All duck eggs gone. What happened?

Barkerbunch4

Chirping
7 Years
Mar 1, 2017
18
8
79
I have a young duck that created a nest for the first time. She built an amazing nest and sat on it faithfully only leaving once a day to eat and drink. Over the last few days she has smashed an egg every time she’s left the nest. The last couple had embryos in them. We had estimated she laid about 20 eggs but lost count after she covered them in her nest. Today, she left her nest and has not gone back. I checked her nest and couldn’t find any eggs! I’m a little baffled. She woke me up a couple nights ago screeching and running from her nest. It’s right below my bedroom window. I went outside to look and didn’t see any predators - I don’t think there was time to snatch 20 eggs. What makes a super faithful nest sitter just go awol? We were so excited for ducklings. 😞
 
Where are you located?
A 'possum will leave debris. A fox or raccoon could abscond with some without debris.
A snake won't leave any residue but unlikely one could eat 20 duck eggs and crawl away.
 
We live in Michigan. The thing that’s weird is that she was constantly on her nest. However, she did kick some out on her own. 🤷🏻‍♀️
 
We live in Michigan. The thing that’s weird is that she was constantly on her nest. However, she did kick some out on her own. 🤷🏻‍♀️
A broody hen will appear to constantly be on the nest but will usually leave once a day or every other day to defecate, eat, drink and stretch. I've found snakes lounging around waiting for the chance to have dinner. Same with other scavengers.
 
That makes sense. I often would check the nest when she was off of it and never saw anything.
 
My ducks have a coop and have never used it. They also have a pond they don’t use. They prefer to stay by the house and/or roam the pasture. They sleep in our front yard very close to the house. They are kind of like wild pet ducks. We try not to interfere with their nesting and livelihood too much. We have never lost any ducks to predators, only from duck on duck fighting.
 

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