Hard to say if a mama duck with ducklings would adopt and if she doesn't how will you get them back? Sure wouldn't want to leave them out on the pond for other ducks to injure or kill[drakes] will kill ducklings.
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Yeah that's true. I can't risk it =(Hard to say if a mama duck with ducklings would adopt and if she doesn't how will you get them back? Sure wouldn't want to leave them out on the pond for other ducks to injure or kill[drakes] will kill ducklings.
At what age would they be able to go out to the pond on their own? It's a fenced neighborhood pond. They really would never be able to be wild, and forage for their own food?
looking into it, it might just be illegal actually. ugh. i'll try to find someone to take them on their fenced property
And if she doesn't and attacks them instead, what could you do? Too risky in my opinion.Is it worth trying to find a (wild) mother duck in the next few days that has ducklings, to see if she will adopt them?
They would have been taught by their mother how and where to do this. As Miss Lydia said, now food comes in a bowl.i'd read that they are good at foraging for food, flies, mosquitos and so forth.
What made you think they were abandoned? Ducks will lay a clutch, one egg at a time, before they sit consistently. Also the duck may have left the nest briefly to get food and water.Didn't want to abandon the eggs to die,
Well as a Muscovy owner, that is a matter of opinion. lolMuscovy ducks (which are pretty ugly as adults).
That would be best short term but eventually some of the 14 may have to move on. depending on the sex these ducklings are. There is an ideal duck/drake ratio for a healthy flock, 4 ducks to 1 drake. Otherwise over-mating will be a problem. Ducks don't care if the female is a sibling/mother/aunt.my sister can take the entire 14 if necessary, but the plan was for them to eventually have their own little life, if possible.
When I found out about the eggs from an older widowed family friend, the mother duck was not coming back to them. It was either I take them, or they get thrown into the trash. I thought I was doing the right thing, and I still believe i did.What made you think they were abandoned? Ducks will lay a clutch, one egg at a time, before they sit consistently. Also the duck may have left the nest briefly to get food and water.
I think you have had an exciting experience and have learned a lot, but suggest that next time you do not take eggs from wild birds. Let nature do what nature does.