Hey all! I have quite an interesting story about how I came to be a temporary duckling owner.. I’ll edit this thread later to fill you in!
EDIT (The Story):
So, I'm going to tell you guys the full story - happy parts and sad. I feel like you are all experienced enough to maybe give me some sympathy.
Well, I was headed home from a night of playing billiards. It was around 2:30 am, and outside my neighborhood in the median was an adult duck. I love animals, so I decided to park inside the neighborhood and walk out to help escort him/her across the street. It is a main road - and a lot of drunks were out, so I felt like it was a logical thing to do.
So, I'm walking to the main road from the neighborhood, and then out of nowhere this flock of ducklings b-line (coming from the main road) directly to me. I'm like "no no no no, I'm not your mom!!!" But they didn't listen. So, walking backwards, I led them to my car slowly and noticed there was one little straggler. It looked like his foot was hurt as he kept tripping and couldn't seem to walk properly. I slowed down a bit to help him keep up.
Keep in mind, our family has 3-4 small dogs so my "sweeping feet" motion was in full effect. (Not regular steps). However, it wasn't enough. As I was leading them to the car, one of the little guys dashed under my foot at the exact moment I was sliding it backwards. I felt like I BARELY stepped on the guy, but it was enough...
I was/still am so upset with myself. At this time I had no idea they could move like that so I was totally unprepared.
After swearing myself and nearly crying, I scooped the remaining 3 into my trunk and went to check where the mom was. I didn't see her where I initially saw her on the road, so I listened. I heard quacking about 200 yards away in the opposite direction. So, I drove very slowly over to a church parking lot where the parent was sitting. I parked a decent distance away and was excited to safely reunite the family. However, when I opened the door, she took off flying. (Like far away). I listened for 10-15 minutes for more quacking. Nothing. Then I began to hear coyotes. No way I was leaving these little guys.
So, I called the non-emergency. An officer stopped by, and couldn't do anything (I figured but at that time there isn't anyone else to call).
Well, I took them home and got in touch with animal control in the morning. They said there isn't any rescue nearby for them and that they would just "humanely euthanize them!!!" WTF!! NO WAY!!
I drove around for 30 minutes in the area looking for any signs of ducks. Nothing... so, I accepted my fate of being a duck mom. I ordered A TON of stuff for them - I'll update with all that later... but yeah... if you asked me last week about what would happen - I could have never guessed!!!
One unfortunate thing, less than 24 hours later, the gimpy one died. Luckily, that one wasn't on my hands... I'm not sure how he got injured... but he wasn't doing well like the others.
That said, I guess I feel a bit guilt about it all so I'm doing everything in my power to give these guys a good life.
For now, I had 2 questions. I’ve done research and found conflicting opinions.
First is their feed. I have the starter pellets mixed in with some brewers yeast. If I leave the feed in, that is their favorite thing to do! Should I ration it? Or is it okay to let them eat as much as they want?
Second, it seems their chest area is pretty swollen. Is this their crop? Could this be harmful? I ordered grit as I had fed them some finely chopped up mealworms 2 days ago.
I’m new to all this, as I came home last week to some baby ducks who lost their mom. Long story short I found her considerably far away, and tried to reunite them but she flew away
Thanks in advance!!
EDIT (The Story):
So, I'm going to tell you guys the full story - happy parts and sad. I feel like you are all experienced enough to maybe give me some sympathy.
Well, I was headed home from a night of playing billiards. It was around 2:30 am, and outside my neighborhood in the median was an adult duck. I love animals, so I decided to park inside the neighborhood and walk out to help escort him/her across the street. It is a main road - and a lot of drunks were out, so I felt like it was a logical thing to do.
So, I'm walking to the main road from the neighborhood, and then out of nowhere this flock of ducklings b-line (coming from the main road) directly to me. I'm like "no no no no, I'm not your mom!!!" But they didn't listen. So, walking backwards, I led them to my car slowly and noticed there was one little straggler. It looked like his foot was hurt as he kept tripping and couldn't seem to walk properly. I slowed down a bit to help him keep up.
Keep in mind, our family has 3-4 small dogs so my "sweeping feet" motion was in full effect. (Not regular steps). However, it wasn't enough. As I was leading them to the car, one of the little guys dashed under my foot at the exact moment I was sliding it backwards. I felt like I BARELY stepped on the guy, but it was enough...
I was/still am so upset with myself. At this time I had no idea they could move like that so I was totally unprepared. After swearing myself and nearly crying, I scooped the remaining 3 into my trunk and went to check where the mom was. I didn't see her where I initially saw her on the road, so I listened. I heard quacking about 200 yards away in the opposite direction. So, I drove very slowly over to a church parking lot where the parent was sitting. I parked a decent distance away and was excited to safely reunite the family. However, when I opened the door, she took off flying. (Like far away). I listened for 10-15 minutes for more quacking. Nothing. Then I began to hear coyotes. No way I was leaving these little guys.
So, I called the non-emergency. An officer stopped by, and couldn't do anything (I figured but at that time there isn't anyone else to call).
Well, I took them home and got in touch with animal control in the morning. They said there isn't any rescue nearby for them and that they would just "humanely euthanize them!!!" WTF!! NO WAY!!
I drove around for 30 minutes in the area looking for any signs of ducks. Nothing... so, I accepted my fate of being a duck mom. I ordered A TON of stuff for them - I'll update with all that later... but yeah... if you asked me last week about what would happen - I could have never guessed!!!
One unfortunate thing, less than 24 hours later, the gimpy one died. Luckily, that one wasn't on my hands... I'm not sure how he got injured... but he wasn't doing well like the others.
That said, I guess I feel a bit guilt about it all so I'm doing everything in my power to give these guys a good life.
For now, I had 2 questions. I’ve done research and found conflicting opinions.
First is their feed. I have the starter pellets mixed in with some brewers yeast. If I leave the feed in, that is their favorite thing to do! Should I ration it? Or is it okay to let them eat as much as they want?
Second, it seems their chest area is pretty swollen. Is this their crop? Could this be harmful? I ordered grit as I had fed them some finely chopped up mealworms 2 days ago.
I’m new to all this, as I came home last week to some baby ducks who lost their mom. Long story short I found her considerably far away, and tried to reunite them but she flew away
Thanks in advance!!
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