baby wood duck

[joshchickens]

2 days ago my friend found a abadoned baby wood duck and he gave it to me last night. It wont eat or drink anything. What should i do?

 

[Katy]

Have you tried mashed up hard boiled egg yolk?

 

[joshchickens]

no i havent, ive tried a small worm and grass. The problem is its terrified of me so i cant really force it to eat.

 

[Guitartists]

It is probably very lonely! Give it a small stuffed animal for it to snuggle with. Oh, and don;t forget to talk to it lots... little peeps and whistles..... when we got ours two were already too far gone and died, leaving us just the one. If not for the little stuffed rabbit and my mom's constant attention and talking to it... I think it would have died too. I will ask my mom when I get ahold of her... we raised one years ago. Once they get bigger they enjoy crickets and mealy worms and duck weed (those little green tiny plants that float on the surface of the water) Anyhow, I do remember that wood ducks are not like other ducks when it comes to diet. I will post as soon as I can reach her.

 

[Katy]

You might want to find a wildlife rehab to take it to. They'll be set up to handle it feed it correctly. Probably even have some other ducklings this time of year too.

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

You need a permit to own a wood duck (and for some odd reason a mallard as well even though they are so plentiful). So either get a permit or get rid of it (I don't think I should have even mentioned the second option).

 

[joshchickens]

yea i have a permit

 

[Guitartists]

If you can find a rehabilitation center for wildlife,... that IS your BEST option. Otherwise you're looking at almost hourly attention and feeding for it. My mom had to feed our at least every hour or so and required many fresh bugs! Crickets and mealworms can be bought, but theu do not have the same nutritional value as wild bugs. Wood ducks are much like cottontails.... hard to keep alive and very fragile in a sense.

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

Did your friend find the wood duck still in a nest or on the ground?
If they found it in a nest, then you have to drop your baby from a height of about 5 to 6 feet in the air onto the ground.
This is what gets them going in the wild, the Mom duck calls them out of the nest and they drop to the ground, and they follow her off.
They will not start to eat until they drop out of the nest.

A friend had some wood duck nests by their place and the hen left 1 duckling in the nest. They had a wildlife rehab place tell them this and the duckling started eating as soon as they dropped it.

As far as any other suggestions, I have none.

Jean

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

Quote:
I envy you.