Male duck missing without a trace

[Mckennas poultry]

So the other day my drake and one of his mates went down to the pond to have one of those “party nights” that ducks seem to have in the warm weather I tried to get them into the coop before but it turned out in them hiding away for a day so I decided to let them both stay in, he has another mate sitting in a coop with. Eggs under her so I have been keeping an eye on her as I am going to let her hatch her own ducklings

But the thing is that this morning when I woke up I saw the drakes mate that he was partying with under a bush in the garden quaking like crazy and as I looked around the area I couldn’t find the drake, I was absolutely devastated. There is no sign of any predators getting him as there is no feathers,blood etc..... what I would like to know is will this effect my sitting duck on her nest, the drake used to get her up in the morning to take her out get some food and go to the water for a 5 min swim and then he’d bring her right back to the coop to sit on her eggs, this morning she seemed quite confused as he wasn’t there to help her..... she went back on the eggs fine but she took a bit longer than usual.... anyways it’s life and we'll see how it goes but I just wanted to post about the trauma that happened today
I’m hoping that everything turns out alright, the non broody duck seems quite depressed, she’s been with the chickens all day quaking up a storm to find her missing drake but I have the feeling a fox got him.
Feel free to post about your situations and any advice you’d like to share with me

Just an update on the predator.... im paying a professional fox hunter to search through the fields for the little bugger, I have a feeling it’s a den full of em as mother foxes usually bring their pray back to the den alive to teach their young how to kill at an early age, it makes me sick to the stomach to think about what poor donald (my drake) went through

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Coyote too will snatch birds without a trace. Predators need to eat too. Lock them up if you don't want to lose anymore. Generally a predator will return until there's nothing left to eat.

 

[Mckennas poultry]

We don’t usually get predators around my yard but the pond isn’t ours, it’s my neighbors (we share it) I’ve only had problems when they go in their yard so I’m going to fence it off, I don’t think the ducks will go back anyways after witnessing their drake getting killed, the duck he was with could fly so I guess that’s why she survived, he’s a good drake for giving himself up to save his duck

 

[Mckennas poultry]

We don’t have coyotes as we live in Ireland, the only predators that would eat them are hawks, foxes, minks And weasels. But it was an easy meal for the fox, I’ve seen them and there’s a whole den of em, the place is usually cleaned out by hunters in autumn. It’s not good for little lambs either, the lambs need to get out in the field and run around, but the odd fox would kill it, I’m going to get someone to shoot them, I’ve done it every year (there’s always one fox in our area)

 

[Jmcintosh23]

Coyote too will snatch birds without a trace. Predators need to eat too. Lock them up if you don't want to lose anymore. Generally a predator will return until there's nothing left to eat.

I myself had a female rouen go missing and now the new duck and the drake are closer I don't see any difference in the fencing and my turkeys are fine they sleep outside and the chocolate runner hatched eggs today and everyone seems fine except for her she gone. I just recently today put so.e chocke. Wire around the chocolate runner and her new ducklings with one egg still to hatch bc the chickens were getting to close. Well I wasn't sure if the 10 hrs had passed so I brought some food and water. Which was probably a bad idea now that I think about it. I didn't research letting ducks go broody in the field but I'm doing it now. So I put chicken wire around the table she was under in the field. It's not super stable. I should probably stake it I guess but I thought maybe it'll be okay she's been fine this far. I'm thinking something came and got my rouen duck bc we just recently butchered fryers and the corn field is higher now next to us. So I'll stake it tomorrow if it goes okay tonight... I'm praying nothing gets them. She's been such a good momma

 

[Jmcintosh23]

I myself had a female rouen go missing and now the new duck and the drake are closer I don't see any difference in the fencing and my turkeys are fine they sleep outside and the chocolate runner hatched eggs today and everyone seems fine except for her she gone. I just recently today put so.e chocke. Wire around the chocolate runner and her new ducklings with one egg still to hatch bc the chickens were getting to close. Well I wasn't sure if the 10 hrs had passed so I brought some food and water. Which was probably a bad idea now that I think about it. I didn't research letting ducks go broody in the field but I'm doing it now. So I put chicken wire around the table she was under in the field. It's not super stable. I should probably stake it I guess but I thought maybe it'll be okay she's been fine this far. I'm thinking something came and got my rouen duck bc we just recently butchered fryers and the corn field is higher now next to us. So I'll stake it tomorrow if it goes okay tonight... I'm praying nothing gets them. She's been such a good momma

Update we found our rouen duck she's been nesting ...she is such a good hider. My husband said didn't you say we lost o of the ducks and I said yeah and he said it's put and I looked and I'm just excited bc I looked all over that field. Also ducklings are doing okay. I let them run around with sort of watchful eye. The male duck kept coming around and trying to mess with the ducklings when I wasn't looking..and so then I let them sit together while and went and checked and he was at it again so I shooed them back.to their next and put lots of water and food and put the chicken wire back up. Well I'm surprised that nothings gotten in there like I thought.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Update we found our rouen duck she's been nesting ...she is such a good hider. My husband said didn't you say we lost o of the ducks and I said yeah and he said it's put and I looked and I'm just excited bc I looked all over that field. Also ducklings are doing okay. I let them run around with sort of watchful eye. The male duck kept coming around and trying to mess with the ducklings when I wasn't looking..and so then I let them sit together while and went and checked and he was at it again so I shooed them back.to their next and put lots of water and food and put the chicken wire back up. Well I'm surprised that nothings gotten in there like I thought.

Glad your duck is okay except for the trouble making drake.

 

[Jmcintosh23]

Glad your duck is okay except for the trouble making drake.

Well idk i guess i thought it was normal and hoping it wasn't. Thanks.. ducklings are doing good. And now another nesting, I'm getting ready to start imtegrating these other ducklings who are now about 8 weeks old.