I know you shouldn't try to "domesticate" a wild duck and I also know a domesticated duck can't survive in the wild. Which is why I need an answer. How do you tell if a duck is domestic or wild?
I was draining and cleaning our duck pond and I heard my 8 y/o say something to my 6 and 3 y/o's in sort of like a whisper. So i looked up and saw what looked like a baby duck, over by our fire pit making her way to the drain pipe. She started to drink the water that was draining out of the pipe. Where I live is all woods behind us and we only have 1 neighbor on the side of us, which is far enough away that you can't see the house from our house. The house next door is vacant. Across the street is a soccer field and sports complex for indoor sports. We are kind of in the middle of no where and there is no lakes or rivers around.
We have never seen any ducks in the area in the 2 years we have been here. Just ours. You can see our chicken and duck pens from the street, and we don't know of any neighbors on our street that have or have had ducks. So I am trying to figure out if this "baby" is a duck that has been dropped off, or is wild. She looked pretty young. Had the coloring of a rouen, with blue on the tips of the wings. IF this is a wild duck, wouldn't momma be real close by watching over? I didn't see or hear any other ducks.
Since she was drinking from the drained water, I got a handful of food and slowly approached her with the food but she ran then flew. Just a few feet from where i was. So i bent down and put my hand with the food out and started talking to her, but my daughter ran to her (she was excited) and the duck flew off to a tree in the woods. Still didn't hear any other ducks and the "baby" didn't even quack. Do rouens fly? I'm trying to figure out the breed and a possible age. Also need to figure out if it is wild or was dropped off. I have a feeling it will be back at some point, but if it is not wild I would love to add it to our flock so i know it will survive. Any advice or tips would be very appreciated.
I was draining and cleaning our duck pond and I heard my 8 y/o say something to my 6 and 3 y/o's in sort of like a whisper. So i looked up and saw what looked like a baby duck, over by our fire pit making her way to the drain pipe. She started to drink the water that was draining out of the pipe. Where I live is all woods behind us and we only have 1 neighbor on the side of us, which is far enough away that you can't see the house from our house. The house next door is vacant. Across the street is a soccer field and sports complex for indoor sports. We are kind of in the middle of no where and there is no lakes or rivers around.
We have never seen any ducks in the area in the 2 years we have been here. Just ours. You can see our chicken and duck pens from the street, and we don't know of any neighbors on our street that have or have had ducks. So I am trying to figure out if this "baby" is a duck that has been dropped off, or is wild. She looked pretty young. Had the coloring of a rouen, with blue on the tips of the wings. IF this is a wild duck, wouldn't momma be real close by watching over? I didn't see or hear any other ducks.
Since she was drinking from the drained water, I got a handful of food and slowly approached her with the food but she ran then flew. Just a few feet from where i was. So i bent down and put my hand with the food out and started talking to her, but my daughter ran to her (she was excited) and the duck flew off to a tree in the woods. Still didn't hear any other ducks and the "baby" didn't even quack. Do rouens fly? I'm trying to figure out the breed and a possible age. Also need to figure out if it is wild or was dropped off. I have a feeling it will be back at some point, but if it is not wild I would love to add it to our flock so i know it will survive. Any advice or tips would be very appreciated.
