Found a Duckling

[cachal]

Someone found a duckling all alone and gave it to my dad. We knew he couldn't live on his own so we put him in a cardboard box and kept him overnight.

We put towels down in the box and gave him a heated water bottle to sleep on.

He is eating boiled egg and seems to really like it. He also eats wet Quaker Oats. He won't eat cooked white rice.

He gets loud when he's alone in the box. He likes to be held and he slept on my neck when I took a nap.

I'm looking for guidance on caring for him so that he will be happy and healthy. From what I can tell he is a few days old and he is a mallard. (I'm saying 'he' but I really don't know the sex).

 

[chickens really]

Call a wildlife rehab and they will take it in..

 

[Miss Lydia]

Taking care of a wild duckling is illegal and probably for many reason but one is what do you do with it after it is grown? Once you begin caring for them it's not a good idea to just think okay now he can go back into the wild doesn't work like that the wild duckling has be come dependent on you for food and care. Best thing to go is call fish and game and they can get you in touch with a water fowl rehabbers in your area who is trained in how to care for with eventual release back into the wild. A lot of these ducklings die because they don't get proper feed. Cooked rice and boiled egg isn't proper diet they need feed for duckling/chicks.

 

[cachal]

Taking care of a wild duckling is illegal and probably for many reason but one is what do you do with it after it is grown? Once you begin caring for them it's not a good idea to just think okay now he can go back into the wild doesn't work like that the wild duckling has be come dependent on you for food and care. Best thing to go is call fish and game and they can get you in touch with a water fowl rehabbers in your area who is trained in how to care for with eventual release back into the wild. A lot of these ducklings die because they don't get proper feed. Cooked rice and boiled egg isn't proper diet they need feed for duckling/chicks.

Thank you. I didn't know if we should just put him back where the person said they found him. I didn't think to call fish and game. Thanks.

 

[Lil Drake40]

It would def end up as lunch for something if just put back where it was found

 

[cachal]

It would def end up as lunch for something if just put back where it was found

I live in a very rural community so I don't have access to heating lamps and chick feed. Do you have any suggestions for what I could feed him? He looks to be just a few days old.

 

[Lil Drake40]

Did it eat any of the egg? If your rural if in a farming community there should be a feed or hardware store that sells feed for poultry? Tractor supply. Did you call fish and game? Will it drink? If yo have reg oatmeal you could grind some add a little warm water and see if it will eat that . But it really needs reg poultry feed to make it.

 

[cachal]

Did it eat any of the egg? If your rural if in a farming community there should be a feed or hardware store that sells feed for poultry? Tractor supply. Did you call fish and game? Will it drink? If yo have reg oatmeal you could grind some add a little warm water and see if it will eat that . But it really needs reg poultry feed to make it.

No stores but I can talk to some people who have chicken coups. It's drinking lots of water. We tried feeding it soaked Quaker Oats and he ate a bit. I'm not sure how much their suppose to eat? So I don't know if it's too much or too little. He bites randomly at the ground but won't eat bits of food we give him.

 

[Lil Drake40]

Well their tiny so they won’t eat a lot. But they need to eat. Sounds like your planning on keeping it? If so you need to get it set up with feed and a brooder to keep it warm and safe. And it’s going to need company they really don’t do well on their own. They are flock animals a stuffed animal and a non breakable mirror can help.

 

[cachal]

Well their tiny so they won’t eat a lot. But they need to eat. Sounds like your planning on keeping it? If so you need to get it set up with feed and a brooder to keep it warm and safe. And it’s going to need company they really don’t do well on their own. They are flock animals a stuffed animal and a non breakable mirror can help.

I have to talk with the others I live with. I think they want to keep it but as of right now he gets loud when I'm not around.

What do you think would happen if we introduced him to a group of mallards that live in a lake near us once he got a bit bigger?