Ducks, depending on their breed, can be flakey mothers. Abandoned ducklings are relatively common in domestic ducks, and it can be heartbreaking.
Both wild and domestic ducks will abandon ducklings, and they usually don’t make it more than a day or two. Wild ducklings are vulnerable to predators and drowning without a mother to guide them. Domestic ducklings are attacked by other birds in the coop without a mother hovering over them.
Abandoned ducklings are particularly susceptible to drowning, even in shallow water.
Some ducklings are sometimes abandoned almost by accident.
In our case, a mother duck hatched out a clutch of 12 and stopped sitting. She still had 4 eggs left in the nest, but something told her that an even dozen was enough!
A young (1-year-old) duck without a nest of her own decided to sit on the nest once their mother had left, and managed to hatch out 4 more ducklings from the surplus eggs they’d abandoned. Unfortunately, she wasn’t very interested in mothering them.
A duck that already has babies will often adopt abandoned ducklings, so long as they’re about the same age as her own. Perhaps her mothering instinct is strongest right after her babies hatch, or perhaps she just can’t tell them apart.
With a 2+ week difference in ages, the current mothers are not willing to take on extra responsibilities. Not only do they not adopt the new babies, but they’ll actually go out of their way to attack and try to kill them. Two ducklings were found dead, and two more were hiding in a corner trying to avoid the cranky group of mother ducks.
Time to intervene and hand raise some fluffy cuteness, but what to do with abandoned baby ducks?
How to Care for Ducklings
So long as they’re well cared for, ducklings can be re-introduced back into the flock with no issues. It takes about 6-8 weeks for ducklings to become self-sufficient, so if you’re caring for abandoned ducklings, make sure you plan on housing for at least that long.
Water and Drowning
Ducks need an abundant source of water, and go through far more in a day than chickens. For lone ducklings, the water must be very shallow and ideally set up so that they cant climb into it. Very young ducklings are at great risk of drowning because they do not produce a natural oil that keeps them from getting waterlogged. They’ll get some of their mother’s oils through contact which allows her to take them for brief swims, but she makes sure to know their limits. Ducks should not be given water to crawl in until they’re mostly feathered in. I’ve seen 4-week old ducklings become waterlogged and drown in 6-8 inches of water.
A mother duck in close contact with her ducklings, allowing some of her waterproofing to rub off on them.
Food for Ducklings
Ducklings can consume any un-medicated chicken feed, ideally a starter ration or game bird ration because it contains higher protein to help them grow. The feed must be un-medicated because they consume more feed than chickens of a similar size, and they will overdose on medicated chicken feed. They should be given free access to clean dry feed, though early on they won’t eat very much. They also love snails, slugs and garden bugs as well as grass, clover, green and lettuce.
(If you’re looking for more details, here are a few tips for feeding ducklings.)
Housing & Bedding
They’ll need a home safe from predators and bedding. A home can be as simple as a cardboard box, but ideally would be a Rubbermaid tote or something similar. Shavings, straw, leaves or dry grass work well so long as you provide at least a 1-2 inch layer. Ducklings love to play in their water, and their droppings are much wetter than chicken droppings. Without sufficient bedding, they’ll be soaked and may die of hypothermia. Paper towels also work well in a pinch but need to be changed daily as they become soaked easily.
Heat
Many sites will tell you how important heat is, and give instructions on a heat lamp and how to set it up so that it’s not a fire hazard. A heat lamp running all night after a few cloudy days is enough to cause our off-grid homestead to lose power. Our first year brooding ducklings we tried to use a heat lamp and kept draining the batteries. For the past 5 years, we’ve brooded ducklings in a box in our garage in June. July and August without a heat lamp and never lost a single one. A heat lamp may be nice and may keep them a lot more comfortable, but if you’re not able to set one up they’ll likely still do just fine.
Depending on the breed, ducks grow to full size in 8-12 weeks. They’ll need care for at least 6 weeks before they can be safely reintroduced to the flock.
Zac
Hello. I’m glad I found your blog post. We lost a mother duck before her babies hatched, and i am wondering if you’ve ever had luck hatching the eggs. We live off grid as well so a heat lamp is not an option. They still have about 10 days left of incubation and I’m not sure if they are even still alive. We’ve been keeping a hot water bottle over them at night and moving them to the green house during the day.
Thanks for your time.
-Zac
Ashley Adamant
You’re doing exactly what I’d suggest lacking electricity. If you did have a small amount of electricity, we’ve used this brooder plate with good success too. Unlike a heat lamp, which is around 250 watts, this thing is only 25 so it doesn’t kill our off-grid system.
The other thing that duck eggs need is humidity, since the mother gets her breast feathers wet occasionally while brooding. Put a tiny bit of water on your fingers and sprinkle them each day and that’ll help. They’re supposed to be turned each day too…
Hatching duck eggs is tricky they say, but you might just get lucky though. We had a mother reject one duckling once. We took him and put him in a tote in the garage, along with an unhatched egg he was huddling on. The joke was that egg would keep him company. He sat on the egg, and about 10 days later, he had a friend in there. We didn’t turn it or tend it in any way, and all it had was the warmth of another newborn chick.
Good luck, I really hope your brood makes it.
Zac
Thank you! We’ve been turning them every few hours. (Perhaps not necessary) and I heard about humidity so I have a moist paper towel sitting over some of the females feather that are still covering the eggs. Perhaps I’ll have good news for you in about 2 weeks.
Ashley Adamant
I really hope so. Crossing my fingers for you!
Maureen
My sister has a duckling in her pool. The mother has abandoned it. She is feeding it mealworm, grass, peas, and grass. Problem is we can’t get it out of the pool to take it to the local wildlife sanctuary. It starts to dive deep and we are afraid it will drown. It won’t get out of the pool without its mother, but she hasn’t returned in days. There is a ramp for it to get out. How can we catch it to take to the sanctuary?
Ashley Adamant
That’s really strange, usually, ducks come out periodically…Ours that drowned did so after a few hours, so clearly this one has some level of waterproofing on their feathers and is doing something to stay buoyant and waterproof if it’s been days. My best suggestion would be either floating a few pieces of wood in the pool to give the duck a place to rest, or if you’re really intent on the sanctuary, try using a pool net. Good luck!
Cherise
My duck is down to her last duckling and I have taken it upon myself to care for it as it’s sibling was killed just last night. It is about 5 weeks old already. I separated it from its’ mother yesterday and closed up a stable for them today. When I went outside to reunite them earlier, it was like she didn’t even recognize her baby, it was heartbreaking. If I put the baby in a stable and coax her in there, do you think she will try to hurt it?
Ashley Adamant
If she didn’t immediately recognize it and try to protect it, I would worry. I’ve watched ducks kill unprotected ducklings in minutes, in my case it was another rival mother duck and their actual mother wasn’t tending them. Literally pecked it to death before I could run the 30 feet to where they were to save it. Really heartbreaking…
Personally, if she’s not devoted to the one I wouldn’t give it back to her.
Robbie Young
Hi, I rescued a single duckling today that I found drowning in a canal near me. It was alone and when I found the mother with other ducklings, the mother swam off despite me placing the duckling very close to her and allowing space for her to approach. I’ve since brought it home and am caring for it as best I can. Due to the current situation with Covid-19, wildlife centres aren’t taking any animals, so at least for the time being I need to care for the duckling. I’m anxious that by looking after it, the duckling will imprint onto me and it won’t be possible to integrate it back into the wild. Do you have any information regarding this?
Ashley Adamant
I’ll start by saying I’m not an expert on wild ducks, since all my abandoned ducklings were domestic ducks rejected by their mothers. That said, I did have a the duck’s I’ve had imprint on me abandoned me within seconds of seeing their own kind. I’d tend them to adulthood, and they’d follow me like a dog (even coming when I called) and then literally as soon as they catch sight of other ducks it’s like they’ve never met me. I wouldn’t worry too much about it not being able to be released again, ducks know they’re ducks and adapt readily.
MARY MCNULTY
MOTHER DUCK ABANDONED HER 11 DUCKLINGS 2 WEEKS AFTER HATCHED. MOTHER PICKED OUR ENCLOSED COURTYARD AT WORK AND THERE IS NO WATER SOURCE. OUR AGENCY IS CLOSED DUE TO COVID 19 BUT I COME HERE DAILY TO PROVIDE WATER AND CRACKED CORN. SO FAR- THEY ARE SURVIVING TOGETHER. THEY ARE 4 WEEKS NOW- AND I HAVE A SMALL POOL SET UP WHICH THEY ARE ABLE TO GET IN AND OUT WITH NO PROBLEM. MOTHER DUCK FLEW IN YESTERDAY BRIEFLY AND ALL 11 DUCKS RAN TO HER AND SHE ONLY STAYED A MINUTE AND LEFT AGAIN. I HAVE 2 QUESTIONS: ONE- WHY DOES MOTHER DUCK LEAVE AND COME BACK- AND SECONDLY- WE HAVE A FEW CROWS THAT HANG OUT- AT WHAT AGE WILL THE DUCKLINGS NOT BE PREY TO THE CROWS. THE ONLY WAY OUT FOR THE DUCKS IS WHEN GAIN THEIR FLYING SKILLS TO GO OVER BUILDING WALL SO I EXPECT THEM TO BE HERE FOR AWHILE. THANK YOU
Debra Bannerman
HI, I just came home and a duck is in my pool with 10 babies. now today I have 2 that are apparently abandoned, the mom hasn’t been here all day. I hopefully catch them and put them up for the night in my garage. My question is once they get bigger can I put them in with my chickens?
Ashley Adamant
Those babies may not be able to get out of the pool, and that may be why they’re left in there. Left long enough they’ll become waterlogged and drown, so if they’re not able to climb out on their own maybe help them. If they’re wild ducks, I’m not sure how they’d take to being with chickens (or if they’d just fly away once they can). For domestic ducks, we kept ours with chickens without issue so long as you’re careful about introductions (adult chickens can and often will just kill young birds, chicken/duck or otherwise, so I’d wait until they’re a bit more grown).
Anastazja Jessa
Dear Ashley, we have found and took in four abandoned wild duck eggs. Three just hatched today! They are snuggling in with our newly hatched baby chickens right now. What can we do to best take care of these wild ducklings? We live off in the woods, surrounded by ponds, lake, wildlife and a lot of greens, both planted and wild. Do the tips you listed here apply to these wild ducklings also? I’m wondering if we can prepare food purely out of natural forest ingredients instead of buying it anywhere. I also wonder when can I introduce them to water ponds and how to monitor that etc. We have no experience with ducks at all, least of all wild ones, and would be so grateful for your thoughts on this. Thank You!
Ashley Adamant
You might have trouble providing them with enough food in captivity unless you give them a large area to forage (but then without their mother as a guide they’re more at predator risk). Domestic ducks eat a lot more than chickens, and wild ducks are often fully grown and flying at 6 weeks…so that’s a lot of food. They’re moving and foraging all day long, led by their mother. If you’re trying for natural forest ingredients, lots of tender wild greens (goosefoot, chickweed, etc), pond plants, and a boatload of slugs, snails, and worms might work, but you’ll have to see how they take to them.
As to exposing them to the water, that’s tricky, as without their mother to guide them out after a while they’re liable to get waterlogged and actually drown as their down will get soaked after a while. Their fluff is waterproof for a time, but not nearly as much as adults.
I really hope it works out for you, best of luck!
Adam
I’m raising domestic muskovies. My drake was killed before the hens hatched out any eggs. I’ve got 15 ducklings being shipped in to restore the flock. Is there a chance the hens might raise the new ducklings, or am I stuck with using a brooder until they are old enough to join the flock?
Ashley Adamant
There is a chance…but in my experience, they’re more likely to kill them until they’re at least 4ish weeks old.
Jessica
So my chickens were sitting on 2 duck eggs.. for the longest time it seems…. Muscovy duck eggs mixed with mallards… they both hatched but one was pecked to death.i got to the other one just in time, though it had a head wound… I think it will be okay but I don’t know how to care for it properly. We have other ducklings and mamas but they are a week and a half older than this little one. Any suggestions?
Ashley Adamant
We’ve kept them in a cardboard box in the house until they were 3-4 weeks old. At that point, they can be slowly re-integrated.
Trisha
Hi we have an abandoned mallard duckling now about 8 weeks old., she is doing well but we are wondering if she would survive if we put her in the wild.
Ashley Adamant
She’ll likely migrate on her own once she can fly, so I’d let her make that choice and just put her in a place without a roof.
Sabrina
Trisha- we have just taken in a mallard duckling. My kids saved it when they saw it’s mama trying to drown it over an extended period of time. Our neighbours said they witnessed the same thing before my kids noticed it. She has 3 other ducklings as well which she seemed to be nurturing towards. Anyways, we now have this mallard duckling. Please share what you’ve done to care for yours. Ours seems fairly young, but seems to be able to fly. Thanks!
Trevor
Thanks for this information. My wife and children came across 3 abandoned ducklings near a river by our house. The thought is they are under 2 weeks old. With some help it was determined they weren’t wild and someone most likely dumped them there. We lost one within 12 hours. It was pretty lethargic and it’s head kept falling to the side and it eventually passed. We are on night 2 now. If we can keep the other 2 alive they will be heading to my inlaws farm by next weekend.
Admin
Sorry to hear that one passed away. I hope the other two are thriving!
Kim
Hello! I am looking for advice for how to best care for two mallard ducklings.
At our cottage, we had a mallard duck nest in a very unfortunate spot 10 feet off the ground and with multiple outdoor cats nearby. The mother left her nest with 8 ducklings but left 4 behind. We were able to hatch two, which was a huge surprise! They are now two weeks old. The attempt to reintegrate them with their mother (who has since lost all her babies) was not successful. They were afraid of her and ran away and hid under my daughter who they have imprinted on. When the mother did swim off with one, the male duck immediately started pecking at it. We have a good setup for baby ducks but would need to build a pen if we were to continue much longer.
I contacted a wildlife rescue near me and they are willing to take them but with me being a softie, I don’t know what is the best place for them. The rescue is on a small inner-city lot and the director mentioned that the ducks don’t get a pool until they are older and almost ready to be released. Until then, the ducklings are put in boxes based on size. Currently, the ducklings get out 5 times a day and do a supervised swim at least three and complain loudly when left. I know that they are wild ducks and belong with their own kind, I’m just wondering about the best timing for that. We are willing to care for them for any amount of time that would be best for them whether it be another week or until flight. Thanks for any advice!
Wendy Symons
Hi, thanks for your advice. I rescued 2 wild ducklings 3 weeks ago. The mother had 7 originally, 5 disappeared thanks to foxes I think, then she abandoned the final 2. Seconds before a farm cat got them, we picked them up, and have had them in our kitchen, in a cat carrier for nearly 3 weeks. It’s been fun and an adventure. They take a lot of tlc, but are extremely cute. They poo very often!, and I change the bedding 3 times a day. Their favourite it definitely lettuce, but cucumber is also popular. All has to be chopped up fine, but it gets munched very quickly. Protein pellets soaked in water seems popular too. They have a swim for about 1-3 minutes outside, then you can see them wanting to get out, so they come back to the warm kitchen. I give them a little rub down of they look cold. They like cuddles, and also wandering around on the floor, following me, 2 /3 times a day. Kit hen towel is essential!! They have the option when older to join the other wild ducks, on the farm, or can stay on our makeshift pond if they want. Anyone thinking about ducklings, should be aware of the time and commitment, but I know they had no chance of survival without a bit of intervention…. So extremely worthwhile.
Admin
I’m so glad you rescued them. It sounds like they’re living really great lives with you!
David Ladd
Today we discovered a juvenile duck in our yard and it is walking back and forth between our yard across an alley to our neighbor’s yard. It’s clearly not full grown as it has a bit of white-ish fuzz on the back of it’s head. It doesn’t seem to know what to do but since we live at least a mile from any significant water source we assume the duck flew to this location. Should we just leave it and it will eventually fly off? Is this duck just hanging out right now and waiting for an opportune time to leave? Or is it completely lost without it’s mother and will die? We contacted the city but it takes a day before the respond. Thanks for your help.
David Ladd
Well, much has happened since my post last night. The “juvenile” duck we saw was actually a mother and a breed i’d never seen before. Definitely not a mallard which is the common duck type around here. Anyway, the mother was in distress because her ducklings had fallen into the sewer! I pulled the sewer cover and my wife was able to kneel down into the sewer and retrieve the ducklings. There were 10 of them! We put them all in a box and took them to the vicinity of the mother. As soon as they were out of the box they ran to their mother and all was well. The only concern is that we don’t live near a significant water source. Hopefully, she’ll be able to navigate the situation. Thanks anyway!
Ashley Adamant
Awesome, I’m so glad this ended well for everyone!
Olivia Edwards
HI Ashley, so today I got a phone call from my husband and a duckling had been sitting outside, almost stepped on by several people all morning. Obviously it was abandoned, I’m guessing because it has either a deformity (born with) or a broken leg. Doesn’t seem to be in pain, though I probably will still take him to the vet on payday. I took the duckling home and now have it in a large sized box with a 2 inch bowl of water. What should I feed the duckling? and should I let the duckling run freely sometimes? it wont seem to be drinking the water it has, I even have a dropper and it wont drink out of that when I try… any suggestions?
-Olivia
Ashley Adamant
Ducks drink like crazy, and if it’s not drinking then I’d say he won’t make it long. I kept a duck with a broken/deformed leg for years, and it healed (to where he was able to walk well) after several weeks in a tote in my garage. But if he’s not eating/drinking, you may be out of luck. I hope it works out for the little guy, best of luck!
Rose Marie Engman
Mother duck and her babies were found in our pool, they all left w the mother however, after getting out of the pool, one was left behind.My kids decided they needed to rescue it and put it in an empty bathtub with blankets for the night.I discovered this hours later and felt that the best thing to do is leave the baby outside because its mother will still be looking for it. It was dark and late but I put it in a box and returned it to a place near the pool. In the morning box is empty, no sign of a problem but the kids are very upset and sure that I killed it. I honestly have no idea if I did the right thing. Just looking for an educated opinion, do you believe there was a chance they are all back together or do you suspect I left it to be killed? 🙁
Sheryl Macleod
Hi I have a large horse farm with lots of other dogs and cats around and I found a very young probably knew Lauren would duck. By himself no mother no siblings I don’t know where he came from. I have him in my small dog crate I have gotten organic duck starter food which I mix with water and he seems to be happy with it and he’s drinking well should I introduce any fresh vegetables?Should I take him out of the dog crate to exercise and so he can move around more and just keep them in a confined space I’m really enjoying him he would’ve died the first night if we hadn’t found him some thing would’ve killed him. Can he go out with my chickens once he’s grown up? When do I introduce a pool?
Ashley Adamant
Fresh veggies and greens are great for ducks, and I’d give them to him if it were me. As to space, he’ll likely be fine in a small space for the first week or two, but then yes, a bigger space so he can move. We’ve had 6-week old ducklings drown in a kiddy pool, so until he’s FULLY grown I’d keep any pool at 1 inch deep or so if he’s unattended. We’ve had success raising chickens and ducks together, but the chickens will likely attack him if he’s introduced too young. I’d wait until he’s grown or near grown. There are instructions for introducing new chickens/birds to a cook, I think just putting them in after dark so the chickens wake up with their new neighbor tends to work out the best, but do some reading on methods of introduction (but still, I’d wait until he’s grown).
Aubrey
Thank you for running this forum! I have a mallard sitting on a nest in one of our bushes. Today there was one egg that seems to have been ejected from the nest. It is possible that it rolled away from the nest, but unlikely. It seems more likely it was pushed out of the nest. The egg is cracked, and the baby’s beak is not near the crack, so I am guessing this was a result of hitting the concrete rather than the bird trying to hatch. The bird seems to be very developed. I can see feathers and I hear it making peeps. I brought it inside and put it on a heating pad on a medium-low setting. Should I attempt to put it back in the nest? I am afraid that if Mom rejected it, she will do so again and damage the shell again.
Ashley Adamant
Once a mother has rejected an egg she almost certainly won’t take it back. Our domestic ducks reject eggs all the time, and who knows what their reasoning is. I’ve successfully hatched them by keeping them under a brooding heat lamp if all they need is another few days. There are instructions online on how to repair cracked shells if the egg has cracked pre-maturely. I’ve never had to do it, but I’m pretty sure you can actually just tape up the crack to help retain moisture (I seem to remember seeing a tutorial to the effect). I hope it works out for the little guy!
Mary Bucy
Hi! Just wondering how everything turned out with the cracked egg…
Cassandra Cruz
Will adult chickens adopt an abandoned duckling? Or will they kill it? I dont want to risk it without know.
Ashley Adamant
It really depends on the chickens, but my chickens tried to kill even the chicks of other mother chickens, so I wouldn’t chance it.
Carolyn
I have brought in an abandoned wild mallard duckling. He has only one usable eye. The other eye never opened. Can a wild mallard duck survive in the wild when old enough to be released?
Ashley Adamant
That is a good question, and honestly, I have no idea. Good luck, I hope he makes it!
Isabel
Hi so glad I found your post!
My dad bought two ducks, one white and a mallard. She laid 7-9 eggs and 7 have hatched successfully. Then he bought another duckling (yellow) at his local tractor supply. They say it’s about 3 days old. The original white mama duck has ducklings that are about 2 days old. We are afraid that she will hurt this yellow duckling or the mallard will hurt the yellow duckling. Should we try it??
Ashley Adamant
It really depends on the mother…some will attack them, others won’t. Good luck, I hope it works out.
Wendy Bonter
Hello.. a few days ago I rescued 6 baby wild ducklings running up the median Lake Ontario State Parkway. My husband wouldn’t let me keep them saying it was illegal. So I returned them to a safe location in a pond area directly off the parkway. I was hoping the mother was looking for them nearby somewhere? That evening one had disappeared. 3 days later I could find none. I did not know about water logging predators and such. I really thought it was a little Paradise for them to grow and be strong enough to survive. I was wrong. I wish I had seen this before. At least now I know? I’m assuming the checks were three weeks old maybe and obviously born sometime in July a late hatch perhaps? I feel so bad about this. I just wanted to help them but I guess I never should have touched them to begin with OR risk my life to scoop them up from I meant traffic. Sincerely Wendy