What would you do?

[Muscovy-palooza]

I have 6 brooding Muscovy. One clutch has already hatched. The mom had those tiny babies out foraging all over including the pond.
One of our girls that hatched 2 ducklings about 4 weeks ago disappeared leaving her babies unsure of what to do. We miss our Sweetie Pie I put those two babies in the coop with three brooding girls. That is where I was keeping them at night with their mom before she vanished. I would put them in a crate at night to keep them separate from the others, just in case. Since losing their mom they have yet to come back out when I open the coop door. They have some size on them now. Should I bring them out and let them get some fresh air??

The recent clutch I put in a crate in the coop. It has poultry netting around the bottom to keep the babies in, or so I thought.It worked last year but I came home last evening to find a lone tiny duckling wandering around by itself outside then I found 3 others a good distance away outside the coop. My guess is that they followed one of the broody moms out of the coop when she went to go take a dip in the pond, forage and go potty. Unfortunately the mamma couldn't get to them. I am looking for advice in what to do. Should I resecure the crate to assure that they can't escape and leave them in there for a week or so? Should I leave the crate door open for them to come and go to the crate within the coop at night? Should I allow mom to take them outside even while they are so tiny? I am not sure that they will be able to get up the ramp and back into the coop but I guess that I wont know until they have an opportunity to try. I am fortunate that I am home most of the time and can keep a watch out for them.
Another concern is our cats. We never had any issues with babies last year but we have rescued another kitty and he is quite the mouser. How do the hens handle that scenario? We are missing one of the recently hatched ducklings that escaped. It may have gone under the house with our two other broody girls.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

I don't know enough to help but these are the cutest pictures.

 

[FluffTheDuck]

Every duckling and duck should forage every day, unless it’s cold (55 degrees F or below) just watch them and bring them inside after 5-10 minutes I would say. I wouldn’t(@Miss Lydia) let them out with another mom. They are too tiny, IMO. Ducks get super stressed when they run and get extremely stressed when they are running and a predator is running behind them. I wouldn’t let that cat near them... and truth be told ducks can flyishrun, but that loses their energy quicker and will slow down from tiredness.

 

[happy duck]

Ducklings, if forging to long, can get chilled so make sure that mom takes them to a spot so they can be warm(like in a coop where mom can cuddle with the babies).