Trying to rescue two ducks.I need guidance?

[jbowyer01]

I have a neighbor several houses away that purchased two ducks for his grandchildren at easter. The poor little things wander the neighborhood. They look dirty and I worry about them getting hit by a vehicle or a stray dog killing them. I've started slowly speaking with the neighbor (He is not a very nice individual). I asked if I could feed them and he said he didnt care what I did with them as long as I didnt eat them. I am working up to seeing if he'll actually let me have them. I have absolutely no idea about the care of a duck. I do have a garden pond and they would be much safer in my yard then wandering the street. Any ideas as to how I could get them to trust me? They run from everyone including the neighbor. What could I feed them to intice them to stay in my yard (they come over and rummage around for food and I am in the understanding that bread is not good for them). HELP!!! This is the best picture that I could get of them, please excuse the quality of the pic, it was extremely humid and my camera kept fogging up.

 

[lovin my birds]

Not every duck is the same but I know a lot of peoples and my ducks LOVE LOVE LOVE peas! It will take a long while to get them to trust you and in that time they could be killed by those things you mentioned. Do you have a fenced in back yard where your pond is? If so do you have a gate where you could open it up for them to find the pond? The most inticing thing for a duck is water. If they happen to find your pond and stay then thats up to them. And as long as you can leave the gate open the neighbor cant argue that yo stole his ducks. You can just simply say they wander the neighborhood anyway and they chose to stay in your pond. Lol! Just feed them and let them stay in your pond. Eventually they may not ever leave, and with such a uncaring owner he might not realize they are gone anyway.

Either way I hope it works out. If the neighbor does realize they are on your property and sees how happy and how well cared for they are then he might say that you can keep them. Another suggestion if you do ask him if you can keep them and he is worried about his grandchildren not being able to see them, offer to let his granchildren come over and see them. I hope for the sake of those ducks that you can have them. It would be nice to know that they are being well cared for by someone who cares. Thank you for taking the time to do something about this. I dont like seeing unresposible pet owners. Good luck getting them!

 

[goosedragon]

going strictly by head shape [thats the only thing that looks clear to me] I think the may be runner ducks which were bred to search for their own food usually out of the little villages where they were housed at night. You can be sure by watching them walk, they are about the only breed that doesn't waddle like a duck, in fact they often get around by running upright like a human would. To attract them I would use something bright like froot loops where they can spot them from a distance. If serious about keeping them waterfowl pellets may be available at your feed store. In either case I would leave a small bucket of water near the food ducks tend to drink and hang out where water is handy. Floating waterfowl pellets in the water often sends them into a feeding frenzy. Do froot loops float?

 

[jbowyer01]

Thank you for the suggestions. Unfortunately I am unable to keep the backyard gate open (thats where the pond is). My backyard is split into two sections, one side is for the chickens and the other (where the gate is located) is where dogs get to run. Its a very large backyard. I'll try the fruit loops and the peas. They do walk without a waddle and kind of in more of an upright position. I'll try to get better pics and hopefully entice them to at least come up to the front porch.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Listen my ducks love bread, I only give them a small amount but they will just about get into my lap for bread, fruit loops would probably float for a few till soggy lol. I give my ducks 12 grain or w/w bread never white. But in small amts. just to get them to trust you I see no harm. Does anyone else? yes peas too but that may not work so good if trying to feed from a distance first, a little hard to see. Meal worms are another treat mine love, but they are small too so will work good after you are getting them closer to you. Again as the other poster said thank goodness someone cares about these ducks and wants to give them a safe home. Bless you I hope you can get them. They diff. are Runners and so pretty too.

 

[goosedragon]

Froot Loops just poped to mind because they can be spotted from a distance. I would not feed a lot of them, just enough to bring the ducks closer for regular feed. Even if you can't get them to your pond I still think the bucket/pan of water is a good idea. I won't feed my ducks without water close at hand and if they are nine houses from home they might use that water as a home base to explore around your place. The more they see you the less afraid they will be.

 

[jbowyer01]

Thanks you. Just one more reason to get a baby pool LOL. I'll set up the little baby pool (one of those little plastic ones from lowes) and I'll put a few peas and such out and see if they'll start hanging around a little more. I live in an area that most people dont really take care of their animals, they view them as just that and nothing more. Heck my chickens live better than most of the humans. If I get them into my pond they'll live a happy life (which brings me to finding a new place for my pond comets LOL).

 

[tdgill]

grab a chair and have a seat with a bunch of frozen (or thawing lol) peas. You can put some in a feeder pan (maybe like one they are used to seeing) and gradually coax them closer.

I fed and WATERED (if you can believe I had to) my neighbors ducks and chickens for a year until his parents got tired of his lack of care and then the kid moved out. But not before he plopped 3 ducks and 5 chickens (one a rooster) over my fence line. Luckily no chance for fighting as I was going to let my flock out (two roosters included) for the morning. Was a strange sight to see first thing. I was like OMG I left chickens out last nite???? Oh, those aren't MY chickens!

It was a difficult balancing act, the dad wasn't the happiest fella I ever met....I knew that if I ticked the neighbors off, they might tell me to stay the heck away! It did get stressful and I tried to give the kid a chance to take care of his pets. But it was tearing me apart seeing them neglected. Finally my good friend said, "you do what you gotta do." And so I did.

If these ducks are roaming, there might be complaints from other folks. can you fix up an area and open the gate to let the ducks in but keep the chickens contained? I like the idea of offering to home the ducks for the grandkids to visit whenever they want. (and learn how to properly care for animals)

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have pond gold fish so i put up a dog Xpen around my pond to keep the goose and ducks out. I like my fish. they have 2 pools to play and muddy up.

 

[Amiga]

I agree that giving them some water - maybe a kiddie pool - to entice them sounds good.

Check out the list of duck treats in the stickies folder - that should give you some ideas! And I think koi pellets may be on that list. Those might be eyecatching and might float.