I used to let my ducks free range while I was cleaning their water and food buckets just before bedtime until a coyote came out of the woods and went after my border collie just before dusk one night. That's when I stopped doing that pretty much. I have 11 ducks now and if they were out there with me and a fox, coyote or even a hawk came after them there is no way I could control the situation. Mine have plenty of room in their runs with grass, dirt, trees to get under and little shelters outside their night time pens that they can rest in and get out of bad weather if a storm should suddenly come up during the day. For me personally, I have no desire to tempt fate and lose any more of my ducks when they have plenty of room to forage and do duck things where they are safe as I can make them.
