Do wild ducks leave their mom? If so, when?

[ktrayn]

7 baby ducks hatched in the pond behind my house and I've watched them grow over the past few months. There's the mom, 3 females and 4 males. I noticed they started flying a few weeks ago. They have stayed together the whole time but this morning I noticed one of the males missing. D of you think he went to another neighborhood pond? Is it normal for them to leave their mom? There are no other ducks in the pond so do they all eventually leave? I'm trying to understand because I'm now worried something happened to him. Can anyone she'd some light on their behavior in the wild? Do you think he will ever come back? Do they normally move around from pond to pond?

 

[PINOAK RIDGE]

ok, i definitely will. Do you know what kind i should buy and where is the best place to buy it? should i search local or buy online?

any information and help will be greatly appreciated.

also, i'm not sure where they sleep at night, is there anything i should be doing to help keep them safe?

regards, kristin

Kristin,

I agree those ducks have definitely been around people at some point. When they see you, they are happy to see the lady bringing treats.

I would suggest buying local rather than online, due to shipping expenses. You should be able to locate a quality poultry or waterfowl pellet. Not sure what stores are in your area. Tractor supply? Co-Op? Purina Mill? Nutrena? Rural King? or etc. Maybe do an online search for poultry feed near your location?


If you are planning to catch them and relocate to your yard, it looks like it wouldn't be too difficult. Just put up a temporary pen, dog kennel or etc and toss the corn and snacks inside. I don't think you would have too much trouble closing a gate behind them. Then catching them inside the pen to transport. Once they are at your home, I would keep them confined for about a week & trim the primary feathers, so they don't just fly back to that pond.

Depending on what type predators you have in your area may influence what type protection you provide.

 

[Kathysue]

I rehab abandoned ducklings and over last summer, raised about 50 orphans. Once they were about 3-4 weeks old, I started to introduce them to fruits and vegetables. BYC has a great list in the Duck Thread of ducks' food preferences and I found this list very accurate. I did introduce new treats slowly as they are quite reluctant to try new things. I have two different types of ducks - Black Bellied Whistlers and Mallards and they are definitely different in terms of what they like. I did find that both seemed to enjoy picking at a piece of watermelon- especially if I put it in a little water so they could drink the "watermelon juice".

 

[chickens really]

Yes.....Wild Ducks leave the Mothers at a young age....The Drakes are usually the first to venture off.....He probably left and is on another pond.....Wild Ducks do not mate for life, they mate for a season......

Have no worries.....A few will come back in the spring to continue using your pond as a place to raise their Ducklings.....



Cheers!

 

[PINOAK RIDGE]

Junebuggena, is correct. Muscovy ducks are not a wild species native to Florida. Most likely they are escapees or someone "turned them loose" once their cuteness wore off.

Ducks are an amazing and hearty species. One of the animals that if the babies loose their mother at an early age, they actually have a chance at survival due to their strong instincts. They are a flock animal and the babies will naturally stay together until after fledgling stage. True wild ducks still leave their mother and go off to find mates of their own. Often the females will return to the area where they were raised and bring back a mate, but it can depend on bird population density. Males tend to travel farther abroad and not return to the hatching area. Think of it as mother natures way of limiting inbreeding, which can be detrimental to the species.

Corn is often given to waterfowl and they like. Commercial feed often has a corn base already. Other treat options could be: peas, cheerios, crickets, meal worms, minnows and more.

Isn't it amazing how a large heavy muscovy drake can flush and take flight? Muscovies are good flyers and often surprise people, as they see them as big heavy domestic ducks and often think this duck is too big to fly.

Hope this helps and keep enjoying the ducks.

 

[PINOAK RIDGE]

I threw out some feed in the water this morning, they were just swimming over so I was able to get the food in the water before they actually got out and on land. They all ate it pretty enthusiastically so I'm thrilled. I'm happy they like it and will get some good nutrition unlike the starchy corn.

Now I have this small bag of dehydrated meal worms, I don't know what to do with. Would you want it, would your chickens/ducks eat them? I can mail them to you if you want to send me your address: [email protected]

I'll get some more videos and post on YouTube real soon.

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

Yea! Glad to hear they gobbled up the food. I figured they would. Ducks are just so funny about tasting new things and it often takes them a bit. Thank you for your kind offer. I look forward to you tube links. Congratulations on a successful endeavor! I can just imagine how happy you must be.

 

[PINOAK RIDGE]

Where are you located and what breed of duck are we talking about?

 

[ktrayn]

Where are you located and what breed of duck are we talking about? 

I'm located in Tampa Florida and the ducks are Muscovy. I'm such a huge animal lover and to think something bad happened to him is breaking my heart.
I have noticed as the 4 males got older they would get a little more aggressive with each other.
I love to watch them. I have fed them corn on occasion but want to be very careful not to make them dependant on me for food. Is that bad? Should I not give them corn as a treat?

 

[ktrayn]

Yes.....Wild Ducks leave the Mothers at a young age....The Drakes are usually the first to venture off.....He probably left and is on another pond.....Wild Ducks do not mate for life, they mate for a season......

Have no worries.....A few will come back in the spring to continue using your pond as a place to raise their Ducklings.....



Cheers!

That's such a relief. Thank you sooo much!

 

[chickens really]

Quote:

Now you know.......


Cheers!!