One of my mallards disappeared. Will he come back?

[tazzy]

I'm so bummed out. One of my mallards - the male - disappeared yesterday. He was there on Sunday night and then, on Monday morning, he was gone. I don't know if something got him, or what.

Is there a chance he flew off and will return? His female partner is waiting for him!

He is about four months old.

 

[cawooduck]

I hope something didnt get him, but the possiblity is there. I once "saved" a baby mallard duckling stuck in its shell in an empty nest, it grew up to be a beautiful hen that we named "crackers". She would hang out with my female Catahoula all day and night, with the exception of a pre-sunset flight around the valley, in which she would return from and hang out with Dixie for the night.

Unfortunately Dixie died and a week later "Cracker" was gone as well. I am hoping she took off in search of a mate, but about the same time she disappeared is when a family of raccoons decided to raid our farm.

I wish the best of luck to you in recovering your drake.

 

[ChickenToes]

I don't want to say it's impossible, but it's unlikely that he'll come back. One of my Mallards flew away last year, and we never saw her again. Sorry!

Clip the rest of your Mallards' wings to prevent them from flying away too.

 

[ExpLo721]

my dad says once they're gone it probably means they're lost and they won't come back ...sorry

 

[chixie]

I had some mallards years ago and they all flew away... found them thogh.. they are our neighborhood ducks now... they go from pond to pond.. have babies every year... everyone off of our road watches out for them... I have mallards now but i keep there wings clipped

 

[Ducklove334]

Unfortunately.

unless they're raised by an experianced mother who knows her way around, mallards who fly away don't make it back home.

I have 4

all of them can and WOULD fly away, they're all started to get antsy, I guess cause soon the wild ones will be migrating.

ALL of my ducks are in a big covered pen.

when I was younger a friend of mine got a baby mallard for his birthday,it grew into a beautiful young drake, well little peepers tryed migrating, but he had a messed up wing, and made it as far as the neighbors yard...with his three labs........

 

[tazzy]

thanks, everyone. darn. I really liked that little guy. Now, his female partner has disappeared. all we have left are our two white pekins that are too big to fly.

I suspect the mallards have migrated to a nearby pond since we live in the country. We don't have a pond and they probably decided life on a pond would be more fun.

 

[monarc23]

I pinnion my ducks to avoid this very issue, it's a quick traumatic experience that saves them from flying off to nowhere and breeding with the wild population (which you dont want). I hope he comes back