Help!

[Charger7]

We just rescued a baby Muscovy duck, mom and siblings have long passed. This little guy has been on his own 2 weeks in our neighborhood. One of our neighbors has been giving him cat food and bird seen along with fresh water and he has been hiding in the bushes. We got him this morning and aren’t sure about nutrition. He is in a crate in the closet for now. We have 4 month old hens so we have him some of their crumble but wanted to get some advice to give this guy a fighting chance. What a fighter he is!

 

[Miss Lydia]

How precious! Bless you for taking him in. The duckling can eat the crumble as long as it isn’t layer. Just get some Nutritional yeast and sprinkle over his crumbs 1 Tablespoon to a cup of feed water fowl need the niacin for health while the chick crumble doesn’t give. A bowl with a lid and holes so he can dunk his head and wash out his nares and eyes you can put this on top of a Broiler pan etc to help contain the mess.
Something like this

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[quackiemama]

aww you are awesome for taking the little guy in. Congrats!

 

[Duckworth]

Nutritional yeast or brewers yeast add extra B vitamins that are important to proper leg growth on ducks, but isn’t needed by chickens. Baking yeast is different and should not be used.

 

[Charger7]

@misslydia thank you for the tip. I’ll pick up what you suggest and make him/her something as well.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

A mirror might help him not feel quite so alone .

 

[Miss Lydia]

Stuffed animal too.

 

[Ducklover77]

I also want to say thank you for giving this little one a chance. Your a lot like I am. My muscovys are so misunderstood and mistreated by people and thank you again. I am one of them weirdos I call all muscovys mine lol don't mind me. Baby is so precious I have 13 ducklings with my mama right now and I just love them so much.

We just rescued a baby Muscovy duck, mom and siblings have long passed. This little guy has been on his own 2 weeks in our neighborhood. One of our neighbors has been giving him cat food and bird seen along with fresh water and he has been hiding in the bushes. We got him this morning and aren’t sure about nutrition. He is in a crate in the closet for now. We have 4 month old hens so we have him some of their crumble but wanted to get some advice to give this guy a fighting chance. What a fighter he is!

 

[MountainGaurdian]

While I wouldn't feed birds cat food, I did pick up two full grown barred rock hens from a trailer in a trailer park twenty years ago that had been raised on nothing but cat food.

In fact when I pulled up to the mobile home I noticed a ten foot tall by 8 foot wide by about 12 foot long wire pen built beside the mobile under a roof cover. This cage was full of about 30 stray cats... and the two hens.... The wife and I got them home and switched them to grain and layeena and then let them out to free graze once they got used to being there and they lived very long, healthy, productive lives in my flock. The being raised on cat food interestingly didn't seem to hurt them at all.