Duckling Dilema

[raesharp]

Help! went to market yesterday ( for an axe incidentaly) and came home with 2 ducklings as my daughter could not bear to see them all cramped in the cage and wanted to spend all of her savings rescuing them all !! We compromised and bought 2 saying that at least they would escape the horrible conditions. Got them home but s soon as we took one of them out of the box he could hardly stand and lookes pretty bad. Sadly we lost him last night!

Well, I now have a very small and yet noisy duckling, and no knowledge of what to do with him- we have 10 chickens and I know the people who lived here before had ducks too, but not sure where to start. Any advice recommendations/ websites etc much appreciated. Not sure if he can go out or needs to be kept inside till its warmer ( I brought him in last night , but as the chicken house is in sun, have just put him out ( Not the one with chickens in I hasten to add!!) Can he be integrated with the chickens eventually, feeding him chiken crumb at the mo, for how long, I don't even know how old he is, he's not tiny but not huge ( about 15cm I guess) AHHHHHH ..... so many questions!!!!!

[Ovalina]

OK first thing - is he still fluffy yellow or have some of the feathers started to grow in? If fluffy, he'd be better with a little warmth like a brooder lamp or at a push an ordinary lamp suspended above a warm dry area with lots of straw/hay. Ducklings can be weaned off a lamp much earlier than chicks, but the weather at this time of year is so variable and it can be too cold especially when he doesnt have mum to snuggle up to.

Depends how old the chickens are as to whether they tolerate him - I tried to socialise some ducklings with older chicks and they really went for them, so I had to separate them with a separate lamp.

He will feel very sad on his own, unless he becomes a house-pet. I wouldn't reccommend that as ducks are very messy creatures, adorable though they are. Is there any chance you can contact the seller to get another one perhaps?

Sorry I can't be any more use, hope you can sort something out. But I would stress that his priority will be warmth, sort the other stuff out after.

Good luck, or should I say quack!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Unless he is completely feathered he will need protecting from the wet and cold: wet down gives no insulation at all. He should be fine on whatever you feed the hens, though ducks seem to appreciate greens even more than hens.

There should be little problem running him with the hens: they will probably ignore him because he is not a chicken. Note that keeping ducks and hens together can cause health problems for both: the ducks ingest chicken poo and the chickens suffer from drinking from any puddles that the duck can make, so a little more cleaning is needed.

He will need ducky company at some point....

I've kept ducks and chickens together without any major headaches.

[Shirley]

We had a drake running with our chickens - found him a new home and he got eaten by a fox pretty much the same day/next day - just the way of things unfortunately.

He was originally part of a group of 6 but the fox got them all (or a two legged fox took them away) - he tried to service the goose (much to the gander's disgust) so we moved him away from her. It was like watching something from The Benny Hill Show (showing my age now).

Anyway, to get to the point, I agree with the comments of the other posters and he/she will be fine in the short term but honestly I'd try and find him some duck friends asap - similar age would be good and perhaps you might want to find a different supplier.

[Shirley]

Whereabouts are you btw - please fill in the location section on your profile. You never know, someone else in your area might have ducklings for sale.

[raesharp]

Thanks for that, I am in the Minho region of Portugal so the weather here is a little bit warmer than UK. I am not planning to keep him/her on her own, I'd like to introduce a partner/friend asap as I have had problems introducing chooks into the fold in the past so would like to do this as soon as I can get to a supplier.
We wouldn't normally have got them at the market, though locals have recommended here, which is usually a good sign, but it was a heart over head moment I think!! My primary concern was just to make sure it was going to survive the next few days! He is still yellow and fluffy, so I guess a lamp is going to be on tonight, as I said we kept him in last night in our internal garage, but I was concerned he'd be cold, I put him in a box, but he kept jumping out ( didn't know ducks could jump so high!) I will have to find a higher one tonight. Is straw the best thing to put him in? Thanks

[Ovalina]

Straw is perfect, but I'd keep him inside your house until you get a lamp.

[raesharp]

Thanks. Have just got back from town, and got a little playmate for 'Sunshine', he appears slightly older, and have just introduced them. She is now following him around about 2 steps behind and displaying very duck- like behaviour!! She seems much happier

Last night she spent the evening in the sitting room, near the stove, then to the internal garage for the night. Hopefully now she has someone to cuddle up to she will be a bit happier!

Thanks for the crisis advice!!

[Shirley]

Hooray!

[Ovalina]

Awww thats lovely!