Missing Muscovy, predator or instinct?

[AMaggio]

Hi all, this morning when I got up I am usually greeted by three Muscovy walking over to get breakfast but today there were only two. I'm pretty sure the one missing is a female as she is slightly smaller than the other two, but I'm new to Muscovy so I am not sure. There aren't any signs of a fight, no out of place feathers or blood anywhere, I'm not sure what happened. They patrol my front yard garden and chase off rabbits or eat bugs. I put them into an electric chicken net at night to sleep with my meat birds, turkeys and CC chickens. They have a tree and shade cloth to hide from predators. Every morning the Muscovy let themselves out by flying over the fence, usually around 5-6am when there is more light. The missing one is always the first over and looking for bugs. They are somewhere in the ballpark of 3-4 months old. The only predators we have are raccoons, hawks, and my neighbor's dog that gets out on occasion. I'm trying to decide if she migrated out because one of the other Muscovy might also be female or if she left to build a nest or if a predator actually got her. I only have experience with chickens and ducks, and I have had both types leave to make a nest only to come back when they are really hungry but I didn't know if Muscovy would have that instinct. Anyone think there's hope she might return?

 

[Miss Lydia]

At 3-4 months old I doubt she’d be laying yet. Do you have owls? Hopefully she just decided to fly around a bit and she’ll return.

 

[AMaggio]

No owls, at least none that i've seen or heard. One thing i did forget to mention is no one is acting oddly. For example, if something happens in the chicken coop they're alerting with crows and clucks for some time. They also tend to stay in hiding too, they just act differently. I've heard duck will mourn the loss of one of their flock but the Muscovy aren't acting any differently.

 

[Miss Lydia]

She must have flown off. I clip one wing on my females so I don’t lose them.

 

[AMaggio]

Is that normal, for the females to fly away? I've heard they can get an instinct to migrate but it's the wrong season.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Has nothing to do with migrating. They just love to fly and sometimes they can get lost and can't find their way back home. they land in someone's back yard who has dogs. Have you checked around your neighbor hood if you live in one. Or the closest body of water.

 

[AMaggio]

I did send out a message via Nextdoor, but there aren't any lakes near here that are close. one that's a 5 minute car drive and two large rivers over 15 minutes away.