10 Baby Wood Ducks (1st thought they were Mallards)

[ThreeOfSeven]

This was her sick.

Here she was the next morning.

Breaks my heart.

I think you told me about the wild fowl feed that floats. I bought some and give a small handful to the darlings every morning. I guess they like it. It disappears or just dissolves in the water. <smile>

 

[wilwingswaterfowl]

Breaks my heart.

I think you told me about the wild fowl feed that floats. I bought some and give a small handful to the darlings every morning. I guess they like it. It disappears or just dissolves in the water. <smile>

Yes I told you about that it's good healthy diet.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

Yes I told you about that it's good healthy diet.

They have free choice of a lot of different foods, but I am glad that they also nibble on that too. In any event, they are well fed and seem to be pretty happy with everything. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Sapphire Sebright]

Your remaining ducks are so beautiful! Sorry that you lost so many -- that must have been hard. At least you gave them good lives while they lasted, though.

 

[Suwannee Ducks]

Since my intention was to release my ducks, I made it a point to not handle them when they were young. Oh well, who knew how it would all turn out. They flew away, and then came back. The world was way to scary for them.

I've loved reading your thread about your wood ducks....11 ducklings wandered onto our 5+ Fla acres April '21, I finally discovered they WEREN'T Mallards the day I released the surviving 4, a week ago...(yep, I'm really new to this) 1 day after release, I was walking in the yard, praying the Lord would keep them safe, turned around, and one of the drakes was walking to me, looking over at the duck\run\coop. Took me a few minutes to walk him into the fenced garden, then into the duck run...he was so tired and hungry. Broke my heart....A day later, a hen did a fly over, then a low fly by, looked at me, landed in the garden, then took her time (an HOUR) for me to help her figure out how to get in the duck run...a bowl of meal worms at the door did the trick. I'll never forget the sight of that little drake, slowly walking into the yard, trying to find the coop, and the sight and sound of the hen, flying over me and LOOKING at me, then landing in the garden, walking around the duck run...So now, neither one of them want to go out of the enclosure. We have lots of hawks, aggravating crows, and one or two monster owls (who play whack-a-mole in the front acre)...which is why I'd hoped the ducklings were big enough to do well. We're at least 1/4 mile from water, in a very rural part of N. Fla...close to the Itchetucknee River...I know there are wood ducks in the area. I too, have no desire to keep them as pets (I've not held any since about week 2); calls, emails I've made to licensed rehabbers have gone unanswered. So, I'll continue to keep them happy, well-fed, and every few mornings, after they eat, I'll open the door, and wait for them to figure it out! They have hooked me on ducks, and I've ordered a wood and hardware cloth run/coop for any future ducks. I'm a Master Gardener, but let my garden go to weeds, so I could focus on the ducklings! What a thrilling mess they are...and they force me to be calm...anytime I tend to them in a hurry, they go frantic. So they've been little agents of calm. Did you pursue a permit? I've looked at the requirements, what a mess, but I guess I may need to start the process, animals in need tend to find me. Thank you so much for your detailed notes...I've spent alot of frantic time, searching the web for info on raising these beauties...I've had so many things on my plate, there was very little time to detail my experience with these ducklings, just pictures. I do wish I'd taken a video of the little hen, after she devoured the mealworms, before she finally stepped thru the fence door, she really fussed at running out of those worms!
Thank you for your notes, and for this website, it's been a welcome encouragement

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

I've loved reading your thread about your wood ducks....11 ducklings wandered onto our 5+ Fla acres April '21, I finally discovered they WEREN'T Mallards the day I released the surviving 4, a week ago...(yep, I'm really new to this) 1 day after release, I was walking in the yard, praying the Lord would keep them safe, turned around, and one of the drakes was walking to me, looking over at the duck\run\coop. Took me a few minutes to walk him into the fenced garden, then into the duck run...he was so tired and hungry. Broke my heart....A day later, a hen did a fly over, then a low fly by, looked at me, landed in the garden, then took her time (an HOUR) for me to help her figure out how to get in the duck run...a bowl of meal worms at the door did the trick. I'll never forget the sight of that little drake, slowly walking into the yard, trying to find the coop, and the sight and sound of the hen, flying over me and LOOKING at me, then landing in the garden, walking around the duck run...So now, neither one of them want to go out of the enclosure. We have lots of hawks, aggravating crows, and one or two monster owls (who play whack-a-mole in the front acre)...which is why I'd hoped the ducklings were big enough to do well. We're at least 1/4 mile from water, in a very rural part of N. Fla...close to the Itchetucknee River...I know there are wood ducks in the area. I too, have no desire to keep them as pets (I've not held any since about week 2); calls, emails I've made to licensed rehabbers have gone unanswered. So, I'll continue to keep them happy, well-fed, and every few mornings, after they eat, I'll open the door, and wait for them to figure it out! They have hooked me on ducks, and I've ordered a wood and hardware cloth run/coop for any future ducks. I'm a Master Gardener, but let my garden go to weeds, so I could focus on the ducklings! What a thrilling mess they are...and they force me to be calm...anytime I tend to them in a hurry, they go frantic. So they've been little agents of calm. Did you pursue a permit? I've looked at the requirements, what a mess, but I guess I may need to start the process, animals in need tend to find me. Thank you so much for your detailed notes...I've spent alot of frantic time, searching the web for info on raising these beauties...I've had so many things on my plate, there was very little time to detail my experience with these ducklings, just pictures. I do wish I'd taken a video of the little hen, after she devoured the mealworms, before she finally stepped thru the fence door, she really fussed at running out of those worms!
Thank you for your notes, and for this website, it's been a welcome encouragement

Wow! What a wonderful story! And yes, our stories are similar. Mine are still with me and doing well. They love their routine and especially love their kiddie swimming pool filled with fresh water every day. I like hearing that your ducks force you to be calm. Mine are like that too. Most times, I work inside the run area and avoid looking at them or I keep my back to them. They are more comfortable with that. No, I never tried to get a permit. I don't post pictures on social media or talk about them much. I don't intend to let them have babies. It's likely they would have been hawk-lunch if they didn't come back, so I don't feel like I'm diminishing the local population.