Ok, so I was driving down this road, 4 lanes plus the center turning lane. The car in front of me swirves, nearly running off the road, and so I stop not wanting to hit him. As I look to see what he swirved for, I notice a little ball of brown fluffy waddling in the road. It was a baby duck.

Well, I stopped in the turning lane, and waved at all the cars, getting everyone to stop so it would be safe for me to go to the little baby, and I got the duck. I put it in my car, and drove up and down that road for almsot an hour, trying to see any signs of its siblings, and parents. I do know the aprents might have flown away, but its siblings couldn't have, so they should have been close.

Anyways, I got tired, and the baby seemed hungry, so I took it home. I looked online, and found out they will eat cottage cheese, smashed apples, fruits, and scrambled eggs. So, I feed it. The baby was used to me holding it by then and let me hand feed it, as well, it started drinking water for me when I pointed at it and told it to drink.

Well, now that I feed it, held it, and pet it, it thinks i'm its mother. This baby will dive into the air, to get to me. It mainly lieks to be near my face, so it will do anything to get on my chest or shoulders. I just put a towel around my shulders so it has a cradle and won't fall to the ground if it trips. So now I have a baby duck, cuddled against my neck, sleeping.

I set it on the floor a bit ago for a minute, and to see what it would do, I walked in a circle. The baby followed me, running as fast as it could to keep up, and once reaching me, would dive onto my foot, and try to climb up.

So yeah, I now have a baby duck that is imprinted on me, and I'm on the fense on what to do.

On on hand, ther eis take it to the animal shelter. They will rehabilitate it to return to the wild, hwoever thats only 70% sucessful. Also, the duck could be killed by a hunter after released since its the proper species. As well, it could be hurt or hunted by predators, ect. I know animals belong int he wold, but they have very poor survival rates. Some species will like for 80 years in captivitey, but only 10 in the wild. I want her to be healthy, and happy.

One the other hand, if I keep her, she will live longer, be healthier, and maybe even happier. there are risks though, since I know it won't be able to ever live in the wild, but I DO know it can still be happy.

I don't know what I should do though. It really thinks I'm its mom now, and I don't want to put anymore stress on it. Giving it to the animal shelter will force it to imprint again and confuse it, so I don't know what to do.

Any suggestions oh great members of the ZE forum?

Take it to a shelter. They're trained to take care of it. The poor thing's prettymuch been brainwashed into thinking it's a human. It should be with other ducks, not people. Better that it live free in the wild where it can swim and fly to it's heart's content. I released that snake, after all... don't keep wild animals as pets, no matter how "cute" they are.

I dunno. Do you have the capabilities to be able to care for a wild duck? Do you have large space and a body of water? If not, are you willing to build one? Put up with the mosquitos it attracts? Unless you've already got the infrastructure, I think its more hassle than its worth. I'd say return it.

Do you think you could post a picture of this duck?

Id keep it if I had the time..

When I take a picture of it, yes.

Steve, I just found out, having visited with the human society. This duckling is not a wild duck. Apparently why I didn't find any signs of its siblings, or parents is because it was a pet. It seems ducklings won't be hatching for another few weeks here, and since its about 3 weeks old, its obviously not a wild duck according to the vet.

Also, they stated ducklings naturally absorb their mothers feather oild into their down to allow them to be waterproof, since they do not produce this oil until fully feathered. This ducking apprently has no oil what so even on its down, and thus cannot swim, or keep warm if wet, since the water soaks into the down, rather than dripping off.

As well the baby was completely absent in the idea of how to swim, or eat as wild ducklings his age would have already learned.

I guess they sell ducklings around here as pets in some exotic pet stores, and most likely, this duckling was from one. The vet tech told me that it probubly was bought, and the owners, not know that domesticated ducks do not have the same instincts wild ones do, so they let it stay outside, and it wandered away.

This also would support why this duckling imprinted on me in less than an hour of caring for it. Wild ducklings take a lot of work to tame according to the tech.

But yes, I guess you are right. Had it been a wild duckling, I would have gone with your suggestion, but as I see its not a wild duckling. They also told me that domesticated ducks almost never can fly. Something about how they grow bigger, or bulkier, thus not letting their wings lift them up. I don't know if that apllies to this baby, but we will see.

I'm going to keep it, after I get a clean bill of health since its already imprinted on me. There is no sense confusing it more by having it go to yet another home, and since I am equipt to care for it, I might as well. I have a kiddy pool for it to use once full grown. Right now, its so small it could easily be happy swimming in a rather large cassorol dish I have. Due to the lack of oil on its down, I can't let it swim though. Not till it gets all of its feathers. It still likes to play in the shallow water though.

I also give it a lot of excersise, by letting it follow me around the house, rather than carrying it. Of course I'm careful not to stress it, or anything. Its gotten to the point where it will not sleep unless I'm with it, so I guess its good right now I have a break from college and work. I won't be starting either again till its bigger so thats good.

ScottFab. Ducks don't need a lot of space accually. Nor a pond. In fact, the rehabilitation center near here that handles ducks and other waterfowl, have very small areas for the animals, and they use kiddy pools for them to swim and eat in.

I accually have a pond, so in truth, I myself have better accomodations, however, I lack the 24 hour vet access.

I wish this little duck could be wild and free, but I see its not physically capable of ever surviving in the wild. Since we don't know its background, and it could be a generatin of hundreds before it that were domesticated, it may completely lack its homing instincts for migration. The vet said there is no point risking tis life in trying to rehabilitate it, when it would be much happier as a pet, since thats what it was raised to be thus far.

I guess this means I can't go duck hunting for about 20 years or more. hehe Oh well, never was much for bird hunting.

I will get some pics of it, and if I can, get it sexed. I can't very well name it without knowing if its a boy or girl. I'm thinking its a girl, as they have louder quacks, but since right now it only sqeeks, I don't know. hehe

Thats good you released your snake Steve. I let mine go awhile ago. I couldn't get her to eat, and having just come out from hibernation, I knew she hadn't eaten in months, so every day with a missed meal ment a closer death. I didn't want to see her die. I'm sure she is a lot happier now. I let her go right where I found her. Hopefully she is enjoying a nice big earthworm as I type. hehe

Well I guess there is two ways you can approach it-- do you think it was separated from its family because of natural causes? (predators, natural deaths, etc) Or do you think it was because of people that the duck was swaggering alone in the middle of the road?

If it was the first reason you should let it go as what ever happens to that duck is natures population control. Otherwise its up to you if you want to keep it or take it to a shelter. I know that plenty of people have ducks/geese as sortof, out door pets. I'd be interested in taking care of it, just to see what happens. *shrug* your call. :P

In the bird kingdom, I've noticed that males are usually much more colorful than females. I don't know if you'll be able to tell how colorful it is since its a chick, but in time you'll sure findo out :)

In all honesty, I have to disagree with you, Hatch. If this baby ducks death is considered natures population control, and thus should not be stopped, then all of humanities attempts at curing deseases and cancer should not occur, as it is, natures population control for humans, and as we are also animals, we are not immune to any laws of nature.

Asside from that, it doesn't really matter now that I know this was not a wild duckling. The shealter near here gets a lot of baby ducks around apirl since people buy their kids ducklings and chickens for easter, but then the kids get tired of them peeping all the time, and they let them go, thinking they can fend for themselves.

It's a cute little baby. In fact, I'm trying to find out where it might have come from store wise. I'm sure not that many palces near here sell them, so finding the source should be easy. I will inform them of the issue, and perhaps they will tkae more precations before selling the ducklings. Its not fair for them to die by means outside of nature. As well, they deserve happy lives. Children are horrible guardians, no matter how mature.

I've never had something be so dependant on me before. If I'm simply out of its sight, it will cry for hours. I went to the movies earlier, and all it did was cry on the monitor. It's a 24 hour job, but its worth it, to have something that loves you, and wants to be with you all the time. Dogs and cats are no wheres near as affectionate as this duck is. Nor as comical.

Welll we are the first species on the planet to ever be able to combat diseases and natural disasters, harness the power of nature. But thats beyond the fact, the duck wouldn't die from disease anyway, it would die because it has no food. Humans are like pack animals, so we take care of one another. I think if nature wanted us to go (following the same sort of idea I let go before) then we wouldn't have evolved to be able to do most of the things we can.

Photo!

Iteresting point, Hatch.

Yeah yeah, I currently do not have a digital camera, so photos are hard to come by. Perhaps I can use my friends phone tot ake a photo, and e-mail it to myself, then host and post. When I see my friend later today I will definately try that.

I looked online to see what Mallard ducks look like when full grown, and the males are very beautiful. The females are cute, but the males are very colorful. I also found out that ducks can live up to 30 some years. So yeah, I may have lots of time for more photos as it grows. hehe

Raise it, kill it, cook it, then eat it. Simple...

I need to go duck hunting again...

Accually roast duck is very good. And mallard is the species of which to use. However, I think I can control myself enough to not eat my own little pet. lol

Here are some pictures I took with the cell phone.





Such a cute little ducky. It has already gotten a bit bigger I believe.

The pictures are of it on the counter in my kitchen. My boyfriend was feeding it scrambled eggs in milk as a treat. Its seems ducks are cannibals, in captivity anyways... hehe No, we were not feeding it soap. :P

We are thinking of naming it, but since we don't know the sex, we agreed if it was a boy, he would name it, if it was a girl, I would name it. So far he likes Tak for a boy, I like Bell for a girl. It was playing with a bell and it was so cute, so I thought the name would be cute. Boyfriend just likes the name Tak for some odd reason. I hope its a girl. lol

I'll try to post some more pictures when it gets alittle bigger. It likes to sleep on my huge stuffed tiger, so maybe a picture of the would be amusing. lol

Mmm, delicious.

Delicious like fresh pumpkin pie. Mmmmm

Chicks grow FAST and are ALWAYS hungry from what I've seen.

You could always give it an androgenous name :P Like 'Bird' or something... XD

We've had a few parakeets of which we couldn't determine the gender of so we gave them goofy could-be-male-or-female names like Starshine, Jade, and Phoenix.

It's doubled in size since I found it already.

It's wants food all the time, but it usually won't make noise or anything, and just wait till it's time to feed it.

My boyfriend likes the name Ash, for the character in Evil Dead, but I dunno. hehe He stopped liking the name Tak, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Ash is better than Tak. lol

That's a really REALLY cute duck. :D take good care of it.

Yep, I plan on it. I can't wait till its bigger, and I know if its a boy or girl. :D The males are very pretty, but the girls are cute too!

Its sleeping on my shoulder right now. Such a weird ducky, thinking its a pirate bird. hehe

XD On the subject of Ash and eating your pet...

"...and this is my BOOM stick!"

lmfao. Me and my friends yell that all the time randomly. I still can't beleive ti's doubled in size. I had no clue they could grow THAT fast. Oh well, that just means its healthy, and I'm feeding it properly. Yay me. I can't wait till christmas to get a cute pic of it with an xmas hat. That just screams cuteness..

I happen to keep poultry as a hobby, so I must ask what are you feeding it? I don't mean to sound abrupt but your obviously new to the game and I only wish to help. Do you have a dog house your not using right now? 'cause soon it's going to be getting more independent and it's gonna have to move into the yard.

I feed it duck feed. Its the same food they feed captive ducks for meat harvest. Of course, its not the same kind, so it doesn't have the steriods, and or other things that could harm the duck. I mix it in slightly warm water so its not hard, since it comes in pellets, and I let the duck eat that. Asside from feeding it that three times a day, I also feed it tiny cuts of grape tomatos, green lettuce, red lettuce, and scrambled egg. It likes french fries as a treat, but I don't want to feed it something like that.

As far as keeping it outside, I'v spoken with several experts online, and some breeders, as well as a guy my friend knows that I met, and they all told me ducks can be outside, or inside pets. they said so long as it has room to walk around, and isn't locked ina cage it will be fine indoors. You can even diper a duck, but I think I can manage cleaning up after it, rather than making it wear an uncomfortable thing.

The guy I talked too has a mallard thats captive, and he lives in an apartment. I thought that was kind of neat.

Further research online should me a few awesome facts.

Did you know ducks were the first species of bird to ever be domesticated? Not even chickens were domesticated before ducks were. Thats neat.

I also didn't know male mallards don't quack, only females. So thats kinda cool.

I'm not going to keep my duck in a doghouse, as thats not ment for a duck to begin with, and also its not going to do much but be a shealter, but if the weather is poor, i will just bring the duck inside. Also, keeping it indoors, not out helps prevent against illness this one breeder says. She said ducks outside can get injured, or sick from climate changes, or just get exposed to other wild birds who have illness.

I know the duckling will become more independant as time progresses, hwoever all the breeders I talked to said it will never stop following me around. They said it won't follow me from one side of the room room to the other, or cry if I leave, but they said it will follow me if I go into another room, and it will try to stay by me if I'm sitting or doing something. I thought that was neat.

I dunno. No one can say for sure just how this duck will be grown up, but I think it won't completely lose interest in following me around. Its been getting more clingy, rather than less. Now if I walk away it flat out runs to keep up with me. lol

Its so funny, eharing its feet smack the floor as it runs.

You won't be saying that when it gets slightly older ^_^ although I’m also opposed to the nappy idea, putting nappies on an animal is just to scary for me. In related news, your Duck eats like a king... a king I say, quite the amusement.
Males hiss,hiss now that's a funny thing to watch. Yes your ducks is always going to follow you around however the reason's going to change from MOMMIE MOMMIE MOMMIE to FOOD FOOO FOOD

*still waiting for picture of duck to be taken*

o_0 There are a couple pictures on the previous page.

It's a cute little thing. Good luck with it. ^^ Birds aren't my favorite pets though. o_o

whoa, that duck looks awesome. I want one...

LOL, Yeah, it is funny though to watch it run after me, since tis feet slap the floor, and its such a silly sound. hehe

Thats so funny.

Birds aren't my fav pets either. I like cats, however, I grew up with birds, so i guess I'm just used to them.

I would rather have a doggy though. Want a cat, but they aren't as playful as some dogs. hehe

New ducky pics!!!

Here is it swimming in the sink, it loves to dive under the water and splash around.



And here are some more.



CLOSE UP!!!



The duck will accually stay like this if you put it down like that.



ITS FALLING ALSEEP LIKE THAT!!!!



Itsn't that just too silly? It will accually sleep like that, upside down. lol Its just too funny.