Baby duck won't eat anything!! Please help!!

[Teila]

Thank you for a lovely welcome!
I tried smashing it with a hammer and... IT WORKED!!!
She is eating and drinking now as happy as ever!!
I appreciate all the wonderful replies!

Thank You

That is great news!

 

[Chicken Lynda]

I didn't realize it was the 'feed' that was to be beat on either. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Maybe my coffee is too low on caffeine and I need to wake up more before reading the threads

.
I had a chicken sitting on eggs a long time ago.(when I was still a teenager). But we also had Mallard ducks. Mama and Papa duck would 'play around' but she was in no mood to make a nest so she casually laid eggs as the day went on. You would find the eggs just about anywhere. Even on the driveway.
I decided there was nothing to lose in experimenting so I put three of the duck eggs in the hens nest and waited to see what would happen.
It was only beginners luck that I placed the future foster family in the nest at just the right time. The baby chicks and baby ducklings all hatched at he same time. I was proud of my hen the way she looked after everybody. The brood traveled together happy as a lark.
Then the first day they experienced rain she kept everybody under her wings or stayed under a roof. When the clouds cleared up she took them all out to resume foraging. Well the ducklings darted out to the nearest puddle and played to their hearts content, but the hen ran around the puddle with her feathers fluffed out and scolding them in the fiercest tone she could muster

. The ducklings had so much fun that they never paid any attention to her. She finally slowed down making laps around the puddle and proceeded to look after her chicks instead. After that she still let them follow the rest of the family but she seemed to let the ducklings do what ducks do best, which is playing in water. The ducks slowly split off on their own and everybody was happy.
After almost writing a novel to prove my point, I just thought if you had had a brooding hen she could have looked after the duckling for you. Nature is sometimes best at looking after nature.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

also being fresh out of the shell, it still had some yolk nourishment so may not have been ready to eat yet

Glad you got it straightened out, good luck with your new duckling!

 

[N F C]

I'm glad you got the answer you needed.

Thanks for joining us!

 

[Heather56341]

Thanks for everyones kindness!!

 

[Heather56341]

That is so sweet how animals love each other even if they look so different!!
Speaking of animal love, I have a cat that thinks my guinea pig is her baby!!

Its the sweetest thing!!
Now this cat has always taken my slippers and carries them around the house meowing
like it was her baby!
And just two years ago i got two guinea pigs and one of them didn't care about the cat but the other one follows her!
they are the best of friends now!!