Baby wood duck won't eat

[moonchild628]

Thank you for this thread!!! I have 3 babies that a friend found in his yard... apparently, they had been abandoned by mom for about 8-9 hours... he was afraid something would get them in the night as they were just out in the middle of his yard, so he called me. (I am the official animal rescuer in my circle of friends

) Anyway, I have had domestic ducks and chickens for years! Never knew there were birds you had to teach to eat! They usually just take to it naturally... Plus, I thought at first these were Mallards, but looking at the pictures posted here and on other sites I am 99% sure they are wood ducks... I will post pictures later...

So, I am going to try some of the ideas suggested here... the mealworms, the small crickets, and I like the idea of the dust brush (that's not the right word, but I can't think of what it's called!

) Anyway, one of those things in the corner for them to hide under... I have some 4 week old baby chicks, they are much bigger, obviously, but I might put 1-2 in with the ducks to see if they show them how to eat...

I'll keep y'all posted!!

~ Laura

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you for this thread!!! I have 3 babies that a friend found in his yard... apparently, they had been abandoned by mom for about 8-9 hours... he was afraid something would get them in the night as they were just out in the middle of his yard, so he called me. (I am the official animal rescuer in my circle of friends

) Anyway, I have had domestic ducks and chickens for years! Never knew there were birds you had to teach to eat! They usually just take to it naturally... Plus, I thought at first these were Mallards, but looking at the pictures posted here and on other sites I am 99% sure they are wood ducks... I will post pictures later...

So, I am going to try some of the ideas suggested here... the mealworms, the small crickets, and I like the idea of the dust brush (that's not the right word, but I can't think of what it's called!

) Anyway, one of those things in the corner for them to hide under... I have some 4 week old baby chicks, they are much bigger, obviously, but I might put 1-2 in with the ducks to see if they show them how to eat...

I'll keep y'all posted!!

~ Laura

 

[NOLA Chicks]

Thank you for this thread!!! I have 3 babies that a friend found in his yard... apparently, they had been abandoned by mom for about 8-9 hours... he was afraid something would get them in the night as they were just out in the middle of his yard, so he called me. (I am the official animal rescuer in my circle of friends

) Anyway, I have had domestic ducks and chickens for years! Never knew there were birds you had to teach to eat! They usually just take to it naturally... Plus, I thought at first these were Mallards, but looking at the pictures posted here and on other sites I am 99% sure they are wood ducks... I will post pictures later...

So, I am going to try some of the ideas suggested here... the mealworms, the small crickets, and I like the idea of the dust brush (that's not the right word, but I can't think of what it's called!

) Anyway, one of those things in the corner for them to hide under... I have some 4 week old baby chicks, they are much bigger, obviously, but I might put 1-2 in with the ducks to see if they show them how to eat...

I'll keep y'all posted!!

~ Laura

Laura - Here's what I've learned in the past 3 days with the woodies my friend rescued (my first ducklings of any kind)

>if they are not feathered out yet, give them a heat lamp.
I'm in the deep south with temps in the 90's and had 3 bantam chicks with them but it wasn't enough when one got separated from the others overnight.

With a brooder and heat lamp you have all bases covered. If they're feathered out, you can skip this.

>Get duck starter feed and give it to them sloppy wet. I tried chick starter but could tell a big diff when I got the crumble for ducks.

>A tip I read was to give them their food on a white lid like from a yogurt or cottage cheese container.Something about the color contrast helps or encourages them to find/eat their food. It works! I'd been using a colored dish. When I switched to a very shallow white dish they found and ate on their own. Yay!!!

>Do NOT put any kind of open dish of water in with them even if the water depth is much shallower than their height. They will drown from their down getting water logged and/or lowered body temp from the water. (Yes, I learned this one the hard way

).

I now have the remaining 2 ducklings indoors where I can check them often. They are eating well and seem in good spirits.

Best of luck with your new found babies!!!

 

[TopHatsNSpats]

Here's hoping and sending good thoughts that your last two will hang in there with you!

 

[moonchild628]

Hi Sherry ~ Thanks for the tips!!

So, one thing that no one mentioned is that these little guys are escape artists!!! I have them in one of those LARGE rubbermaid-type containers with a metal crate divider on the top... this is what I have always used in the past with both chickens and ducks as my brooder for the first few weeks of their lives... they have a heat lamp and a variety of food and water... So, early this morning one of the three escaped and didn't make it

I rearranged the cover and made it as tight as I thought it could be... when I came home later in the day the remaining two were OUT and had made it DOWN the basement stairs!! They were totally fine and I brought them back upstairs... they now have 2 crate dividers and a plastic tub top on top of their brooder.... hopefully that will contain them!! Geez!! They can JUMP!

ok.. so now on to the food... per some recommendations on this thread, I went to the store and got them mealy worms and shrimp... they now have dry duckling crumbles, fresh water, a shallow bowl with water and the shrimp and another with water, some crumbles and the mealy worms... They were most interested in the shrimp and never ate one, but poked at them and flipped them around and, I think, that's how they "found" the water!!! They drank, then went over to the dry crumbles and ate a bunch of those!! They are now "making the rounds" between all the bowls... they'll stop and preen, then start all over again!!

I am cautiously optimistic!!

I am attaching a couple of pictures

 

[NOLA Chicks]

So sorry about the one duckling. Oh yeah, they can squeeze through anything they can get their head through and jump a gazillion times their own height! It's amazing.
Sounds like the other two are setup for a happy future. Aren't they just the cutest little buggers you've ever seen?

 

[moonchild628]

They are adorable! They have taken over for the TV for the past 2 nights...we just sit and watch them!

 

[TopHatsNSpats]

Sounds like you are past the difficult bit... glad for you and the babies!! hang in there!

 

[NOLA Chicks]

Thought I'd post an update. I believe at last post I had two ducklings. I lost one to some sort of neurological thing. Last Sunday, it was running in circles for a while then stopped. The next morning it couldn't move it's legs and within 2-3 hours died. The good news is the remaining chick is doing very well. I weaned it off the heat lamp and today moved it outside. It's in with 3 silkie chicks who are a couple weeks older and a 12 week old chick that is acting like a big sister to the little guy. Once I put him in the run, he ate like I haven't seen him eat so far. He just moved right on in with the chicks like he'd always been with them. I feel so much better knowing he's not alone now. He's (?) 2 weeks old today. How old do they have to be before you can tell if they are a hen or drake?

 

[desertdarlene]

Thanks for the update, sorry you're down to one baby. I'm not sure about wood ducks, but I think you can tell that they're males after a few months. They will still be gray, but have more white markings under the chin. Females will develop a distinct eye ring.