Missing duck, nothing left behind. I feel so sad

[Amanda128891]

I rescued two malnurished ducklings that were dumped in a city pond (central texas) almost exactly two years ago. With lots of niacin, crumble, and advice from here, they turned out to be a lovely male Pekin and Khaki female that were incredibly bonded. I had never personally owned any birds before but had experience working with plenty of them. I built them their duck house, reinforced backyard fences, and only ever let them out of their house into the backyard when I was home.

Today after being out for less than an hour we started hearing panicked quacking, we were outside within seconds and my Pekin was nowhere to be found. Nothing wrong with the fence, gate closed, no feathers or blood. We looked for hours in the land beyond the fence and found nothing. I really tried my best for these ducks the last two years and I'm so upset to not have any closure.

I am so sad for the loss of a cherished pet, but I am more sad for my female duck now alone. They were never more than 3 feet apart and she seems so anxious and upset. I would love to get her another friend, but my position here will probably end in a few years and I don't want to have to worry about rehoming ducks in the future.

Aside from the fact I would be too traumatized to let her out by herself now, will she ever be okay being a lone duck? If in everyone's experience bonded ducks never do okay on their own, it seems like the best thing for her would be to find her another home with ducks despite it breaking my heart. Thank you for any advice.

 

[Amanda128891]

 

[Isadora]

Given your situation, it may be best to rehome her. ducks are very social animals and she won't do well on her own.
I'm so sorry you lost your boy. That's heartbreaking.

 

[April and Andy]

I'm so sorry, Amanda. I lost both of my babies recently to something similar. It was an eagle, it completley took one and left the other behind wounded beyond repair. It is a horrible loss. If you don't feel comfortable getting another duck, I would rehome her. They are very social, and she woud like to get back into a bonded pair I'm sure. However, maybe you should consider getting a new one. Once a duck momma, always a duck momma in my opion. Its really hard to go back. So sorry again for your loss, and I hope you're able to make the best decision for you and your girl. Xo

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

I doubt your remaining duck will be happy without a duck companion. If you aren't up for duck ownership long term it is probably best to rehome her to a pet only flock with only females, or a lot of females (5+) and only one drake.

Please be careful as predators come back.

 

[Amanda128891]

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately he still hasn't turned up, and I still haven't found so much as a feather in the land beyond my backyard. I have a trailcam up and haven't seen any predators come by since. I have been supervising her time outside and I haven't heard or seen anything either.

We sat down and made the decision that any ducks will be coming with us if we move, so we are going to try to hatch some of her fertile eggs. I was able to borrow an incubator, so I have been reading about that the last few days. If this ends up not being successful I will find her some adult friends (I would love to get some more rescue ducks).

Our planned antipredator enhancements are adding barbed wire for a foot or so above our existing fence. We are also thinking about adding a run (with a closing door) to their coop so we can leave them out unsupervised with some extra protection. If anyone has any other suggestions for changes we could make to better protect them please let me know.

Thank you

 

[Miss Lydia]

Very sorry for your loss.
I'd def cover the top of your run because if a predator can climb it will.
They will dig too so an apron on the outside will help.

 

[KaleIAm]

x2 about a cover and an apron. Also use hardware cloth as racoons reach through bars and weasels can get into very small spaces.

Keep supervising foraging time! It's pretty intensive, but it works for protection.