My "logical" brain said that there was a good explanation. Everything was alright, and I would solve the mystery.
18 chicks. Gone! They were a few days shy of six weeks. Too big and too many to be taken away by a weasel. Even in the dark, I could see well enough to know they weren't on the roost, or under it. Not in one of the chickens' nestboxes... Where are those chicks?!?!
I Finally put my hand into the duck nest box. Why are the ducks so upset this morning, anyway?
No egg that I could find. I was pushing chicks left and right, pulling a few out (I held one. Ohhhhhh, she was so soft!). Maybe the duck didn't lay.
The heat lamp is now unplugged. It is obviously not needed.
Aaahh duck chicken mama!