Please help

[laynerleen]

I really need advice please. We homed 2 very pekin ducklings had them 2 weeks now. I have 3 children 16,11 and 2 (nearly 3)
today my 2 £yr old got hold of one off them and roughed it up he said he dropped it!! I was indoors cooking tea and left him watching TV. The little duckling died in my hands. I can't express how gutted I am. For leaving my son unattended for not being able to save this little duckling and for the little duckling that is left.
my dilemma what do I do. Do I get rid of the remaining one. Do I replace
the lost one so our remaining duck isn't alone. My 11yr old is heart broken. My little son doesn't understand what he's done.
This was the start of us living with ducks. We have chickens and other pets but we were so excited to have ducks on our family. Please help me make sense of this situation. Thanks you

 

[Miss Lydia]

I really need advice please. We homed 2 very pekin ducklings had them 2 weeks now. I have 3 children 16,11 and 2 (nearly 3)
today my 2 £yr old got hold of one off them and roughed it up he said he dropped it!! I was indoors cooking tea and left him watching TV. The little duckling died in my hands. I can't express how gutted I am. For leaving my son unattended for not being able to save this little duckling and for the little duckling that is left.
my dilemma what do I do. Do I get rid of the remaining one. Do I replace
the lost one so our remaining duck isn't alone. My 11yr old is heart broken. My little son doesn't understand what he's done.
This was the start of us living with ducks. We have chickens and other pets but we were so excited to have ducks on our family. Please help me make sense of this situation. Thanks you

So sorry this has happened, a shame a mistake has taken the life of the duckling though. If you really want ducklings/ducks in your family life then I'd say get another duckling you'll know now you can not leave either the ducklings or children unattended with out possibility of heart break. Finding a duckling 2-3 weeks old maybe hard though depending on where you live so if you have to get one younger or older introduce the duckling you have now and the newbie very carefully so they get use to each other.Try not to beat yourself up too much we all have had heartache from one reason or the other when learning,

But to help your lone duckling and you all along the healing process I'd get another duckling as soon as possible.

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Mrs.H]

Sorry Sometimes things just happen. How old is the duck? Maybe try to find it a friend or 2 that are same age before you try rehoming him.

 

[paddock36]

Sorry you lost your duckling

.

One interesting thing about ducklings is if you have only one, they will imprint to you and follow you like you are momma duck. Even if you don't get another one soon the duck will be fine

 

[buff goose guy]

I really need advice please. We homed 2 very pekin ducklings had them 2 weeks now. I have 3 children 16,11 and 2 (nearly 3)
today my 2 £yr old got hold of one off them and roughed it up he said he dropped it!! I was indoors cooking tea and left him watching TV. The little duckling died in my hands. I can't express how gutted I am. For leaving my son unattended for not being able to save this little duckling and for the little duckling that is left.
my dilemma what do I do. Do I get rid of the remaining one. Do I replace
the lost one so our remaining duck isn't alone. My 11yr old is heart broken. My little son doesn't understand what he's done.
This was the start of us living with ducks. We have chickens and other pets but we were so excited to have ducks on our family. Please help me make sense of this situation. Thanks you

Sorry that that happend but it goes to show , that kids and ducks dont mix and u should watch for that in the future

personally i would have spanked my child then again im southern so u might not agree but did he learn his lesson to be careful with the ducks ?

as for the other duckling id give it away to a duck rescue or anyone who wants it

 

[Mrs.H]

The child is almost 3, it was an accident and a lesson learned for the child (somewhat at that age) Kids make mistakes or sometimes don't understand the mistakes yet. Things happen....it's life.

 

[Kleonaptra]

My little girl who is now 4 was an absolute horror at 2 and 3. Worst thing was just when I thought I could trust her I would catch her chasing them or trying to hit them again. Unlike our cats, dogs, ponies or even the chickens and pigeons, the ducks cant defend themselves at all. There were some close calls. I tried yelling, smacking, in the end taking her favourite toys away or time outs in her room did the trick. She is now fantastic with animals, very gentle and caring even teaching her brother and training the dog. So. Sad though it is, tragedy is how we learn.

 

[laynerleen]

Thank you for all your replys, our remaining duckling is going to be very spoilt gor the time being until I can figure out what to do. Of course stricter rules are going to be put in place and my son will be supervised at all times whilst in the garden. I've looked online for local ducklings but unfortunately I've not found any pekin. Would our next purchase have to be of similar age or can I get an older or young duckling? Martin, is roughly 4wks old?
Thanks again for replying it's very much appreciated

 

[BlessedCountry6]

I have 4 kids. One of our ducks died and they all cried. It was the runt though and there was no issues with my kids harming it and it was still a tough loss. A 2 to 3 yr old can't understand something like this. Find it a pal if you can. We love our two ducks and we just got a couple more. They are so entertaining.

I am sorry for your loss and I hope you find a pal. If you don't find another duck do you have a gentle chicken it can bond with? Or a chick you could find to be with it. They grow very quick compared to chickens and it may find a pal in your flock. Who knows.

I wish you the best. Accidents happen. We live and learn.

 

[Kleonaptra]

Thank you for all your replys, our remaining duckling is going to be very spoilt gor the time being until I can figure out what to do. Of course stricter rules are going to be put in place and my son will be supervised at all times whilst in the garden. I've looked online for local ducklings but unfortunately I've not found any pekin. Would our next purchase have to be of similar age or can I get an older or young duckling? Martin, is roughly 4wks old?
Thanks again for replying it's very much appreciated

It doesn't have to be exactly the same age but nearer is better. If you can't match it closely then just watch out for the bigger one bullying the littler one