What to do - female gone and male alone in garden

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Can anyone advise?

We have had 2 calls ducks for the last 2 years (this bank holiday weekend coincidently). 3 nights ago the female flew a few houses down, i didnt see which house and as it was dark and raining i thought id get her in the morning as she is loud in the morning.

when i got up i couldnt hear her so thought shed come back by the time i got in from work. we later found out the reason she was quiet was because a neighbour found her and boxed her up and released her at our local lake. weve tried getting her back but hard to catch a duck in water when you are not allowed to go in the lake.

im waiitng for the RSPCA to call but i dont think we will get her back at all.

so what do i do with the male in our garden that is calling for her? ive read we shouldnt release them to the wild but that they mate for life. do i brake hi heart and keep him or send him to his doom to be with her? he cant fly at all, well mabye a meter or 2.

what do i do? im so distressed its been 3 days.
 
Hmmm a tough one for sure!!!!

The female is going to be quite uncoordinated and confused at the moment.

I would not let the male go, this will end in certain death by predation.

I would suggest the same as the last person and take him to her in a dog crate so he can call to her. If she really isn't interested in him you can go down to the lake every day and gain her trust with food and try to catch her after she has become tamer. If you really cannot catch her then get your male another female. Ducks do pair bond, but it can be a seasonal pair bond. he will get over it! Clip the females wings if she comes back, and any new females you get.

RSPCA wont be much help really. Where do you live? can you get help netting her?
 
doncaster. well we went back to the lake and she is well and truly confident thats she in the middle of it. you are not allowed on the lake at all no swimming, no boats, bothing. so unless she comes close we have no chance. couldnt see her today as there are hundreds of ducks and she is a mallrd call duck to she looks identical, except the fact she is samller. we will keep looking but we have a back up nplan and are enquiring as to getting abother to keep him company.

as the female was extremely loud we were thinking of getting abother male, as we aren't fussed on eggs. but thats plan be, but like i said plan A is not likely, which is a shame as we got them 2 years tomorrow :( and theyve been together the whole time.
 
Aww that is a shame, poor fella! Good luck with Plan B. it's nice to have bachelor groups, the boys get a rough time with not being wanted! x
 
well we arent fussed on eggs, to us they are friendly pets to run around the garden. they are so cute sio im happy with just boys, aslong as they dont fight, whcih ive read they dont aslong as no females around
 
saw the female at the lake today, its been 5 full days at the lake now with the swans, geese and other ducks. she seems healthy but the cootes were scaring her off. tried catching her again but no luck. i just feel so bad. theres no chance of predators there as loads of hidy spots and none reported ever. do you think she will be ok. i will keep trying to get her but there is no hope. its me feeling guilty that i keep trying
 
Have you tried feeding her and the ducks she is with? Did she have a favourite treat? She will be distant for the first few days while she settles in, but when she gets her confidence she may get a bit braver. Worth going down when you can to keep trying. Did you say she can fly fully?
 
well the other day when we tried to get with a net she flew about 30 meters to this little island in the middle. she flew for the first time last wednesday night so think in 3 days that was pretty good. the boy we have is useless and flies about a meter at about an inch off the grond. im more confiden with her. do you think she would be able to follow the wild ones south for the winter? there are plenty of people ever day to feed her, its the winter i worry about.
 
No, it is very unlikely she will be able to migrate. I would continue to try and catch her if you can, you may have more luck when food and mates are less plentiful! It may be a long wait to catch her, but you sound like you are being very responsible, when the weather gets colder she will be at more risk. keep us posted!
 
in the mean time what about the male? we dont want to leave him alone, but we were getting another male as they are quiet. if we get her back wont 2 males fight/ she was disturbing th eneighbours as she was quite loud at 6am.
 
I see your dilemma, yes you are right, 2 males and one female probably wont mix well.

perhaps go ahead and get another male, then if you can catch up the female perhaps you could look at rehoming her?

zo
 
thats what im thinking. we are looking to getting a male this week as he is just moping around by himself.
 
Laura, I have just come across 2 khaki campbell drakes that will be killed unless someone can take them, would you be interested as friends for your little Call drake?
 
weve already got a boy lined up, hes spare as allt eh rest are matched up. i feel bad though, we only have a small garden othrwise id take all ducks needing a home.

we were at the lake yesterday and Doris is all over the place, she is more conficent and is going all over the lake. its a big lake, its a 30 minute walk all the way aroubd so, if there ever was a chance to catch ehr its one now.
 
good stuff :) Do keep an eye on her in the winter though, she may need feeding, and she probably wont eat the crap that people put down for the ducks on lakes, which is good! Take her pellets and corn x
 
i will, we walk arounf it atleast 4 nights a week so will take her food, bit that we can catch up to her.
 
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