Wild Ducklings Advice? UPDATE

[THunter]

Actually BBB in Georgia I think the law says you have to be 10 over for counties and municipalities to ticket you. That's so the good ol' boys down around Tifton couldn't make a killing on I-75.

 

[desertdarlene]

I saw the other thread on this and I think you should at least call your local wildlife people about this before touching them, if at all possible. If they are in immediate danger, then you should catch them and take them to someone who can care for them. If they are that close to your home, then you can check up on them.

 

[EmAbTo48]

Thanks for the advice! ( yeah I must have posted this twice sorry about that)

I have no plan to catch them myself I wouldn't even know what to do with them

I will just keep an eye on them and if they look sick ill call our DNR. The closest Rehab center is about 7 hours away!

The ponds are less then a mile from us they actually our part of our 100 acres... we actually have had a few of our own ducks venture down there ( not very often since they like staying by the barn and they have there own pond) but have had a few times had to go down and chase our ducks back lol!!


We seem to be getting a lot more geese/ducks there that are having babies. So I get worried since I don't want another bird to kill the ducklings. And I really don't think they have a mother. The rest of the birds totally ignore them they stay compacted together and will not venture towards any of the other birds. I am assuming the mother was killed by a predator recently and that's why they look good still. Id say there about 3 weeks of age.

 

[desertdarlene]

I would see if you can get someone to come get them, especially if they're only staying in one place and if they start looking tired or weak. 3 weeks old is too young to be out on their own in any circumstance.

Perhaps, though, you can go through Google and see if you can identify what kind of waterfowl they are. Look up the types of geese and ducks that live in your area and start from there. There's a site called Whatbird.com that has a "wizard" that can narrow the list down to birds in your area. The reason why I say this is because some birds do leave their babies in a group while they forage and will come back to them later.

 

[EmAbTo48]

Yeah, that's why I was trying to get a picture of them but never could get a good close up they would run right away, I wanted to see if I could figure out what they are! I think I will just call our DNR see what they say!

 

[EmAbTo48]

I updated this on my first post!!!!

Thanks all for the advice.

 

[desertdarlene]

I'm glad they got rescued, especially if they're domestic ducks. I hope they get healthy.

ETA: I think you did the right thing calling DNR, first. I'm glad they came over right away.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
That's great to hear, also great that they took the time to come get them, alot of times they wont. Sounds like you have some good folks in your county.
Had to be dumped, rouens cant fly, too big, so most likely some one dumbed the babies there thinking the wild birds on the pond would raise them, that or they were just heartless and didnt care. Great that they have a home now though

 

[desertdarlene]

We had two ducklings that were stolen from the lake I go to while my back was turned. The people who stole them brought them back when they were about a month old and put them near their mom and her one remaining duckling. The mom rejected them. I had to take them down to the wildlife rehabber after waiting a couple of days. One was getting very weak. They raised them to the right age and released them back into the lake. They're doing very well right now and still stick together.

I think there was a lot of ignorance at play in that case.