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slackula

So, I come downstairs this morning and find that my dear mother in law has acquired three orphaned ducklings. Apparently the neighbour's cat herded them into our back yard. No sign of any adult ducks around.

They seem healthy enough, right now they are in a cage with the baby minah bird our cat brought in a few weeks ago.

They are squeaking for their parents though, poor little things

What do ducklings eat? The minah seems to be doing well on the bits of pork the MIL shoves down its throat.

Do they need a pond? Will their skin suffer if it is not kept wet?

Thanks muchly for any advice (recipes will not be considered 'advice'!)

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bibo ergo sum

mediamanbkk

Any one of them ugly?

mooncake

What do they eat?
haha...LOL......whatever it is, just don't let them too close to your..err U know
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.
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Anyway...below are my experiences raising them when I was a wee wee little.

They seem healthy enough, right now they are in a cage with the baby minah bird our cat brought in a few weeks ago.
You need to cage them part of the day, esp at night
safe from other animals and cats eating them, esp if they are still baby ducks

They are squeaking for their parents though, poor little things
Look for their parents, or just play with them /cuddling them, they will be fine.

What do ducklings eat?
left over cook rice, soft fruits, small fishes/shrimps (fresh, dead/or alive), and many waterweeds/some soft aquatic plants out there.

Do they need a pond? Will their skin suffer if it is not kept wet?
YEP, they need pond to play in during the day...add some fishes, shrimps, & plants in the pond.
Just build a cage nearby the pond, they like to slide down to the pond.
By evening, gather them for dinner and shoo shoo them back to the cage.
They are early risers around 5-6 am, so feed them breakfast then leave the gate open all day.
In a few weeks they will know the routine. Mine were so smart, they would wait around for breakfast first, before they go out and play in a canal - our house's by a canal, but always be back just in time for thier dinner!..LOL

That's all I know ....they are cute even when older, but poo poo alot...so put the pond and cage away from the house a bit

best of luck

flash

best to marinade overnight and cook in a plum sauce

the dogcatcher

You can get the pancakes at any good Chinese supermarket.

slackula

Here's a snap of the little fellas, they are very cute!

dirtydog

^Cute, make sure you keep an eye on them as lots of animals like eating ducklings

Fuzzy Bob

^ Moby Duck bites the dust

slackula

OK, they are now doing laps in an old ice-cream container. They keep taking it in turns to hop in, paddle about and then get out.

We put in a slice of papaya but they all went and sat on it

withnallstoke

Did you expect the papaya to paddle as well?

slackula

They are supposed to eat it, not use it as a life-raft. :/

Loy Toy

I have no idea where you live but they are a magnet for snakes!

We had ducks when we were young and they are dirty smelly things and unless you are going to eat them don't make good pets.

slackula

Phuket, and my Mrs is petrified of snakes, this could be bad.

We don't want them, but I'm not sure what to do with them. If we leave them outside they're dead for sure, too many cats and dogs around here. I am thinking of going over to a neighbour who has a few chickens in a big cage and asking if they want them. We've already got two dogs, two cats and the stupid, noisy minah and we didn't actively get any of them, they just arrive and we end up taking them in!

My house is turning into a menagerie

slackula

Meh, just for the hell of it here are a couple more pics of Huey, Dewey and Louie in their aqua-park:






Their roommate is not impressed with his new guests:

blackgang

For sure, everytime their head goes down they shit a meter up the wall, and especially those convict bastards, they are the worst.

CharleyFarley

Don't have so much water they can drown in.

They like to spash about and must always have fresh water to drink, they are messy drinkers so change it frequently.

They have a herd mentality for the first month, so keep them enclosed as their
feathers will not have the resistance to wetness.

They look like the ducks that make the typical quack quacking sound when they get older, so be warned.

Rascal

knows what all ducks eat!
Quackers!

patsycat

That mynah bird looks really grumpy!!! Cute ducks.

English Noodles

^Maybe you would be too if you were locked in a cage for the rest of your life.

slackula

Actually I think the MiL is planning to let it go once it is a bit bigger.

Sadly the ducklings didn't make it. We went away for three days and when we got back she told us two of them had died. The third died a couple of days ago