Hand rearing a duckling

RE: Hand rearing a duckling

jojofruits — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 18:56:02 GMT

forgot to mention - the absolute KEY to really helping this duck for the whole of its life is to get it with duckings of a similar age. all wildlife places will tell you the same thing.

RE: Hand rearing a duckling

jojofruits — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 18:54:39 GMT

Hi there

OK as a wild animal you really do have to make sure that you get it to a wildlife place to mix with other ducklings. you're not legally allowed to keep it ( wildlife act something or another) and a pet duck isn't really an option...

overhead heat, chick crumb mixed with water and keep it warm.. absolute minimal contact - they don't actually need rearing as they are precotial ( able to eat straight from hatching )

Also if its been in a cats mouth you'll need to get it a shot of antibiotics, when I worked at vale wildlife in Gloucestershire we used synulox with good results. to be honest even thr smallest puncture wound could become a problem - and usually you cant find hem, especially on ducsk!

RE: Hand rearing a duckling

James Colver Cert. Ed, RVN — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 08:59:01 GMT

As others have said, you will need a heat lamp and some chick / waterfowl crumb. The rest is easy. Should be oven ready in about 18 weeks.

RE: Hand rearing a duckling

Charlotte K — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 17:19:23 GMT

Feed it chick crumb (you should be able to find it in an animal food shop, not sure if pets at home etc do it?), heat lamp and some water. Maybe use a dish but put largest stones in it so the little one cannot drown. One of our receptionist has raised quite a few ducklings and when they've got a bigger she used an old outside dog kennel then one day it flew away and joined some other ducks.

RE: Hand rearing a duckling

Andrea — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 17:04:28 GMT

I've managed to find a nurse friend who has had chicks in the past (so she has heat lamp, indoor run etc). Managed to get her some food from country store. I think ducky will have a better chance with her then me (and my cat!!).

Local wildlife rescue are over run at the moment, I'd feel mean adding to the load.

Shes also happy to end up with a pet duck !!

Thanks for the advice

RE: Hand rearing a duckling

PSA-David — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 16:32:58 GMT

wouldn't suggest a heat pad to be honest. I would seriously recommend an infra-red set up. you will also need specific check rearing food, to provide the correct amount of substance.

http://www.callducks.net/feeding_ducklings.htm

but as Celine wrote you will have an imprinted pet duck.

RE: Hand rearing a duckling

Celine — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 16:01:25 GMT

I think you'd be a lot better off contacting a local wildlife charity, if you rear that duckling on it's own I feel it is going to imprint really badly on you and delightful as that sounds you'll then have a pet duck for 12 years as it wouldn't be ethical to release it! Willing to be proven wrong by others with more duck rearing experience than I?

Make sure heat pad is in one half of the box and it's able to move off if it feels too warm, otherwise call a rescue for advice feeding as our bird department would probably be feeding some sort of duck pellet crumb. They're precocious and don't need hand feeding as such usually, just a bowl of the appropriate food. Good luck!