Help not sure what to do

[Trying to help]

Hi I’m hoping to get some help.. we have a duck that has laid eggs by the back door of our office.. there are tons of cars and big trucks that go thru the area we have been feeding her duck food live worms and giving her water which she eats and drinks.. a male duck tried to strangle her in the parking lot.. which we intervened.. but we don’t know how else to help her.. should we enclose the area?should we move her??? There are lots of homeless people I’m worried if we put something up it would draw attention her…we called FWL and they said they don’t come out for that stuff…once babies are born they most likely would be killed due to the traffic and no real pond or anything..mom is wild Muscovy..can we move her…and how do we do that.. she is becoming more comfortable with us as we’re making sure she is eating and has water.. but we’re in somewhat of a metro area…and she has about 16 eggs-thank you in advance

Quot

 

[nuthatched]

Can you call animal control or wildlife rehab?

 

[Jenbirdee]

yeah if she is wildlife you are really not supposed to do anything except contact a licensed wildlife rehabber. what state/county are you in ? there should be a list online of all the licensed wildlife rehabilitation people in your area that you can call

 

[Trying to help]

yeah if she is wildlife you are really not supposed to do anything except contact a licensed wildlife rehabber. what state/county are you in ? there should be a list online of all the licensed wildlife rehabilitation people in your area that you can call

sorry thought I responded but it did not stick… FWL does nothing respond to these and other rescues seem to be for animals not birds I’ve sent a few messages seeing if they know someone but not heard back

 

[Jenbirdee]

sorry thought I responded but it did not stick… FWL does nothing respond to these and other rescues seem to be for animals not birds I’ve sent a few messages seeing if they know someone but not heard back

what is fwl? florida wild life? Is that a government agency? I am suggesting that they are not the only place you can call , because generally there are people in every county who are just regular citizens that have some farm animals and became interested in caring for and rescuing some wildlife so they got a certificate and they do it out of their home if you can find the list of them for your area that might be helpful. That’s why I asked what county and state you are in so I could try to look up the list for you.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

If she is wild leave her alone. That male duck was not trying to strangle her, but mate with her. Many people freak out when they see how ducks mate at first and think the male is trying to strangle or drown the female. That is just how ducks mate. Most independent wildlife rehabbers won’t bother to help unless you write them a fat check. I called every name on the local government website. I finally found a rehabber to take in a wild bird that had a broken wing. When I first got there she took the bird from me very abruptly not saying a word. She then shoved a ledger in my hand to fill out for money. When I was about to write a check for $500 and started asking questions about where the money was exactly going. She said “vet bills.” Very shortly. I said “what vet do you use?” Because I lived in the area and knew which vets were around. She started to get very angry and said it was none of my business where the money went. Driving up to her house it was a hot mess and practically in shambles and yet I noticed a new car along with a nice boat in her driveway. I have not used an independent rehabber since.

 

[Jenbirdee]

@ruthhope is in florida

 

[Squawkers]

If she is wild leave her alone. That male duck was not trying to strangle her, but mate with her. Many people freak out when they see how ducks mate at first and think the male is trying to strangle or drown the female. That is just how ducks mate. Most independent wildlife rehabbers won’t bother to help unless you write them a fat check. I called every name on the local government website. I finally found a rehabber to take in a wild bird that had a broken wing. When I first got there she took the bird from me very abruptly not saying a word. She then shoved a ledger in my hand to fill out for money. When I was about to write a check for $500 and started asking questions about where the money was exactly going. She said “vet bills.” Very shortly. I said “what vet do you use?” Because I lived in the area and knew which vets were around. She started to get very angry and said it was none of my business where the money went. Driving up to her house it was a hot mess and practically in shambles and yet I noticed a new car along with a nice boat in her driveway. I have not used an independent rehabber since.

Thats ridiculous!

 

[ruthhope]

Hi I’m hoping to get some help.. we have a duck that has laid eggs by the back door of our office.. there are tons of cars and big trucks that go thru the area we have been feeding her duck food live worms and giving her water which she eats and drinks.. a male duck tried to strangle her in the parking lot.. which we intervened.. but we don’t know how else to help her.. should we enclose the area?should we move her??? There are lots of homeless people I’m worried if we put something up it would draw attention her…we called FWL and they said they don’t come out for that stuff…once babies are born they most likely would be killed due to the traffic and no real pond or anything..mom is wild Muscovy..can we move her…and how do we do that.. she is becoming more comfortable with us as we’re making sure she is eating and has water.. but we’re in somewhat of a metro area…and she has about 16 eggs-thank you in advance

Quot

Where in Florida are you? FWC will not help her, and it is against the law for wildlife rehabbers to take muscovy, domestic duck breeds, and from this year mallards.

I frequently get called to the situation you describe. We have a McDonald's by a retention pond. This year a couple of canny mama muscovy, set up a nest right by the side of the door, so that they could waddle a couple of feet and beg for handouts from the customers. Fries ate an awful diet for ducks.

Their nests had literally hundreds of eggs and there were more strewn around. All the females on the pond must have been coming over and laying there. My advice was to clear out the eggs but substitute 12 fake eggs into each nest. Then keep removing eggs dropped there by the other females. If they removed all the eggs without substituting fake eggs, the 2 broody hens woukd just keep laying and that would be nutritionally very bad for them, depleting their stored nutritional levels.

Any eggs that hatch produce ducklings that are quick prey if they get to the pond. I get little fluffies rescued from ponds like this when Mama has lost them or disappeared. There is a high risk of the ducklings getting angel wing because of the poor diet. Feral muscovy with angel wing don't last long as they are easily picked off by predators.

I do not rescue eggs and think that you, @Trying to help should not worry about the eggs. It would be kindest to break up the nest and persuade the Mama duck to move elsewhere.

 

[Trying to help]

Where in Florida are you? FWC will not help her, and it is against the law for wildlife rehabbers to take muscovy, domestic duck breeds, and from this year mallards.

I frequently get called to the situation you describe. We have a McDonald's by a retention pond. This year a couple of canny mama muscovy, set up a nest right by the side of the door, so that they could waddle a couple of feet and beg for handouts from the customers. Fries ate an awful diet for ducks.

Their nests had literally hundreds of eggs and there were more strewn around. All the females on the pond must have been coming over and laying there. My advice was to clear out the eggs but substitute 12 fake eggs into each nest. Then keep removing eggs dropped there by the other females. If they removed all the eggs without substituting fake eggs, the 2 broody hens woukd just keep laying and that would be nutritionally very bad for them, depleting their stored nutritional levels.

Any eggs that hatch produce ducklings that are quick prey if they get to the pond. I get little fluffies rescued from ponds like this when Mama has lost them or disappeared. There is a high risk of the ducklings getting angel wing because of the poor diet. Feral muscovy with angel wing don't last long as they are easily picked off by predators.

I do not rescue eggs and think that you, @Trying to help should not worry about the eggs. It would be kindest to break up the nest and persuade the Mama duck to move elsewhere.

Thank you..for the advice.. we’re in Jacksonville yes we called everywhere we could find…and no one can help like you mentioned . daddy duck watches over when mama takes off so it’s hard to get near the eggs..but he was hit by a car this weekend so he is still around just limping bad and we don’t know what to do…the bad duck that was attacking her was not mating as someone else said it was it was strangled her and pullling her feathers out and she was trying to get away and daddy duck intervened too..we will try to get together with the other business and see who can help as now everyone is taking her food and water and watching after her…about 4 business in our little area thank you