Found mallard duckling

[themoose]

Hi,

I found this baby running in the street in front of my house. I'm in old Montréal not too far from the river.

I want to release the duckling but I cannot see any duck families near the river or on the pond near the river. I do see about 3 males however. When and where should I release him ? Should I wait untill he is a little older ? Put him in the pond ?

Help please !!!

Michel.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi,

I found this baby running in the street in front of my house. I'm in old Montréal not too far from the river.

I want to release the duckling but I cannot see any duck families near the river or on the pond near the river. I do see about 3 males however. When and where should I release him ? Should I wait untill he is a little older ? Put him in the pond ?

Help please !!!

Michel.

Be sure to keep duckling warm and offer some warm[not hot ]water to keep it hydrated. do you know of any rescue groups close by that would be willing to take the little one in, It is not uncommon for ducklings to get lost from their family this time of year, but if you release it hasn't a chance of survival. please post back and hopefully if you can find help for the wee one you can raise it up till it's big enough to take care of itself. In the mean time here is some info for you https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

 

[Amykins]

Unless you're 100% sure you've found his real family, DO NOT release it back to the wild. Ducks will not adopt a baby duck if it is not their own.

What you can do in the meantime is keep it warm and offer it a shallow dish of water, large enough for it to dip its beak into but too small to walk in and get wet. If you do not have a heat lamp, place a heating pad underneath a towel and keep it on the lowest setting. Offer it fresh grass and whole wheat grains as food. What I did with my little Chub-Chub was sprinkle some duck starter crumble onto some fresh-cut grass blades and the little guy went nuts over it. For overnight care, place him in a small pet carrier with a heat source and wrapped in a blanket or towel. The more snug and dark it is, the less he'll freak out. If he has enough room to jump around if he possibly panics then he can hurt himself.If he has enough room to jump around a lot, they may panic and hurt themselves flapping about the place.

If you do not want him to imprint on you, wear a hood over your head and try to make yourself look like an amorphous blob: wear gloves, hide your face, etc. It sounds silly, but if you're stuck taking care of the little guy for several days or longer you run the risk of it becoming tame around humans. I had to "un-imprint" Chub-Chub, and it was absolutely heartbreaking.

If all else fails and you cannot find a wildlife rehabilitation center, then congrats, you have a new duck.


And now for the sake of adorableness, here's a photo of lil' Chub-Chub when I first found him:

 

[desertdarlene]

I wouldn't release him, either, because a duckling that size won't last an hour. Ducks do not normally raise strange ducklings and gulls and herons snatch any ducklings that are without a mom for too long. I would give it to someone licensed to handle wildlife or raise it until its old enough to fly. You will need heat lamps, a safe place, food and a water bowl he won't drown himself in or get himself too wet. Good luck.

 

[RubberDuckee]

He needs a lamp or some light over him to keep him warm. You need to provide him with warmth and water. NEXT, contact a local wildlife organization. Sometimes there are laws for his type of circumstance. If a local wildlife organization offers no resolution, you need to contact various vets in your area. Often, someone at a vet's office will take the little duckling in. GOOD LUCK! Don't give up and be persistent! You are all that he has in the world right now.

 

[themoose]

Thank you all for your replies,

The little guy is quite comfortable with the ambiant temperature. I got him a nice comfortable box with a small water bowl and feeding bowl. I'm giving him crushed cereal for now and throwing in a few spiders and ants which he seems to love. He is quite perky and seems in good health.

I'm a bit discouraged of not being able to release him with a family, if I do find one. I thought that ducks took care of small ones even if they are not there own. It was not my intent to raise a duck in downtown Montréal ! I did not find a wildlife org close by

For now I will take it day by day and see what happens.

Please, any further info / opinions are welcome.

Thanks,
Michel.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you all for your replies,

The little guy is quite comfortable with the ambiant temperature. I got him a nice comfortable box with a small water bowl and feeding bowl. I'm giving him crushed cereal for now and throwing in a few spiders and ants which he seems to love. He is quite perky and seems in good health.

I'm a bit discouraged of not being able to release him with a family, if I do find one. I thought that ducks took care of small ones even if they are not there own. It was not my intent to raise a duck in downtown Montréal ! I did not find a wildlife org close by

For now I will take it day by day and see what happens.

Please, any further info / opinions are welcome.

Thanks,
Michel.

Try calling so vets offices and see if they have any options for you. They may know someone who does rehab. I know this is not something you want to do fulltime but there has got to be help for the li duckling just call vets and other organizations like animal shelters and see if they can put in touch with someone who does rehab, maybe go to the grocery store and buy a small box of grit [the kind that is fed to caged birds] because ducklings/ducks don't have teeth to chew their food so he hasn't a way to process what your feeding him after it goes into his crop.

 

[tigertusk]

I would offer commercial duck food crumbles or crushed cereal, etc. My duck got canned veggies and table scraps. He wore ducky diapers even and came to us to change them when they needed it. Which was a LOT. But he did much better when he was big enough to go into the courtyard. Baby ducks don't have the waterproof swim oils so don't think that he can swim, he can't.

 

[tigertusk]

I also think he would enjoy waxworms or the like.

 

[desertdarlene]

Geese will sometimes take care of strange babies, but not ducks. Some ducks don't even take care of their own babies very well. I will try and see if I can find any wildlife rehabbers in your area as soon as I can. I've been at work all day, so I haven't been able to look.

Update: I did find a couple of rehabbers in Montreal, but I don't know exactly where in town they are.

The first one doesn't have an active website and I'm not sure if they're in business anymore, but you can give them a try:

Urban Animal Advocates, Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre
514-366-9965
[email protected]

There's also another one in the southwest region Montérégie (Hudson). Their website is active and has a lot of information:

Le Nichoir Bird Rehabilitation Centre

Le Nichoir Bird Rehabilitation Centre
Tel: 450-458-2809
Web: lenichoir.org/


I will keep looking