Newly hatched mallard duckling.

[chickenpal147]

I have a few questions. This year I got two mallard ducks one day they were out during a thunder storm with my chickens. After the storm I went to go check on them and found out that my female duck had gotten scared and flew off. I looked for her for about a week but didn't find her, so I decided to get my little boy some friends so he wouldn't be lonely. I ordered some eggs from ebay and put them in the incubator about a month ago. There were 12 of them one survived and hatched today. The eggs were all developing but then some stopped then I went on vacation for a few days and had my dad turning them when I got home I found out he had been turning them but instead of doing it in a circle he was turning them upside down, two survived, the second one had died 3 days later. What I want to know is what should I do. The little duckling is all by herself and no one by my house is selling baby ducklings not even on craigslist, and I don't want to order 15 from a hatchery because I don't have room for that many. I would put her with my chicks but they are close to a month old and they are bigger than the duckling. Any thoughts on what I should do?

 

[HumbleHen207]

I have raised several lone ducklings and geese. They can be tricky because quite often they will imprint on you, or chirp for their lost pal over and over. I dont think putting him in with your older chicks would be the best idea right now, there is a good chance they would peck him to death. If you could find ducklings that would be the best option, however it is very hard to obtain small orders of ducklings, especially at this time of year. What I have done in this situation is given my duckling, or gosling, a stuffed animal. It may sound silly, but anything they can snuggle up with helps.