Is this a good enough feed for a baby duckling?

[Cocelean]

Have you read any of the articles here on BYC about assisting a hatch and when to assist?
@Cocelean

I did read through them but even then I'm still not hundred percent sure about my situation - I just got advice on the other thread though, they told me it's better to wait till day 30 so I'll do that and hope for the best! Thank you for tagging them !

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I don't want to dissuade you from getting another duck and generally I'm all for it because I believe they should have a flock. However, in your situation it sounds like it's not an optimal environment for even one duck since you mentioned it would be on the balcony.
We've seen a similar situation unfold on BYC.
I'm not sure why you decided to incubate eggs. If the one does hatch, I would set it up with a mirror and a stuffed animal until you rehome it to the farm. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. However, they do cry a lot when left alone. Singletons also tend to cry a lot at night. So, I hope you're ready for it to be totally dependent on you.

I did read through them but even then I'm still not hundred percent sure about my situation - I just got advice on the other thread though, they told me it's better to wait till day 30 so I'll do that and hope for the best! Thank you for tagging them !

I saw that! I do hope it hatches since you've worked so hard.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Oh I didn't realise they would get depressed! There's someone in the house all day every day, and since it's holidays for me I'm also going to be here pretty much 24/7 for a month so the duckling would never be alone, but I'll definitely try getting a duckling closer in age! The only issue is there are only three rehab centers and they're a bit far from where I live so I don't know if I'll get any luck but I'll try calling around and see if the have a duckling available - if not, I'll see if my friend has a much more recent hatch. Would a couple of day's difference still be fine?

By the way your duckling is adorable!

I have introduced ducklings that were as much as a week apart.
You may have to just take it slow and let them see but not touch each other for a little while.
Expect a little bit of bullying, sometimes they just need to sort it out for a few minutes just watch them to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.
Put a little mirror in with your single one that hatches so it can get used to seeing another duck.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

i’m sorry but ducklings need to have duck food or they’ll have leg issues and won’t be able to walk. you also need to have atleast two ducks, having just one is just mean.

Chick starter is fine for ducklings as long as you add a niacin supplement.

 

[DukesDucks]

Waiting for hatching is really tough. Don't be too quick to "help" as you can easily do more harm than good. Pip to fully hatched can take a long time. Imagine being all quashed in an egg and trying to break through with just your beak. Hard work and the duckling is going to take breaks to rest.
Good luck and keep posting progress.

 

[Cocelean]

I don't want to dissuade you from getting another duck and generally I'm all for it because I believe they should have a flock. However, in your situation it sounds like it's not an optimal environment for even one duck since you mentioned it would be on the balcony.
We've seen a similar situation unfold on BYC.
I'm not sure why you decided to incubate eggs. If the one does hatch, I would set it up with a mirror and a stuffed animal until you rehome it to the farm. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. However, they do cry a lot when left alone. Singletons also tend to cry a lot at night. So, I hope you're ready for it to be totally dependent on you.


I saw that! I do hope it hatches since you've worked so hard.

Well there was a really sad incident that happened a couple of months back where a crow dropped a what looked to be a day old duckling outside my window - it survived that and was running around crying but it was on the station roof and my window doesn't open completely for safety reasons so I had no way of reaching it. I spoke to the station staff and they said they'd contact pest control because they weren't allowed to go onto the roof (should've probably called the fire brigade but I can't talk on the phone because of major anxiety issues and just hoped for the best). I'd spent a couple of hours at the window with the duckling outside and grew attached for the simple reason that it ran over when it heard my voice, and then in the end the crow that dropped it took it again. So I knew I'd hatch a duckling at some point to override that guilt I still have - maybe not the best reason to do something like this. And then I started volunteering at a farm, got some eggs and since I had an incubator on hand (kinda bought it in advance for the day I'm able to hatch eggs ), I just thought why not without really thinking it'd work, and now here I am with a duckling progressed really far along. I've got a transparent (those c&c kind of ones but clear plastic without grids) enclosure set up in my room as a brooder with a heat lamp, and a shallow water bowl and of course the feed. I also have a tub they can swim in (haven't placed it in since the duckling can't use it yet because it'll drown) and way more than enough duckweed (have an explosion of them in my storage tank - and I remember seeing someone raising ducklings put them in a sink with duckweeds and other things where he gave it a swim time every day)

The ducking wouldn't be on the balcony, it'll be inside for most of winter (it won't get warmer until I think around February in the UK if it follows previous weather) and I don't think ducklings aren't supposed to be outside for the first 5-6 weeks? Unless it's short periods in good weather but we've had nothing but wind and rain the last few days and cold weather so I was planning to raise it in the warmth of the house for the first couple of weeks until it's of age and stronger to withstand the outdoor environment and it's less harsh - at which point it'll go onto the farm where it'll slowly introduced to a flock, if that's ok? Or would a duckling need an outside environment from the beginning?

I'll also try the mirror, and I'll definitely give the duckling a stuffed animal.

And thank you! I honestly can't believe a whole month passed since I started incubating the egg, it went by far too quickly

 

[Cocelean]

I have introduced ducklings that were as much as a week apart.
You may have to just take it slow and let them see but not touch each other for a little while.
Expect a little bit of bullying, sometimes they just need to sort it out for a few minutes just watch them to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.
Put a little mirror in with your single one that hatches so it can get used to seeing another duck.

Oh ok that's good to hear (except for the bullying of course but that's understandable) - I'll start calling around tomorrow so everything's in place and ready whichever route I end up going down

 

[Cocelean]

Waiting for hatching is really tough. Don't be too quick to "help" as you can easily do more harm than good. Pip to fully hatched can take a long time. Imagine being all quashed in an egg and trying to break through with just your beak. Hard work and the duckling is going to take breaks to rest.
Good luck and keep posting progress.

Thats true - I'll give the duckling a few more days till day 30/31 before I try to intervene. I'm pretty impatient so I keep telling myself I've waited 28 days, virtually a month so I can hold on for another two to three days - that's the only way I've been able to resist the urge to help lol.
And thank you, I'll definitely keep you all updated !

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Well there was a really sad incident that happened a couple of months back where a crow dropped a what looked to be a day old duckling outside my window - it survived that and was running around crying but it was on the station roof and my window doesn't open completely for safety reasons so I had no way of reaching it. I spoke to the station staff and they said they'd contact pest control because they weren't allowed to go onto the roof (should've probably called the fire brigade but I can't talk on the phone because of major anxiety issues and just hoped for the best). I'd spent a couple of hours at the window with the duckling outside and grew attached for the simple reason that it ran over when it heard my voice, and then in the end the crow that dropped it took it again. So I knew I'd hatch a duckling at some point to override that guilt I still have - maybe not the best reason to do something like this. And then I started volunteering at a farm, got some eggs and since I had an incubator on hand (kinda bought it in advance for the day I'm able to hatch eggs ), I just thought why not without really thinking it'd work, and now here I am with a duckling progressed really far along. I've got a transparent (those c&c kind of ones but clear plastic without grids) enclosure set up in my room as a brooder with a heat lamp, and a shallow water bowl and of course the feed. I also have a tub they can swim in (haven't placed it in since the duckling can't use it yet because it'll drown) and way more than enough duckweed (have an explosion of them in my storage tank - and I remember seeing someone raising ducklings put them in a sink with duckweeds and other things where he gave it a swim time every day)

The ducking wouldn't be on the balcony, it'll be inside for most of winter (it won't get warmer until I think around February in the UK if it follows previous weather) and I don't think ducklings aren't supposed to be outside for the first 5-6 weeks? Unless it's short periods in good weather but we've had nothing but wind and rain the last few days and cold weather so I was planning to raise it in the warmth of the house for the first couple of weeks until it's of age and stronger to withstand the outdoor environment and it's less harsh - at which point it'll go onto the farm where it'll slowly introduced to a flock, if that's ok? Or would a duckling need an outside environment from the beginning?

I'll also try the mirror, and I'll definitely give the duckling a stuffed animal.

And thank you! I honestly can't believe a whole month passed since I started incubating the egg, it went by far too quickly

I knew there was a reason.
I didn't think the duck would be on the balcony - I just mentioned it in my reply for context. The duckling will need to be in a brooder until fully feathered. So, you're doing the right thing as far as the set up. It sounds like you've thought this out and have a plan.

 

[DukesDucks]

The last time I had eggs in the final stages of hatching I actually set a timer for 2 hours at a time, and made myself not peak in between times.