Lonely duckling

[ZoeOcean]

Please help I was out for a walk along a trail by our local pond and saw a mess of feather and a nest torn a part luckily one lonely egg was still warm and wiggling I knew the mom was dead and all 7 of his brothers and sisters so I grabbed him did the best I could without an incubator with a hot damp cloth on a heating pad rotating and checking a few hours later my little guy hatched a moscovy duckling I was thrilled but now I'm stumped I've never ever raised a duck he's 4 days old now pecking jumping eating and swimming he's In a rather large old rabbit cage with a lamp a heating pad a cozy blanket fresh grass I add everyday stuffies food and water but I'm worried he isn't going to live he's made it this far but I can't be home all the time to be with him is he going to get lonely? I've tried finding another one but no one will ship to me I know I barely know anything but I think I'm doing pretty good so far and I could handle two I'm the only one he knows he peeps real loud when I leave the room please give me advice small town no farms to bring him too

And I'm worried he'll miss me

 

[dotknott]

Li'l guy is going to need a friend. You can check the for sale forum here to see if there's someone locally, or even Craigslist. If another actual duck is out of the realm of possibility then a mirror and a stuffed animal is the best bet.

What is everyday stuffies food? I'm assuming that's a weird autocorrect, but you want to provide a starter feed and depending on the feed you'll want to supplement with niacin.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This may help too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

 

[ZoeOcean]

We have a chicken farm here the owner a friend of mine gave me some chick starter i just wet it down a bit and give him fresh grass seems to enjoy it

 

[ParkerK]

I agree with what dotknott said earlier. Using a mirror or even a toy can help keep him company when you're not around. I would check Craigslist to see if anyone has any ducklings for sale though. I had a single egg hatch not too long ago and I gave him a tiny rubber duckie to keep him company when I was busy, I just make sure to spend lots of time with him when I can.

 

[dotknott]

We have a chicken farm here the owner a friend of mine gave me some chick starter i just wet it down a bit and give him fresh grass seems to enjoy it

Chick starter won't have enough niacin for that duckling, so you'll want to look into supplementing it. Also, since you don't know if it's medicated chick starter, be aware that they eat a lot of it and medicated chick starter can be bad for ducklings.

Small town doesn't necessarily mean that you won't be able to find a friend for your li'l one, it just means that you may need to look a little harder. Is there a tack shop or feed store around? Local 4H? They might have a relationship with someone that keeps ducks and may be able to put you in touch. My first choice would be craigslist or the forum here, since you can do that from home, but that's just me. Remember, it doesn't need to be a duckling of the same breed that you have, just another duckling.