Orphaned duck help please

[Brodeebro]

Found a wandering baby duck in downtOwn San Antonio today and are in a hotel til Sunday. I set him/her up in a laundry basket. Paper towel floor. With a small lamp on it for a little warmth. Can he survive on cornmeal and water til Sunday. It eats and drinks just fine and seems to have imprinted on us. Hes been eating the cornmeal and water mix all day and seems to have energy. Any help/suggestions would be awesome! thanks

 

[LindsayB]

Can you estimate how old the baby duck is? It will definitely need chick starter, and maybe a heat lamp if its really young.

 

[DuckLover179]

He needs duckling crumbles, and niacin. If you cannot get niacin yet, then give him some peas, they have natural niacin in them. You can get niacin at walgreens, the dosage is 100mg per gallon. Hope this helps!

Oh, you will also need a heat lamp designed for poultry. If he looks 1 week old, then it needs to be 90 degrees, and lower it 5 degrees each week.

ETA: I forgot to add, niacin helps his bones get strong while he grows, so he doesn't get spraddle leg.

 

[Duckchick2011]

It might be a little muscovy duck, there are lots of feral populations there, and always in the last place you would think to find them...cornmeal and water...I'm not sure, ducks like corn but the little guy is going to need more than that...try supplementing with mashed up peas and very finely chopped lettuces(not ice burg or spinach) and friuts(like grapes) and vegies(like brocolli)They really like worms too even plain yogurt and cottage cheese(these are mostly treats though). I reemphasize finely chopped and no seeds, it is not hard to choke a duckling, oh, and you must always have water nearby but generally nothing over ankle deep(his ankle)(even though he is a duck, at this age he is not water proof and will drowned if left alone in anything deeper). He can swim you just can't leave him unattended is what I mean.

What he really needs is chick starter from a nearby feed store, one specifically formulated for ducklings if you could manage to get a bag of that and an actual heat lamp you would be set.

If you cannot manage any of this, keep doing what your doing and make sure he stays warm and has plenty of water to drink...I apologize if I have only told you things you already knew but I though I would cover the basics.

Like ducklover said...

 

[Brodeebro]

Thank y'all. I assumed it would be just like all my quail chicks. The best I could do tonight is a 40 watt bulb just a few inches off the base of the cage. I know that he is just a hatchling cause he still had the powdery stuff that dried on him from hatching. Also I'm pretty sure he's a mallard cause thats the only kind of duck we saw st the river walk. I will try the niacin if I can find it at walgreens in the morning. I also put a lil pinch of sugar in his water for a boost. I guess we will see!

 

[DuckLover179]

He could either be Mallard or Rouen then. Does he have 2 eye stripes or one? Rouen= 2 stripes, mallard= 1. Aside from that they both would look the same. Put in a hot water bottle under a towel, to keep him warm for the night, along with a stuffed animal.

 

[Brodeebro]

It's a one striper. And I think a hot water bottle is a great idea! Thanks