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Post by judypops on Jul 27, 2013 13:39:52 GMT
My granddad uses a lunchbox for water with a brick in it to stop them getting in and making the water dirty or tipping it over, bear in mind he has up to 30 at a time Good luck with your Dad's 'mission'.
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Post by puppypal on Jul 27, 2013 13:40:30 GMT
Yeah they are perfect puppypal If your going to P@H you can get mealworms too. Hot water bottle wrapped in newspaper would be good for night times. Ducks are very messy and the floor must be keep dry in at least half their enclosure or their feet will get rot. I was cleaning ours (stripe) out at least 4 times a day. I must just repeat that a small bowl of water must be available 24 hours is VERY important. (That's where the mess comes from, shaking their wet beak after cleaning and standing in the water bowl).And then once a day if it's warm you could have him out in the garden with a tray of water to have a splash in. But they are fast on their feet so make a play pen with chicken wire if possible because my stripe managed to get through the holes in Coopers puppy pen!! puppypal Yeah see the bit I added in bold while you were typing?!? HeeHee!! he is a very messy eater, he will take the bread/scrambled egg and shake it everywhere
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Post by puppypal on Jul 27, 2013 13:42:37 GMT
My granddad uses a lunchbox for water with a brick in it to stop them getting in and making the water dirty or tipping it over, bear in mind he has up to 30 at a time Good luck with your Dad's 'mission'. well i have not had a reply yet, so i reckon i will have to drag him out when he gets back, he is currently getting a new spare tire for the trailer as the spare one has a puncture and we are going away tommorow with it
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Post by gladys on Jul 27, 2013 13:47:42 GMT
What are you doing with the duck while your away??
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Post by puppypal on Jul 27, 2013 13:48:37 GMT
What are you doing with the duck while your away?? Grand parents are looking after it, as they don't have any other pets and my brothers are scared of it
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Post by gladys on Jul 27, 2013 13:49:44 GMT
HaHa!!! Fair enough.
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Post by judypops on Jul 27, 2013 13:51:09 GMT
May I ask what are they afraid of, the bill? I much prefer ducks to chickens because of the chickens pointy beak.
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Post by puppypal on Jul 27, 2013 13:52:46 GMT
May I ask what are they afraid of, the bill? I much prefer ducks to chickens because of the chickens pointy beak. i don't know, my brother refused to hold him/her this morning when i was cleaning out its box, so it ended up in a bucket as it was the closest thing i could find. His bill is not hard, he has 'bitten' me when i have been feeding him/her and it is just a little nip that's all, it does not hurt
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Post by vonnie on Jul 27, 2013 14:57:58 GMT
He's adorable!
Whatever you do though DO NOT give him milk!!! Birds do not need milk and so cannot process it, it may do more harm than good. Good ol' water is all they need. When he grows out of the chick crumb feed, give him a grain diet. Mallards are 'dabble' feeders (as opposed to dive feeders like tufted ducks for example) and so eat the upper layer of pond greenery so you could also visit a clean pond and obtain some for him to dabble at when he's bigger! x x
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Post by puppypal on Jul 27, 2013 17:00:50 GMT
he does not seem very interested in the crumb feed at the moment but i guess he will grow to like it
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Post by Avansa on Jul 27, 2013 17:11:39 GMT
He is extremely cute. Did you look around for his mother and siblings though? If he's going to be released back into the wild, the best thing for him would be to be taken to a wildlife sanctuary where he can be put in with his own kind and raised as a WILD animal. Getting used to humans and dogs is going to get him killed later on in life, as horrible as it sounds
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Post by puppypal on Jul 27, 2013 17:16:49 GMT
He is extremely cute. Did you look around for his mother and siblings though? If he's going to be released back into the wild, the best thing for him would be to be taken to a wildlife sanctuary where he can be put in with his own kind and raised as a WILD animal. Getting used to humans and dogs is going to get him killed later on in life, as horrible as it sounds we did have a quick look, but it was on a busy road so we could not get a proper look, if we saw what side he had fallen off of we would have put him back on the verge but we did not, and we don't know of any ponds/rivers near where we found him. he is very feisty at the moment, he was quite last night but i think he was just tired, he is very feisty now, he pecks your hand . we have just given him a hot water bottle in a sock as he was shivering a bit, but he was wet, and placed him upstairs which is warmer than downstairs. He goes to my friends house later this evening, as they have volunteered to look after him when we are on holiday
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Post by Pawsforthought on Jul 27, 2013 17:28:19 GMT
He is extremely cute. Did you look around for his mother and siblings though? If he's going to be released back into the wild, the best thing for him would be to be taken to a wildlife sanctuary where he can be put in with his own kind and raised as a WILD animal. Getting used to humans and dogs is going to get him killed later on in life, as horrible as it sounds we did have a quick look, but it was on a busy road so we could not get a proper look, if we saw what side he had fallen off of we would have put him back on the verge but we did not, and we don't know of any ponds/rivers near where we found him. he is very feisty at the moment, he was quite last night but i think he was just tired, he is very feisty now, he pecks your hand . we have just given him a hot water bottle in a sock as he was shivering a bit, but he was wet, and placed him upstairs which is warmer than downstairs. He goes to my friends house later this evening, as they have volunteered to look after him when we are on holiday Please please PLEASE get him to a wildlife hospital. Let me tell you why I don't think hand rearing a single duckling is a good idea. You know we both work at a wildlife hospital? We're not allowed to talk to the baby birds, including the ducklings. They're supposed to stay a bit scared of us, or they won't be safe when they're released! A lot of people out there are NOT nice like us and would harm a duck if it wandered happily over to them. Many dogs would love to sink their teeth into a bit of duck too. I'm sure you don't want this? PLEASE don't get him used to Barley! Mallards are a wild breed and it isn't in their nature to be domestic pets, which is a GOOD thing. This is evidence to support this whole idea - there is a Goose in the hospital now who was hand reared and has gotten himself into trouble because of this! He screams when anyone leaves the room - he imprinted on a human and it's ruined his life as a Goose! He doesn't know how to BE a goose, and that's how it will be for George I KNOW you don't want this to happen, but he just won't know how to find food for himself or stay away from predators if he's brought up in someone's home. I know it's hard not to get attached to him and you're doing what you, and a lot of other people would feel is best. But the BEST thing for him is a wildlife hospital that will probably have other ducklings (there are a lot of them right now) he would be happier and you'd know he'd have the best chance of surviving They'd probably let you visit him and would be happy to update you on his progress. When we have to move them into a container to clean out their incubators, if one is left on its own (i.e. the last/first one to be picked up) they HATE it and go crazy, running around and calling out for their siblings. I'd hate to think that this is how George feels all the time. He must be extremely lonely, and human company won't cure that If you really have to keep him...get a heat lamp. Ducklings die of cold all the time at Folly, and that's in incubators..!
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puppylove22
Newbie
The sun's actually out for a change! Went for a walk in local country park. New blog post!
Posts: 35
Animals I love: Dogs & Dolphins
Pets I own: Daisy (Shih Tzu)
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Post by puppylove22 on Jul 27, 2013 17:57:22 GMT
Pawsforthought is right. Although George is extremely cute, and it looks like you're taking very good carer of him, sending him to a wildlife centre would be the best thing for him, for later on in life.
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Post by puppypal on Jul 27, 2013 18:10:44 GMT
we did have a quick look, but it was on a busy road so we could not get a proper look, if we saw what side he had fallen off of we would have put him back on the verge but we did not, and we don't know of any ponds/rivers near where we found him. he is very feisty at the moment, he was quite last night but i think he was just tired, he is very feisty now, he pecks your hand . we have just given him a hot water bottle in a sock as he was shivering a bit, but he was wet, and placed him upstairs which is warmer than downstairs. He goes to my friends house later this evening, as they have volunteered to look after him when we are on holiday Please please PLEASE get him to a wildlife hospital. Let me tell you why I don't think hand rearing a single duckling is a good idea. You know we both work at a wildlife hospital? We're not allowed to talk to the baby birds, including the ducklings. They're supposed to stay a bit scared of us, or they won't be safe when they're released! A lot of people out there are NOT nice like us and would harm a duck if it wandered happily over to them. Many dogs would love to sink their teeth into a bit of duck too. I'm sure you don't want this? PLEASE don't get him used to Barley! Mallards are a wild breed and it isn't in their nature to be domestic pets, which is a GOOD thing. This is evidence to support this whole idea - there is a Goose in the hospital now who was hand reared and has gotten himself into trouble because of this! He screams when anyone leaves the room - he imprinted on a human and it's ruined his life as a Goose! He doesn't know how to BE a goose, and that's how it will be for George I KNOW you don't want this to happen, but he just won't know how to find food for himself or stay away from predators if he's brought up in someone's home. I know it's hard not to get attached to him and you're doing what you, and a lot of other people would feel is best. But the BEST thing for him is a wildlife hospital that will probably have other ducklings (there are a lot of them right now) he would be happier and you'd know he'd have the best chance of surviving They'd probably let you visit him and would be happy to update you on his progress. When we have to move them into a container to clean out their incubators, if one is left on its own (i.e. the last/first one to be picked up) they HATE it and go crazy, running around and calling out for their siblings. I'd hate to think that this is how George feels all the time. He must be extremely lonely, and human company won't cure that If you really have to keep him...get a heat lamp. Ducklings die of cold all the time at Folly, and that's in incubators..! Barley is not allowed anywhere near him, he is kept upstairs out of reach from barley, as barley would love to play with him, but he will squish him with his big pawshe is left alone in his box most of the time, unless i need to change his water of fill up his food or clean his box out
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