also can i put a baby chick in with him so hes not alone?

Hi! I can totally relate, we fould a baby mallard this afternoon with no mommy, I want to kick my feet and act like a total baby as he died in my arms about an hour ago.
He was all alone with all these seagulls "licking their bills" I can only guess from reading the other posts that there was something wrong with Donald and that is why he didn't have his mommy with him. I don't mean to sound gross, I am glad the little guy was able to pass on the big pond in the sky being held and loved instead of being a meal for seagulls. We went to the pet food supply store and he ate a little of the starter, water, a little pool, straw and hay bed. Just when you think you are doing the right thing, nature throws ya a curve and no matter what we still lost him.
Thanks for shareing and reading my sad outcome.
Bonnie Jean

HI, my causen brought home a baby duck and said she got it from a guy a work that almost run it over. before it got to me it was feed some bread so i need to know if it can get sick off of it and what signs to look for? i feed it some lettice and it ate alot. i got a small bowl of water that it can sit in and drink, but is that to big? this is my frist baby duck so i realy have no idea how to take care of it. the info on this site helped ALOT thx. i have no idea what kind it is or how old. its small about 31/2 inchs tall and 2 inchs wide and some feathers on its tail any advice is welcome plz e-mail me at fullmetal_194@yahoo.com asap plz thx, daniel

hey we found one and really need help. no bread for sure then? and can i hold it or will that make it unlined by other ducks? and is lettuice good for it? we have wet dogfood for it (hard food soaked in water). PLEASE HELP SOON!!

Here is link to birdwatching forum with lot of information

Here is a link that might be useful: Help! I Found a Baby Bird! What Do I Do?

A baby duck just walked right-up to me a few days ago with no momma in sight. I think he was only a day or two old when he found me. I'm pretty sure he's a Mallard (though I'm not sure he's a "he"). I made him a snug little bed inside a big plastic box. He's got a desk lamp for heat. (And I have a thermometer - it's about 88 degrees in there, next to the bed.) I dissolved some wild game feed (recommended by the feed store - no antibiotics) in a shallow dish of water, and he sloshed his little beak around in it like he was at least drinking the dissolved bits. I also mushed-up some fruit and put in a shallow dish of water. He has a votive holder of clean water to wash his little beak in. He seems to be eating the solid food now. His poop has gone from yellow liquid to green liquid, to mostly solid, which I think must be good. He's energetic when he's up, but also sleeps a lot. Anyone have anything else to contribute? Oh, he also has a mirror that he sleeps next to. He seems to like that a lot. It makes me think he's lonely though, and that makes me sad.

I also found two baby ducks. One seems to be injured. Mama was no wheere to be seen. They mysteriously appeared in my smal backyard with my three dogs. They must have been hatched there but I don't see where. I thought mama must have droped them out of the sky. She did show up this morning. She landed in the pool. I wish I could somehow retun them to her.

I ive in Bakersfield California. If there is anyone near here who would like them. I love the little guys but believe they would be happier in the wild or with someone who has a pond.

Johnkilby7@sbcglobal.net

Hi All, I found a baby duck (Mallard) drowning in the pond. The mother has 6 other chicks and swam off with them leaving this one behind. I swam out and rescued it only to find it has two deformed feet. 3 days ago it was not able to keep up with the mom and it's siblings. However, I have been feeding and exercising it and now it is much stronger. My question is this: Since it has deformed feet, will the mother just lave it again? Or now that it is stronger and can (maybe) keep up with the family, will it be ok? Before it was unable to jump out of the pond with the rest of the family so it would just swim around and around get tired and almost drown, until I rescued it twice. I can not keep this duck as a pet because we live full time in a motorhome. I gave it back to the mom the day after I found it, and she swam off and left it alone a second time. It definitely wants to go with the mom and siblings and they hang out in my back yard all day hearing this poor little guy chirping.

I wonder how many days I can keep it and have the mom still accept it back. OR because of the feet, will she just abandon it over and over again?

Thanks, Lucky Ducky's surrogate Mom

yesterday a duck walked up to me while i was taking care of my lawn its yellow white and stands about a foot tall and seems to be in perfect health today its walking up to my screenporch and seems to be calling to me what should i do

mine always comes to my porch because she knows I will feed her. She also gets lonely and they are flock animals and like to be with others even the human kind if thats what they are use to.
Is she in danger of predators? If so you may need to find her a safe place to stay.If you do not want her call animal control or Humane Society,someone may have lost there pet. If they won't take her put it on craigs list as a pet duck for free.If you have chickens feed some crumbles. Make sure she has water deep enough to cover her bill. Its hot out here don't know about where you are but they need water at all times.

Do not put ANY animal on Craigs list free!It will wind up snake food or dog bait!

I got my ducks from Craigs list and I have no intention of eating them Their eggs maybe but not them.We just spent a fortune on building new coops and we take excellent care of them,spoil them actually with two ponds and a creek to float around in during the day.And yes we name them as they all have the coolest personalities!

Hello I found a baby duck and have taken him in.... i will get all the supplies to take care of him but i was wondering. I only have him..... is that ok? I mean all the other babies have a mommmy and i don't want to take one away from her.... is there a chance that she will take him in? I mean he smells like human now and i know that some birds won't take the young back once they smell of human.... what should I do... the little guy is sooo cute sitting in my lap!

Are you home all day?Everything I read said do not raise only one. I had three but predators got two and lest my cuyuga who is black. she became attached to us even though we were raising ducklings to be her buddies she didnt want them Now they are bigger she finally accepts them
Ducks are exremely messy. I was cleaning pens constantly and feeding three times a day and constantly cleaning the water. I kept mine in a pen until they were full grown and feathered. Straw here is 12 bucks a bale and must be changed often.
Now I have 11 ducks all enjoying the property and pond but they are still a LOT of work and must be penned away from night predators come dark.

Since March My husband and I are feeding duck families with babies. We are also involved in finding the mother of lost babies and that happened a lot! most of the Babies are bigger now, and eat much more and a lot of family with different size babies are coming to eat. At the moment we buy the food in petco. Does anyone know of a farmers supply store that we can buy a bigger bag for a better price.
Thanks!

We get crumbles from either trading post or Tractor Supply store. Make sure it is UNMEDICATED>
Make sure they have acsess to water so they don't choke.
Ducks eat all day,bugs,worms plants. Ours will bypass by duck food to eat the maggots under the dish!
It's a wonderful life.

You should avoid feeding duck families, wild ducks grow lazy on human feedings and do not pass on those important duck survival species to the next generation.

The EXACT same thing happened to me! Thanks for the info!

I raise guinea pigs and they took to the little duckling very well, they cuddle with it and stuff.

ok heres the deal i was outside feeding the mother duck and daddy duck like i do every day for years now and i noticed the mother duck was away from the daddy duck NOT USUAL! well so i new we had baby duck EGGS but no clue they had hatched.. well they had that very day becayse there they were swimming right beside mother duck. so we couldnt tell how many because they were so far out in the pond so while the mother was away we looked in the nest and there were 1,2,3,4,5,and oh my gosh!!!!a duckling. i was home alon and afaraid. but then i thought well maybe it just hatched so i walked away didnt touch it and went inside. i checked three times that very day and every time i looked the baby was in the nest the others were not. well before i went to bed i felt the erge to check 1 more time so as im walking down to the nest i stop. there that one duckling is lying in the middle of the yard alone and scared. so i left it wonderin were the mother was she was in the nest with the others so appearently she kicked it out. i called my mom asked her what to do. she said put on gloves take it near the nest and see if it joins them. so i did sure enough it went straight back out the mother didnt like it.... if you no what i mean. so i had no choice... i coulldnt leave it outside alon and the mom wouldnt take it so i did.i put it in a box with grass bedding,a teddybear,water-only a container he could dip his head in, and some chopped up worms and bread... i have no clue what to do i also relized he was the runt..maybe thats why she left it. today it is 2 days old and his name is lucky..he is very lucky.now my questions he is a mallard duckling soo...what do i feed him? what is the best way to get him to eat cuse he wont eat, were is the best envirment right now hes in a sunroom were its warm but not hot.. and also.. just basically HOW DO I RAIS THIS DUCKLING!!??? help me please im only 13 and have no clue what to do!!he is a very playful and funn little guy he loves to swim in the bathtub and be held.also is it normal for the father duck to not like the ducklings,stay seperated from them, and nip at them when they come around him?? lots of questions i no but please help me and LUCKY!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

goldenpond....
is that all they eat this is ansley lucky if you read my story you would under stand....im clueless and attatched couldnt stand to let lucky die. please help me i have no clue on what nutrition requires for a duck do they really eat plants if so what kind?

So while my dogs and I were away for vacation this year a duck came and layer three eggs in our yard. (I have a small pong on the back with small bushes and that's where my dogs found them) I left the eggs for two days and put a small fence around the pond and bushes in hopes the duck would fly back to hatch the eggs. She never did. So I took them inside today and have them on a heating pad. I spray water on them often. I don't have a heat lamp and buying an incubator is out of my options. I don't want to leave the little guys to die? How else can I keep them warm? And when they are old enough, what do I feed them? Something natural and easy to get. I know, not bread. Well thank you(:

I had my 1 - 2 month old ducks out in our yard freely and went in side for a few hours and came back and one was dead and another had a hole in his back. WHAT HAPPENED? We live in a upscale neighborhood - I think a dog - that someone was walking?? It was noon time. They stay locked up in our shed in a pen at night to be safe but I let them free all day since we live on a huge pond. We have 6 of them now 5. The older one we found dead but not eaten. The smaller baby one has a little bloody hole in his tail back area and seems fine but I don't know what to do - it looks deep. This is why I am writing. I can't find any vets here in the city that work with ducks. I don't know how to help it. Any advise please!!!!!

I work at a school where we have a large enclosed lawn area in the middle of the building. There is an old nonworking fountain in there that collects water. Each Spring ducks nest there. Now we have 12 ducklings. The mother and father are with them. There is no way for them to get out, and the ducklings can not get to the water. There is plenty of grass for food, but the water is a concern. We don't know if we should move them, add some kind of a kiddie pool, or leave them alone. In the past they have all died. Any suggestions?

Our yard is a lake and the geese had their babies. My daughter saw a lone baby geesling and picked it up. Mama came hissing over and so she put it back. She was crying because she thought mama goose would ignore it. Her dad yelled at her and told her once her human scent was on it, they would leave it. But she sat there with me and we watched mom and dad take it back and swim away together. She meant no harm. She loves animals and thought this little one was abandoned. Dad is sticking to his story ..is it true? Thanks

Yesterday I spotted 8 baby mallards in my pond - 1st time in 26 years as I own dogs and cats. Today after work I checked and there are now 4. I found the feathers from the mother so I know they are on their own. I tried to catch them with a pool net and the only thing I caught was probably a good case of poison ivy. Does anyone know how to catch them? I would like to transfer them to the Audubon.

hi i baought a baby dck and i cant figure out what kid it is it has yellow fus all around it and a slight brown fuz circle around its neck ........ also becuse it is so young when e bought it it thinks my little baby bunny is its mom i think because it follows it every where and peeps when we cant find it does any one know how to tell what the little duckling is

My mom picked me up from archery today and told me that she had found a duckling in the middle of the road and "adopted" it, she tried to look for the mother but couldn't find it. So now I, a 16 year old, am looking after the dear while my family is busy. I've set up a red lamp form my old sicence project and kept it on the computer desk while the duckling is in a large storage plastic box with newspaper spread out (not shredded) and two small bowls, one with water, another with some duck starter seed mom said she bought. I also put a towel over half of the box and will turn the lamp on/off when I worry if the duckling is too hot/cold. However, the duckling won't eat, and is lying on its back in a corner breathing slowly; like a human sleeping. So is it just tired or is it dying? I don't want an innocent animal to die just because we couldn't find out what was wrong. :( please and thnak you to anyone who responds.

I heard my dog barking uncontrollably today and I looked outside--she was on a leash--and she was trying to get at a baby duck. It looks like a mallard duck to me. My son and I caught it. The mother and other ducklings are nowhere to be found. We have it in a box with some water but we have no idea what to do. Should we turn it into a pet store? My son wants to keep it but I'm not so sure. My husband drove around but couldn't find the mother anywhere. Any suggestions????

Hey today I found a baby duck I do not even think. He is a week out. I put him in a bot with a heat lamp an water an some beading. I don't have a way to get him pet suppplies till bussness hours. What should an how should. I feed him

I am trying to figure out if my baby duck is ok - I found his yesterday - he is sleeping alot and hasnt eatin- he has been running around the box today but not since this morning - he kinda hops and runs forward - I cant figure out if he is ok help?! oh and he must be young ( has egg tooth still)

found a lil duck today on the side of a busy street . No mother duck . Got starter food ,water dish , and gave it to a wild rescue .

We have ducks on our farm and a couple of them might have a disease.Maybe its because I give our ducks the rotten feed and our chickens the good feed.Anyway they are perfectly normal except that when they walk, they roll onto their sides and cant get up unless you help them.I let them out on our yard but I dont know if I should anymore because if they roll over somewhere and I dont know,they could die or get eaten.PLEASE HELP BEFORE OUR WHOLE FLOCK IS GONE!!!

i think you should just eat it

Zebra, could they have bumblefoot?

It's odd that more than one is having this at the same time, but that might be a possibility for that kind of behavior It's a strep infection of the feet, and potentially either curable or fatal, depending on what you do.

--J

HELP ME! Yesterday I was walking down the street when I saw six little baby Mallards, and after examining the surrounding, there was no sign of the mother. Then suddenly out of no where, a Red-Tailed Hawk flew in and swept two of the little guys away. I rounded up the remaining four and took them home. I researched a little on the Internet and I came to the conclusion that they were 2-4 weeks old. I put them in a large cardboard box with some old towels, food, water, and a heating lamp that I used from my chickens a while back. I called the Autobahn Society and they said that because there was no mom, they would have trouble trying to take care of them, so I decided to take care of them on my own. Is there any important things that I should be aware about for taking care of them, and any steps I should take when they get older?

I Found a baby duck that is about 1week old She or He already has feathers and is Brown and Yellow.what can i Feed it?is it ok to Feed it bread with milk?

Ideally, feed them special mash you get for ducklings at a feed store. Chick mash is okay, though not as good as waterfowl/game bird mash. Plenty of fresh drinking water, and keep them warm!

my duck is setting one of the egges hatched but the ants got to it before i new there are two more eggs what can i do to stop this

I had a baby duck born yesterday(I think premature). It is very weak and not walking. It chirps and flips over but that is all. It's eyes are not open and I am worried we will lose it. It was born with it's yolk sac still out but it has absorbed today. Any advice?? I don't want this little baby to die :(

This is an old thread, so I hope someone is still reading it as I have not figured out how to make a new thread.

My neighbor's dogs scarred a mallard mother this morning. She was going through our neighborhood with tiny babies and one got separated. I tried to find her to get the baby back because we have a lot of cats around here and neighbors that let their dogs run a bit.

I can't keep this duck as a pet because I have two large indoor cats that have never seen a duck and would go after it. They are 14 years old, so no, they will not adjust to the baby. I want to be able to release this baby mallard back to the wild when it can fend for itself. I have read a lot on line and see that mother Mallards will not adopt another baby. I have also read that they will attach themselves to a caregiver and need to be with another duck. I am presently unemployed and can not afford to get a second duck.
How can I raise this baby so it can be released to the wild? I do have a large cat carrier so I can keep it inside where it is warm while it is very small. It's probably a couple days old at the most. I have a three season room where I raise Monarch butterflies and it would be easy to outfit it for this baby. I was planning to get a few chickens until I lost my job. (The chickens have been postponed because I need to build the coop after I get a job again.) The coop will be attached to the three season room because it will be easy for me maintain the coop and care for the chickens in a sheltered location. I do have a nice back yard with gardens and a large wood fence and I am sure there is something growing there that I can feed this baby.

Thanks and I hope someone is still reading this thread.

So how do I do this?

that is my duck!

I have a picture of it

are you at tx ?

I've got a small ponds in the garden and a mallard has just raised seven ducklings there. My issue is the garden has a 6ft wall. How are they going to get out? I've put a cat scarer in and have scared off magpies and crows, but they are only a couple of days old. The pond is only about 10ft long and 3ft wide. Should I be putting down feed?

Ok so we found a mallard duckling in the middle of a busy road no momma duck or any other ducklings so we picked it up. We have chukar so we gave it some feed with a little bit of sand in it because I read it was good for digestion. We have it in a box with some grass for bedding and a heat lamp on one side of the box so if it gets too warm it can move to the other side of the box and cool down. What do I need to do to keep it healthy? And when our chukar hatch can we raise the chukar and the duckling together?

keith32 I don't have experience with wild ducks but it does take quite a while for ducks to feather out. I have 5 week old ducklings that are just starting to get their feathers in. Supplying some feed if feed is limited would be the kind thing to do, but I would give them duck feed, not bird seed. Absolutely no medicated feed (duck feed will not be medicated though).

You may need to think about relocating them if you can after the babies are well on their way.

shawnamaverick You should probably get some duck feed as ducks require different nutrition than other birds. Provide some small gravel for digestion. With our farmed ducks we have the heat lamp at about 90 degrees F the first week and decrease it by 5 degrees per week. It may be illegal where you are to keep a wild duck so you should check into that.

Duck will need fresh water every and food that meets it's nutritional need. Depends on the type of duck, but if it's a water fowl it will likely roost on the ground so just a safe place for night. You may find that the duck will not accept the chukar. Ducks imprint very strong on what they see when they hatch. In this case it believes it is a duck. If it was hatched out by humans it would believe it was a human. Ducks can be very aggressive so be prepared for that. You may find you have a loudly quacking baby on your hands for a while, they are flock animals.

i also found a baby duck. i have given it a heat lamp and some oatmeal but it is cheeping and trying to jump out. it is alone. what do i do????

I found a 2week old duckling yestaday i put him/her in a large cardboard box with a small bowl of water i have to hand feed him/her every 2/3hours which i'm feeding him/her with oats in water off of a baby spoon i hold him/her to i clean baby out every morning i have a toel in qith baby am i doing correct please also baby is eating well x

hu