Missing duck, any ideas?

[TattooQ27]

Yesterday morning around 11am I let my 6 pekin ducks out of the barn to roam about the property. I was pretty busy in the house during the day and did have to run out once for about an hour and a half. I didn't think to check on the ducks when I got back and I ran out of time before I had to go out for the evening at 5:30. I got back home at about 11pm and went out to the barn to discover that 3 of my ducks had gone missing. DH and I spent an hour searching the property for any signs of them and we came up with nothing...not even a feather. The 3 ducks that were left were all in the barn in their pen and they were peeping softly but you could tell something was bothering them. Upon closer inspection we saw that two of them each had one very superficial scratch on their beaks and one had a toenail that had been slightly injured. They were otherwise unharmed. We put the baby video monitor out in the barn to keep an eye on the 3 remaining ducks and then went to bed figuring that looking in the dark was pretty pointless. At 5am, we got up and again searched the property but didn't find anything. We walked down to the property across from ours to see if the ducks had wandered to the neighbors pond but we saw no sign of them there. We are at a complete loss as to what happened to them. From 5pm on, we had 3 people home and we have 5 dogs and nobody heard anything. We were thinking an animal got them but why would they take the females and leave the males behind and especially the small, slow male....the slowest duck we have. What kind of animal would pick off 3 ducks with no signs of struggle or any sign that they were here? Would 3 ducks just wander off? Any ideas? I am so sad, they were a mothers day present from my kids and I really want to know what happened so I can protect the 3 that are still here.

 

[Sillystunt]

wow, that sucks! Strange that the dogs wouldn't go off if there was an animal or even human. Do you think they wondered of maybe to nest? Longshot....
I am really sorry for your loss! I hope you find them or at least find out what happened.

 

[TattooQ27]

I didn't think of them nesting, interesting theory. I'm not sure they are old enough though, they are about 7 weeks old. I think I was just under the impression that they would all stick together. It seems like where one goes, the rest follow.

 

[countrybum]

I am sorry to hear this, but it sounds like coyotes. At this time of year they are stating to wean their kits. I had a group take 8 of my grown ducks in one night back in January.

As the ducks only being 7 weeks, they are completely defenseless and have no clue about predators, so they were probably really easy prey. I would keep an eye out and make them sturdier shelter, especially now that it is known they are there. It may be a day or 2, but whatever it was, will eventually come back.

Sorry for your loss and good luck.

 

[Sillystunt]

yeah, like i said...longshot. Which would be nice cause that means they are OK. But the scratch worries me.
My chickens one day ,we could not find. I was freaking out cause my yard isn't that big. Here they were dugg up under a bush , hidden! I could have killed them for the panic attack i had!!!!!They gave me gray hair that day cause they were still little.

I have a drake so i have NOOOO clue when they start nesting??? Was just hoping for you

 

[countrybum]

Ducks do not start laying eggs until they are 5 to 6 months of age, at least that was true for mine. I wish I could say that sitting was a possiblilty.

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
I thought that might be it but wouldn't my dogs have gone crazy? Also, could they get the ducks and leave no trace...no feathers, paw prints or anything?

Unfortunately in order to keep them safe 24/7 we would not be able to let them out of their pen at all and that is not the kind of life I was hoping to give them. Also, we don't have a very large pen since we were only planning to lock them in at night and there are no funds for building something larger right now. Looks like if it's coyotes then we will have to rehome them.

 

[NancyDz]

Sounds like a hawk to me.... unless your dogs are trained to guard , they wouldnt notice a hawk unless they happened to see it , I wouldnt let ducks that young free range , they should be kept in an enclosed pen. My dogs are pretty good but even they if sleeping in the house or on the porch dont necessarily hear everything on the property. And even if they did.. sometimes it wouldnt matter as they hear it happening, run to it and the predator is already gone with the bird.


Sorry about your ducks!


Nancy

 

[countrybum]

My dogs did not even notice the coyote when it was about 40 feet from me. Still when it took off and they finally noticed it got a rooster on the run. Coyotes are sneaky and very quiet. The only way there would be tracks is if the ground is wet, they walk softly.

As Nancy stated, at 7 weeks old, it could also be a Hawk. I do not keep mine in now, but they are adults. You can buy them a pool and keep them confined until they are 5 to 6 months old.

You would not see any feathers due to the 7 week old be to small to fight back and a coyote could just pick the baby up and carry it off without a problem.

Trust me, I thought about rehoming and not having ducks again after losing 8, but they are still here. It is just part of the food chain.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
A hawk would have left a pile of feathers in a circle pattern around where they took the bird from. Do you have a pond? If so, it could be turtles.