How do I take care of a newly hatched duck?

Question

How do I take care of a newly hatched duck?

Answer 1

find its mother,

Answer 2

I'm not entirely sure, but whatever you do, don't try to release it back into the wild. I tried that years ago with a lost baby duck I found, and all the other ducks would have nothing to do with it because it smelled like 'human'. Then a seagull swooped down and took off with the poor little critter. It was 20 years ago, and I still remember how awful it was to watch!

I'm not sure about food, but be sure to keep it warm. In a box with a heat lamp, a blanket, maybe a warm hot water bottle. Best of luck! (I'll bet it's really really cute, too!)  

Answer 3

It needs food and water, of course. I hope you bought some duck feed ahead of time. They also need a heat lamp. The temperature directly under the lamp must be about 95 degrees. There should also be enough space away from the lamp so that the duck can go somewhere cooler if it wants to. Decrease the temperature by about 5 degrees per week until it's down to about 70. One other important thing to remember is that ducklings shouldn't be allowed to swim until they're around 2 months old. Ducks hatched in incubators don't have the protective oils on their feathers that shed water, so they can get chilled easily. If your duck is being raised by its mother you can ignore that- the mother will rub her oil on the baby.

Answer 4

Buy earplugs.  I'm not kidding.  They will be very noisy.  Fortunately, they are very easy to raise.  I've raised dozens of orphaned ducks and they just seem to take off and raise themselves.  They love to swim in the tub too...  (when a little older).  Go to your local farmers supply store and they will have the feed you need and some great advice for your climate.

Answer 5

offer a small bowel of water, they usually don't eat for 12-24 hours, have a heat light, even a reg bulb in one side of the box will work, so it can stay warm if it needs to and move out of the heat if it needs to. get some duck/chick starter its fine crumbles of feed, add water to make it a much and h**l eat when he wants to and always have a bowl of water for them, and plenty of newspaper to line the bottom with bc they are very messy! keep them out of drafts.  great little pets, best of luck!