What’s taking my ducks?!

[Hannahshappyhen]

I live in upstate NY in a rural area. I have several poultry species, including ducks. I just had a Cayuga hen hatch 12 ducklings. Her chosen nest location was a little too close to my livestock guardian dogs and I was worried the ducklings would become a snack. As soon as the ducks hatched I moved them and mom to a different location I thought would be safer. Unfortunately, something took the mother last night (night 2 of being in the new pen) and one duckling. The pen is about 15 feet from my ponds edge but is 4 foot high woven wire with 2 foot high chicken wire overlapping the woven wire at the bottom. The missing duckling was on the pond by itself uninjured this morning but the mother is no where to be seen. After a half hour of paddling around in a canoe I finally caught the baby and returned it to its brothers and sisters. While canoeing I found one of my other missing Rouen hens body in the water fully submerged but in the shallows so I could see it. I had issues last summer with this same pen. I had several adult black Swedish ducks taken without a trace. My question is what the hell is taking my ducks?! Last summer I put out trail cams and never saw anything. Whatever it is it’s taking them at night well after dark and usually only one duck per night. I also speculate it’s taking them in the water to feed since I have found no evidence of bodies other than the one in the water.

 

[nuthatched]

Could be anything with a 4 ft high fence, I'd recommend completely securing them for a week or two

 

[Penpal]

Could be a fox. The take the carcass. Raccoons, opossums, and weasels do not. A large bird of prey might take one.

 

[lagrange chicks]

Could it be a snapping turtle? A large turtle could grab the legs and pull them under water, my dad had turtle problems but only took the young birds.