21 day mallard

[Kroelies]

From what I've seen at the one wildlife centre I visited, they just keep ducklings of similar age together and release them when they're old enough. This was in Amsterdam though, so they are not really "wild" mallards

If the duckling ended up living at the friend's property, would that be legal?

 

[Cherib603]

Yes. If he bought his ducks like from a farm, a store or online, he purchased a DOMESTIC BREED of duck. Just because they free range does not make them WILD ducks. Wild ducks are different from domestic ducks.

You NEED to find out if the duckling you found is one of his domestic ducks, which is legal to keep, or if it is a WILD MALLARD which is a different kind of duck and illegal to keep.

If it is not one of your neighbors ducks, it doesn't matter what you think is best because it is illegal for you to keep it.

@Miss Lydia?

 

[Cherib603]

@Amiga back me up here

 

[Amiga]

Please bear with me. A few things going on here, just have a few minutes, I have only read the last few posts. But I see that acriswell4 wrote:


"Well it was his momma duck that he bought that had the babies, he bought them so does that make them domestic? They ran wild on his property no one could touch them, and they fly so idk. I want what's best for the duck but if it's imprinted and scared of other ducks is taking it to a rescue the best thing for it."

....

acriswell4 makes a good point about concern for further traumatizing the duck. And it looks to me like the person purchased the mother, and that could mean she's domestic, and the duckling would fall under the domestic category. Of course, life is messy, as gal5150 writes. But if the mother was purchased as a domestic mallard, I would lean toward it being domestic.

Cherib603 also rightly points out that if this is in the U.S., there is a Migratory Bird Act that applies. What further confounds matters is that there are wild mallards and there are domestic mallards. But regardless of a person's decision, factoring in legality and ethics, it is good to understand that there is a MBA and we need to be aware of that so that we make fully informed decisions.

Thanks, @Cherib603 for tagging me.

 

[Cherib603]

My point is that we can't decide what needs to be done with the duck until we know what kind of duck it is. If we knew for sure that it was a domestic duck from her friends' flock then maybe she could work on introducing to the flock when it's older, or she could choose to keep it and get it a companion.

 

[acriswell4]

My point is that we can't decide what needs to be done with the duck until we know what kind of duck it is. If we knew for sure that it was a domestic duck from her friends' flock then maybe she could work on introducing to the flock when it's older, or she could choose to keep it and get it a companion.

How do I find out for sure? Is there a way by looking at them?

 

[Cherib603]

Show the duckling to your friend. He'll know if is the same breed as his ducks.

 

[acriswell4]

How do I find out for sure? Is there a way by looking at them?

He told me it was from his duck and that she went missing,

 

[acriswell4]

This is a tricky one, because *right* and *legal* may not be the same thing for this duckling. Would it have been good to turn it over to a rehab center on day 1 so it could've been integrated into a flock and actually know that it's a duck? Absolutely! Water under the bridge, that didn't happen. This duck is imprinted on humans. Would anyone on here advocate releasing an imprinted duck into the wild....no. Unfortunately, things aren't always black and white and this is no exception. Can the duck forage? Bc my two imprinted girls don't unless I provide the forage. They ignore natural forage growing from the ground completely, etc. I could not and would not ever release them, it would be a certain death sentence. They have no fear of humans, cats, dogs, etc. Mine are domestic ducks, but at the end of the day, an imprinted duck is an imprinted duck. Very tough call to make. Good luck!

Yes he can forage, from the first day I got him I have shown him to dig in the dirt and put weeds in its water to eat. We go to the lake and river all the time and it will go under water and find food or it digs in the mud for bugs it loves little fish and worms oh and it is a great spider catcher

 

[Cherib603]

I'm not for sure its wild, my friend has ducks on his property that he had bought but they just run wild, I guess one had babies but he can't seem to find the momma or any other babies, I offered to help since I am off for the summer and have time. The other ducks were trying to hurt it. It has a whole in its webbing from something.

Sorry, I thought you were not sure it was one of his.
How is the hole in it's foot?