Growing pekin duck advise

[sashisashuni]

sorry if my english is not good, i speak spanish more.

A few weeks ago my neighbors son who is 11 thought it was a good idea to order baby ducks on tiktok shop without his mothers permission. They arrived at their house on june 27th and looked like the first picture. However, around 6 days ago she decided that she couldn’t take care of them anymore because they poop too much on her backyard and she left them in the lake but they found their way back to her house and since she wasn’t letting them in the house, they were roaming around on the street!

I can’t see an animal get hurt or abandoned and I took them in but, I am NOT CUT OUT FOR THIS!! I have a backyard that’s open to the lake but they’d rather sit on my hard floor backyard and just poop in my floor. They follow me around if I go outside and they never go to the lake alone unless I take them. I also don’t have a very good setup for them to sleep in. The best thing I could do was just put them in a big storage bin with two pee pads from my dog and a little thing of water that i put cut up cucumbers in at night. This doesn’t give them any room to roam around or move that much and every morning they wake up with poop all over their bottom half because they were basically sleeping in it. They have grown a lot and they look like the second picture now.

In my lake their are many muscovy ducks and I’m afraid they’re going to try to do something to them because they come to my house and try to eat their food (that I put in a little storage container that I fill up with water and duck food).

I’m still in high school and I’m afraid that when classes start up in August, they’ll still be dependent on me and something will happen while I’m gone. Is there anyway I can slowly make them go more into the lake and live independently?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Very nice of you to take them in. They are dependent on you, domestic ducklings/ducks are not like wild or even feral Muscovy they were created to be taken care of by humans and don’t have the skills to live by themselves find food and safe places to sleep to be protected from predators most can’t fly. Have you thought of trying to find a safe home for them?

 

[sashisashuni]

Very nice of you to take them in. They are dependent on you, domestic ducklings/ducks are not like wild or even feral Muscovy they were created to be taken care of by humans and don’t have the skills to live by themselves find food and safe places to sleep to be protected from predators most can’t fly. Have you thought of trying to find a safe home for them?

You don’t think they could learn to “be ducks” by seeing the other ducks in the lake? I take them out to the lake and they hunt for little fish and tadpoles and they eat the grass and things they find next to the lake. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh they can learn and it sounds like they are but where will they sleep at night being on the lake they will have flying predators after them. They look too young to be on the lake by themselves maybe in a few months they will even go down by themselves but now they are still babies. They need protection from predators. Plus as young as they are adult Muscovy drakes may get after them to mate and they are way too young for that. They are precious.

 

[SilverBirds]

You don’t think they could learn to “be ducks” by seeing the other ducks in the lake? I take them out to the lake and they hunt for little fish and tadpoles and they eat the grass and things they find next to the lake. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

Domestic ducks will never learn to be truly wild ducks. They don't have all the necessary skills to survive long without human care, especially your ducklings. Domestic ducks do not have the ability to fly which means they are an easy target for predators and bad people. They are also unafraid of humans which may cause them to wander into roads, yards, etc. which can lead to disastrous situations. It's also very likely that the adult Muscovies will bully and even kill the ducklings. I strongly recommend finding them a home where they can live happily with someone who knows how to properly care for them. They seem very sweet and deserve to live the best life they can.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Domestic ducks will never learn to be truly wild ducks. They don't have all the necessary skills to survive long without human care, especially your ducklings. Domestic ducks do not have the ability to fly which means they are an easy target for predators and bad people. They are also unafraid of humans which may cause them to wander into roads, yards, etc. which can lead to disastrous situations. It's also very likely that the adult Muscovies will bully and even kill the ducklings. I strongly recommend finding them a home where they can live happily with someone who knows how to properly care for them. They seem very sweet and deserve to live the best life they can.

 

[ruthhope]

Where are you based, @sashisashuni ?

We might be able to advise on rehoming if we know your city and state

 

[CoriM]

Absolutely, try to rehome them and post here on BYC to see if anyone can take them. They are domesticated animals that need protection and food and it's not fair to them to dump them on a lake. You can also post on Craigslist and any local listings near you to see if anyone who owns ducks is willing to take them. Where are you located?