish and a chicken hawk all ate well.

It was sad but she never seemed daunted by it. As long as she had the one she was fine. I suppose what seems cruel/sad to us is nature to them

DH is going to run a 1/2 circle of cage wire on the edge of the pond where the ducks enter and see if that is enough water to keep mama happy and the turtles and catfish out. It will give her about 10 sq feet of safe water....

We treat snapping turtles as a predator and dispatch them whenever possible.

Hope your other babies do well!

 

[swampducks]

Thanks for the advice. we're going to leave her and her ducklings alone for the time being and shut in the garage. They've got a pan of water and duck food.

We don't have any snappers, we know there's a mink but they're nocturnal. What I like about my adult muscovies is they sleep on the deck railings far from the pond. We remembered tonight that we'd seen a large brown colored snake on a log in the pond and though we can't figure out what kind it was it would have been large enough to eat a duckling.

Fingers crossed nothing else happens!

 

[Trenary Duck Farm]

Quote:
That is one predator that we love to eat.