found duckling--help

granmahen

Songster
11 Years
Jun 11, 2008
380
5
131
Bakersfield, CA
We live across from a park pond. Dgd found a duckling with some feathers, some fuzz trying to cross busy street. There are some ducks in pond that resemble duckling, but she's afraid they'll attack if it doesn't belong to them...help
 
It was a good idea not to put her back. They would definatly attack her assuming she's an intruder. Your duckling is over 4 weeks old. (you can tell by the ammount of feathers.) She still needs quiet a bit of care. If she's a migratory breed you can bring her to a wildlife rehabber. If she's a domestic you can bring her to a vet, they can assist you. If you choose to keep her here are some guide lines:

For starters she'll need somewhere warm. Nothing to extreme sence she has some feathers. A light bulb at least 2 feet above her in the corner of her living area would work or a heating pad set on low. Be sure she has plenty of space so she can leave the heated area. be sure she has a dish of water where she can drink but not get her self fully wet. she will need food. A duckling starter crumble will work (NOTHING MEDICATED) she should have some finely shreded greens (dandilion greens work great!) with fine granite grit sprinkled over them. (ducklings dont "chew")
Shes old enough to bathe once a day. be sure she's supervised and can easily escape the water. Ducklings can easily drown even when they're a few months old. She will need too be able to dry off after a few min. Ducklings are messy and Keeping her clean, warm and dry is importaint.
Do you know what breed she is? Posting a picture could help me tell you what else you need to know. (breed specific.)
Good luck!
Emily
 
DuckyMom said it all!

I also agree, it's probably not good to put the duckling back with the others if you don't know if he/she belongs there. If it's domestic, it's possible it was dropped off or escaped from someone's pen. If it's a wild one, it would be hard to find the mama amongst a bunch of ducks, so it would be better to take it and give it some help.
 
I would also put a mirror in the cage/brooder/bin (whatever you use for her to live in) to help prevent her from getting lonely.

Michelle
 
My husband and I went fishing two years ago and a little duckling ran up to us and just wouldn't leave. My husband seen a bunch of ducks and ducklings and tried to put it in the water where they were. Fat Chance! That duck was going home with my dh. Those ducks DID try to attack it and scared the daylights out of it. We kept it until it got big enough, and brought it to the Army Corp. park and that guy is doing just great. We go see him every chance we get. Of course now, we have Pekin ducks (at the time we didn't have room for ducks or we would have kept him). But my dh is happy with waddles and aflac.
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