Return Duckling to Mother - Late Hatcher

[Minusthebuff]

Hello all,

This may be a bit of a silly question, but I keep second guessing myself on this..
Yesterday we discovered Burger my 1 year old muscovy duck had successfully hatched 8 babies. Seven of the eight seemed to be at least a day or two old, and 1 of them had looked to have just hatched that day a few hours before we found them.

Burger and the 7 "older" babies were moving around just fine, so we relocated them to a smaller separate hut filled with hay and a shallow water feeder and dish of organic duck crumbles. This 1 "younger" one wasn't moving as much and felt cold so we brought it inside and put it under a heat lamp.

As I post this, the little one is still inside under the heat lamp and everyone else is outside in the hut. I'd like to reunite the lil guy with Burger and her babies but I'm worried the temperature difference will shock the poor thing. It's cloudy and temps are in the 40s with a high of 55 today.

Would it be a bad idea to reunite them? I feel Burger's mommy instincts will kick in and take it back and keep it under her for warmth. It's been almost a day of them being separated. I'd like some second opinions on this. Thank you all!!!
(attached are pictures of the babies when they were first found, burger and Co. Relocated in their hut, and the little one indoors)

 

[sourland]

Many fowl strongly imprint on their young within 24 hours of hatching, and after that view all others as intruders to be attacked. This is especially true if there is a significant color difference. I would monitor closely if you choose to reintroduce the duckling.

 

[ruthhope]

Hello all,

This may be a bit of a silly question, but I keep second guessing myself on this..
Yesterday we discovered Burger my 1 year old muscovy duck had successfully hatched 8 babies. Seven of the eight seemed to be at least a day or two old, and 1 of them had looked to have just hatched that day a few hours before we found them.

Burger and the 7 "older" babies were moving around just fine, so we relocated them to a smaller separate hut filled with hay and a shallow water feeder and dish of organic duck crumbles. This 1 "younger" one wasn't moving as much and felt cold so we brought it inside and put it under a heat lamp.

As I post this, the little one is still inside under the heat lamp and everyone else is outside in the hut. I'd like to reunite the lil guy with Burger and her babies but I'm worried the temperature difference will shock the poor thing. It's cloudy and temps are in the 40s with a high of 55 today.

Would it be a bad idea to reunite them? I feel Burger's mommy instincts will kick in and take it back and keep it under her for warmth. It's been almost a day of them being separated. I'd like some second opinions on this. Thank you all!!!
(attached are pictures of the babies when they were first found, burger and Co. Relocated in their hut, and the little one indoors)

It's a good idea to try and reunite them soonest. If the mother accepts the late arrival, she will keep it warm. The longer it is separated the less is the chance the mama duck will accept it back

 

[Minusthebuff]

Thank you guys for your advice! I did end up bringing the duckling outside to Burger's nest (once it hit the warmest it was gonna be today)

Burger was huffing at me because I had one of her babies but she didn't do anything to the duckling. She just stood her ground over her kids and let the little one crawl into the pile of babies underneath her.

I did stay with them for about 45 min just to make sure everything went okay though. She didn't try to kick it out or attacking it or anything, so I think she still thinks that's her baby
Thank you both again!!!