What breed/sex/age is this duck?

[ConfusedRoxie]

I live in Washington and we've had a fair bit of smoke from the fires. On a particularly bad day, this little cutie wandered into our yard and never left. We don't know the age/gender/breed but it cant fly and hardly makes any noise (ive read males tend to be almost silent?) I've been feeding it a mix of bird seeds, oats, and bugs. I want to order some duck food for it. Thats where you come in ! I want to get the right food so I need to know an approximate age and breed. Gender would be nice to know. We're assuming it's a baby mallard? It doesnt have it's wings.

 

[TomCahalan]

First of all, it needs grit. Ducks don't have teeth and don't chew in their mouths. Instead a duck swallows small rocks and uses them to chew in its gizzard. Normally this is purchased at a farm/feed store. A big shovelful of gravely soil might do the trick, this will allow the duck to pick out its preferred size. If you give the duck nothing but commercial feed, then it doesn't need grit.

Next, get it a nutritious food. I recommend game bird starter. It is very nutritious so it is able to meet the requirements of a wide range of duck species.

 

[ducksinvt]

Mazuri makes great food products, you can get it on chewy.com. you are definitely going to want to predator proof his living situation if he is outside, get him a good-sized waterer deep enough so he can wash/blow his nostrils out and keep clean

@isaac o @Miss Lydia @casportpony

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Do you have any pictures from the top down of it's bill? It's bill at the one angle almost reminds me of a young Northern Shoveler hen who can have similar coloring to a Mallard. As far as care goes at this age I would go with either a grower or flock maintenance feed. Some people like grower feeds, but I prefer the lower protein of a maintenance feed at this age (I use Kalmbach flock maintainer ordered from Chewy.com). The duck looks to be 2-3 months old. It will need water deep enough to fully submerge it's head, some sort of shelter to at the very least get out of the wind (even a dog house will do). What are your long term plans? I'm not familiar with Washington's wildlife laws or whether they would even be enforced with this type of situation. If you do keep it longer-term a predator proof coop/run would be ideal along with at least another duck or two so it doesn't get lonely. If you are just sheltering it until the fires are over and things calm down there in washington even a small dog house would do for shelter. I attached a pic of norther shovelers from the wildlife and game service.

 

[ConfusedRoxie]

Do you have any pictures from the top down of it's bill? It's bill at the one angle almost reminds me of a young Northern Shoveler hen who can have similar coloring to a Mallard. As far as care goes at this age I would go with either a grower or flock maintenance feed. Some people like grower feeds, but I prefer the lower protein of a maintenance feed at this age (I use Kalmbach flock maintainer ordered from Chewy.com). The duck looks to be 2-3 months old. It will need water deep enough to fully submerge it's head, some sort of shelter to at the very least get out of the wind (even a dog house will do). What are your long term plans? I'm not familiar with Washington's wildlife laws or whether they would even be enforced with this type of situation. If you do keep it longer-term a predator proof coop/run would be ideal along with at least another duck or two so it doesn't get lonely. If you are just sheltering it until the fires are over and things calm down there in washington even a small dog house would do for shelter. I attached a pic of norther shovelers from the wildlife and game service.

I set up an old dog cage with some hay for it at night. We cover it with a sheet and have it against some fencing to protect from the elements. We got it a little pool, plenty of fresh water and food. We called all sorts of places and they all told us to take it to the nearest river but its wings are clipped and we dont want to set it out with no way to defend itself. They dont understand its a pet duck not a wild one. This is the best I could do for the top of the bill. Hope it helps!