abandoned domestic ducks in Gresham OR park

[seniorsrule2013]

Hi everyone, I am new to chat and new to this site and hope for some advice. Someone dumped about 14 white ducks in our local park (Red Sunset Park) in Gresham OR. Some are almost full-grown youngsters, white with a couple dark spots on the face, one large male is a white with a mohawk on top of the head, two others have red faces and grey and brown bodies. I called our Audobon Society and they recommended a scratch food if I felt the need to feed them. They don't fly and are being fed bread many times a day by park visitors. There are also two large ducks, very dark, almost black with a greenish sheen to them in the sun. Also a pair of very pretty grey ducks with pale yellow on the neck area. If anyone could find a home for even one or two, I would be grateful. We can't afford to feed them much longer.

 

[Zombified]

Well, I wish I could, but in the meantime, could you put up posters asking people not to feed the ducks bread? Bread causes nutritional deficiencies and can easily lead to a duck's death.

If people want to feed, tell them to use a waterfowl feed, or veggies like peas. Even white chicken breast or scrambled eggs.

 

[duckins]

You could try Craigslist or other sources. The bread needs to be stopped right away.....they can snack on plain Cheerios, dry cat food, and the suggestions zombified suggested. This is awful when people abandon their animals. I applaud you for caring and hope something soon works out.

 

[Starkasm]

Maybe when you put up a flyer, you could explain their situation and say they need a home/free for the taking etc?
You may find someone stopping by may want them. Even as you said, if it's one or two that find a home with this person or that person, the homes could add up!

 

[seniorsrule2013]

Thanks for your reply...there are postings about not feeding the ducks, but they are ignored, and except for one old lady, not myself, who does very occasionally bring cracked corn, most of the people bring their children to feed the ducks bread. Even then, the ducks are competing with mallards and geese to get any. I pour the feed on the ground, trying to mound it somewhat, and in a circular pattern so that it isn't walked or pooped on, and in this way the domestics get most of the food. I don't know how much each duck should have in a day, I assume by body weight at least.

 

[seniorsrule2013]

Many good suggestions, thanks everybody...I just posted on Craig's List, praying that good people respond.

 

[Zombified]

There is no poster here, but I'm thinking about making one. People really shouldn't feed wild ducks to begin with, but I'd rather they feed them something good, not something that'll lead to their deaths.

 

[seniorsrule2013]

I totally agree that we should not feed wild ducks; however, the ones I am feeding are domestic, several varieties, that someone has dumped at our park. Could be a farmer in financial distress, I don't know, but maybe someone could come out and catch one or two, actually some came in pairs. If we don't feed the wild ones, they will move on; these domestics cannot fly

 

[Zombified]

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that you were just throwing food willy nilly to wild birds, haha. I don't think anyone else was, either. I was just stating my opinion.

People in my neighborhood don't feed ducks. A lot of us do put out feeders for wild birds, though. The ducks DO frequently go into yards and nom on gardens, but most people accept that and either a) Have gardens inside, or b) Make their gardens inaccessable to wild ducks. Or, they just don't care because they're only growing for a small family. It's the same with rabbits.

 

[seniorsrule2013]

Not at all, you are cool...I can understand how people like us can get very emotional about possible ill-treatment, including feeding the wild ones. No problem