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

[Duck mommy 2019]

if they are use to humans and can’t catch their own food, have u thought about keeping them?

 

[FowlWitch]

They have a heat lamp, as you can see, and on the left, inside the box is a mama cave.

View attachment 1820844

Can I ask about your tote? Where did you get a lid like that? It almost looks like it was specifically made to be a brooder!

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

if they are use to humans and can’t catch their own food, have u thought about keeping them?

Since they forage, they don't need to "catch" their own food. I'm trying to mimic the types of food that they will find in the wild like greens, seeds, fruits, nuts. I even dipped a bucket in a local pond and brought back duckweed, which they loved. Sadly, they are use to humans. There's a great wildlife preserve on our island. It's huge and gets very little human traffic except on designated trails. Also, I've been told that there's no duck hunting at this preserve. I'm hoping I'll be allowed to release them at this site.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

Can I ask about your tote? Where did you get a lid like that? It almost looks like it was specifically made to be a brooder!

That's a plastic dog gate. It actually has 4 sides, so I guess it's something like a cheap x-pen. In this picture, it's split into 2 sections (versus all 4). I used that for a while, but it was cumbersome. Then I used a piece of aluminum screening. Eventually, I stopped covering the tote/brooder box because the ducklings stopped trying to jump out.

 

[wilwingswaterfowl]

No matter how used to humans you think they are they will not hang out with people when released. Once they are full wing and capable of flying keep heir enclosure open so they can come and go. It is illegal to keep them enclosed. There is no need to find a place to release them they will do it on their own not to mention they will migrate anyway. They may do some short flights around the house now and then and then one day never come back and once they do you'll be sad but know you gave them the chance at a good life. I raised a couple of wild mallards one comes back every year for 5 years and the other never came back.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

No matter how used to humans you think they are they will not hang out with people when released. Once they are full wing and capable of flying keep heir enclosure open so they can come and go. It is illegal to keep them enclosed. There is no need to find a place to release them they will do it on their own not to mention they will migrate anyway. They may do some short flights around the house now and then and then one day never come back and once they do you'll be sad but know you gave them the chance at a good life. I raised a couple of wild mallards one comes back every year for 5 years and the other never came back.

The legality of keeping these ducks has been discussed, and once again, I assure that I have no intention whatsoever to keep these ducks. Since the beginning, my plan was to raise healthy ducks and release them to the wild where they belong. As much as I love these ducks, that plan hasn't changed.

Releasing them from my home is doable, since there is some fresh water nearby, and that type of release was also recommended at another reliable Internet source. But, I live on an island (surrounded by salt water) and inland fresh water sources are small, not abundant, and scattered wide. Half the island is well-populated with occasional open space (1-2 acres, if that), while the other half of the island is a protected wildlife preserve. The human population on the island during summer months is up to 20,000, and off-season, it shrinks to 2,000. I expect to be able to release them within the next few weeks, middle to late August. I think they have a better chance with a release at the preserve, if possible, and deal with those predators and dangers rather than adding human and dog variables into that equation.

Thanks for your input. Sadly, I've already prepared myself to never seeing these ducklings again, and I can only pray that they survive and thrive.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

Here's a pic I took a few minutes ago of 2 of the ducklings ... actually juveniles now, eh? A male (standing in back) and female (foreground), I believe. (I have 2 where the face and neck markings are more defined, so I'm guessing those are the males.)

They just passed 7 weeks, so we'll see if they're inclined to start flying in the next week or so.

Rethinking releasing them from the house, so they can access food and water if they want while locating and establishing at nearby fresh water source (there are 1 or 2 ponds nearby, albeit quite small). I also have a huge oak tree in the yard, and adult wood ducks LOVE acorns. As for my concern of peak people population on the island, only a few more weeks and then it's back to school, etc. I need to give it some more thought.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are gorgeous!! You’ve done a great job getting them to this point hopefully they will do fine once they are released.

 

[Serin]

I would release them at the preserve, the habitat is likely to be more suited, wood ducks don't as a rule live by people.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

I would release them at the preserve, the habitat is likely to be more suited, wood ducks don't as a rule live by people.

I agree, but I checked Google Satellite, and there may be 1 small fresh water source throughout the whole preserve. The rest are bays and inlets and will be saltwater, brackish at best. There's a large wooded "open space" area adjacent to our property, with a few more fresh water sources. I'm probably overcautious about people in that area. It's pretty thick and full of ticks. <grin> The downside is that there is hunting in this area. <sigh> Another thought is that the ducklings were rescued in a populated area of the island. It's sort of residential rural, and it was in a "pocket" where homes have 1 or more acres. Although, I can't figure out where she was taking the babies. I'm not seeing any water source on the map. I'll have to ask my friend who was at the rescue.