need some help with duck behavior

[Thunderchickens]

last year a friend gave us 4 ducks 1 male 3 female they usually keep to themselves and do duck stuff

its starting to get a little warm in Michigan so my ducks are once again out and about but today one of the females went missing so i walked around our property looking for the duck or a crime scene but came up with nothing. Usually the male freaks out when one of his girls is out of sight but he was silent and seemed calm

5-6 hour later the missing duck comes back with nothing wrong with it. She ate some cabbage and 15 minutes later was gone again now the other 3 are sleeping in the coop and she is MIA anyone have any insight on where she may be any help would be great thanks

 

[Ren2014]

Hello and welcome to BYC

How old is she?

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

My guess is if she is old enough, she may be sitting on a nest somewhere. Which if that is the case and she isn't protected, that's not a good thing. I'd watch her extra carefully today and try to find out where she's going. If she has a nest, you could try to move it, but no guarantees that she will still sit for you.

 

[Finny]

My guess is if she is old enough, she may be sitting on a nest somewhere. Which if that is the case and she isn't protected, that's not a good thing. I'd watch her extra carefully today and try to find out where she's going. If she has a nest, you could try to move it, but no guarantees that she will still sit for you.

X2

 

[Ren2014]

My guess is if she is old enough, she may be sitting on a nest somewhere. Which if that is the case and she isn't protected, that's not a good thing. I'd watch her extra carefully today and try to find out where she's going. If she has a nest, you could try to move it, but no guarantees that she will still sit for you.

x3

 

[Thunderchickens]

thanks to everyone for your help thats what we had figured but weren't sure

I still haven't located the missing duck but its gotten colder here and we had some fresh snow so I tried looking for tracks of anything but I had no luck. If she was sitting on a nest where would she put it in a snowy landscape?

she is going to be 1 year old soon and I'm not sure what types she is but she looks like a mallard only bigger.

I searched around our immediate property with snow shoes but i dont know what to look for could she be in a tree? could she be far away from the other ducks? if anyone can help it would be appreciated

 

[Ren2014]

Gosh, sorry to hear she didn't come back this time. With the snow, I am sure she is hunkered down somewhere on a nest. Where to look?? Hummmm, anything she could have gotten under? Ducks are social animals. If she isn't on a nest, she would be with the others. I would throw food out everywhere so if she does make a move back home she can get some nourishment on the way in the cold weather. Good luck and do keep us posted.

 

[Duckopolis]

Quote: x4

 

[TLWR]

She is most likely in her nest under something... brush, shrubs, something that provides cover.

I searched for over an hour for one of my runners one day. She came around the corner with a look "what, I knew where I was, why are you all concerned"
I did later find her nest.

 

[Thunderchickens]

well she has shown her face but it was kinda crazy she went into the chicken coop probably to grab some food and water and she grabbed another ducks egg in her mouth and headed towards our shed.

she ended up breaking said egg and kinda eating it after all was said and done all the ducks were stressed and freaking out

is this normal?

im sure the nest is in the shed it is a dirt bottom and she probably tucked herself in behind some stuff ill probably just leave her be unless anyone thinks i should do otherwise

thanks again for all of your concern