Abandoned Ducklings - What should I do

[Panda]

Hi

We had a lovely duck and 6 ducklings on our lake, I knew of the nest and kept clear of it, they have been happily swmming about until today.  I saw them first thing, just 4 ducklings no mum, they are crying their hearts out but the lother ducks are ignoring them or chasing them off.  What should I do, I'm not sure I could catch them but if I could, should I, I'm thinking the mum may have been had by a fox and that the ducklings may not last the night.

thoughts anyone

[chris pp]

It depends on how old they are, if they are swimming around on the water there's probably not much you can do and there's a reasonable chance they will be OK, of course there's always predation, that's just the way things are but don't jump to conclusions about it being a fox without concrete evidence.

Chris

[kohinoor]

I was left with 12 of them on the river outside my house (the mum did the same thing last year )  I just make sure that they get extra food and they seem to be okay ( they do cry a lot though initially but that soon gets better as they get used to being dumped !

[Gemini_man]

Panda I think you should wait before doing anything just in case mum is in fact OK, at least until tomorrow, not sure what you would or could do then to be honest I doubt that showering them with breadcrumbs would help much unless you had other plans for them!!!

As always there's plenty of stuff on the net about it but I did find one story which included this: "Every day, they got a bath in our kitchen sink, a weighing session, and 3 meals. Their usual menu: lettuce

(given to them in their bath in the sink) , tomatoes, cheese, chips, and anything else they liked." What, no burger?? If you want to read it the link is here: http://mchristi.wso.net/ducks.html

Personally I think I would wait until tomorrow and if they are still alone and distressed and if I couldn't easily catch them I'd shower them with a mixture of  foods and see what happens.

Good luck and do let us know how it goes please :)

[Panda]

Feeling very sad and stupid now, deciding that I had to do something as I felt so sorry for them I tried to catch them and waded into the lake, three just swam away squealing, one though through itself under the water twice, an evasive move I assume and did not come up.  So I have done the most stupid thing and I wish I saw your comments before I did this, I would have left them and at least there would have still been four, I feel like an idiot and all I;ve manged to do is get very wet and cold and kill one duckling that without me might have made it.  Can't type anymore as tears are making the keyboard wet....

[Gemini_man]

Panda i think it very unlikely that a duckling would actually drown like that - dry your tears and wait until morning when hopefully there will be 5 - then you have to decide what to give them for breakfast :D

[Panda]

Sadly the duckling has not shown, not on this bank anyway, the lake is large (for a duckling) and it could of course be elsewhere but I doubt it as there was one that was finding it hard to jeep up with the others and often looked unstable on the water, I think it was this one that went under and didn't come up.  Good news though the others look fine, just left them some feed.

[Tag]

Pike in the lake? They will take ducklings.

[Russethouse]

 Panda, nature provides for spares, I know it seems really harsh but this little weaker duckling would have been very easy prey for any predator - you are doing the best you can for the others, concentrate on them. Well done, I'm not sure if I would have been brave enough to wade in like that.

[Gemini_man]

Sorry to hear that Panda hopefully the others will continue to do well - I expect they will have some choice food to thrive on [:)]

and who knows maybe the missing one did find it's way to safety elsewhere - apparently lost or abandoned ducklings are often adopted by other mummy ducks [:)]

[WJT]

Panda, how terrible for you [:'(] As others have said, it was probably something else that occurred but in any case,  it most probably would have happened anyway. I feel for you and as RH said it was very brave to attempt to wade in the water in the first place. Not many people would bother or even give a thought to saving the ducklings so you have certainly earned my respect. I will keep my fingers crossed for the other ducklings and well done for trying, just wish everyone was as kind and caring as you.

[Amanda 61]

Please tell me that you have FOUR ducklings today! We have a terrapin on our village pond here in the UK (Hampshire), obviously been dumped by someone several years ago but now thriving very well indeed thankyou ....on our many ducklings, I believe! The RSPCA have said they would take the terrapin for us,,,,but we have to catch it first!!!

I could see someone jumping in and trying to do their 'rescue bit'. Sounds like good fun!!!!! Please keep us all posted on the lifespan of your ducklings....and good luck.

[chris pp]

It's a while since I was in the UK, but if there is a terrapin in your village pond, speak to your County wildlife trust, they should be able via DEFRA / English Nature to have it removed as an undesirable non native species.

Chris