How to feed wild ducklings: what to eat at home, breeding and care

Taming wild ducks is a good start for beginner poultry farmers. At home, mallards take root best. Their nests can be found in tree hollows or in reeds near forest rivers. Birds are adapted to survive in warm and cold climates, are unpretentious in keeping and do not require special technical equipment for ducklings. The main problem of breeders is how to feed wild ducks and ducklings. But their diet is not too different from that of poultry.

How to care for wild ducklings at home?

In nature, mallard ducklings leave the nest following their mother on the second day after hatching. They quickly become independent, they themselves get food by catching fry and insects. There are eight to eleven ducklings in mallard broods.

Carton boxes or large wicker baskets lined with straw are suitable for keeping small chicks at home. The box for the first five days should be placed in a warm place in the house, and then the grown-up ducklings should be transferred to the duck house.

Chicks left without a mother need to be fed six times a day and given plenty of water. If the ducklings do not eat well on their own, they are fed from a pipette. From the age of ten, the number of feedings is reduced to three times.

The subtleties of captivity

Safe ways to catch and tame ducks:

• snare - a thin cord with a loose loop at the end is placed in the grass. When the duck foot steps into the loop, the lace is tightened;
• trap - put a bait on the ground, put a box or net on top and drop it on the bird.

A longer way to get a home flock of ducklings is to feed the brood during the summer, and then move it to the duck house. Mallards get used to the people who feed them and flock to the food themselves.

Birds need to create conditions close to natural - to ensure free movement and provide a place for swimming. The main requirements for arranging a duck house and keeping birds:

• the room is brick, insulated from the inside with chipboard sheets;
• litter - from sawdust and straw;
• enclosure - spacious, birds are accustomed to activity, in a cage they will become lethargic;
• fresh air - a ventilation system must be provided in the duck house;
• walking - a territory for walking ducklings should be allocated in a grassy area and fenced with a fine mesh;
• pond - put a bowl of water in the paddock.

It is good to equip an artificial pond in the garden and run small fish there. In nature, mallards spend their summers on the water, feeding and teaching ducklings to swim. In the warm season, the birds will feel good in an open pen with a pond.

The depth of the pond should not exceed one and a half meters. Ducks dive for fish to a depth equal to the length of their body - about 60 centimeters. The banks of the reservoir should be made gentle.

The immunity of wild ducks is stronger than that of domestic ones. They need to be vaccinated in case of an unfavorable epizootic situation in the region. Little ducklings should not be allowed to walk on wet grass after rain or dew, so that they do not catch a cold.

Adult mallards are able to raise someone else's orphan - a duckling of a domestic breed of birds. In nature, ducks take care of the offspring of their neighbors who died after being attacked by predators.

What to feed a wild bird?

Adult ducks feed on grains, vegetables, legumes and plants. In summer, the birds are released to graze on the grass. Diet for ducklings:

• wheat, oatmeal, barley groats;
• peas;
• boiled potatoes;
• beets;
• carrot;
• sunflower meal;
• bran;
• feed yeast;
• fish oil.

To feed the hatched ducklings, prepare a mixture of crushed eggs and fat-free cottage cheese in meat or fish broth. In nature, ducks eat algae.

You need to add duckweed to the diet, and also offer soaked kelp meal. Insects will be replaced by bloodworms. Birds should be given fresh minced fish every two days.

You can determine what to feed a wild duck by its plumage. The newly hatched chick is covered in yellow down. In this case, complementary foods begin with crushed boiled eggs, cottage cheese and crushed grains.Brown-feathered chicks are fed grains with chopped grass, boiled chopped potatoes.

Winter diet of ducks:

• corn;
• wheat;
• beans;
• oats;
• silo;
• vegetables.

Wheat grains are sprouted to provide birds with green food in winter. Ducks need plenty of water. There should always be containers with clean water in the duck house. So that the ducklings do not wet their paws in the troughs, it is advisable to install automatic drinkers and supply filtered water, purified from chlorine. But it is easier to put containers with settled water and change it twice a day. It is not recommended to give raw tap water, but key water will do.

What not to give?

Forbidden food for wild ducks:

Fresh, moldy breadClogs the esophagus, causes congestion in the gastrointestinal tract, the development of a fungal disease of the respiratory tract Whole raw vegetables Crackers Swell in the stomachPumpkin, zucchini Have a laxative effectRanunculaceae family herbs Contain paralyzing toxins

Product	Harm
Not digested, get stuck in the crop

To get wild ducklings out, vegetables need to be boiled and finely chopped. For better digestion of food, put chalk, crushed eggshells in a separate bowl.

How much do they grow?

Wild ducklings develop quickly and look like adult ducks at two months of age. In order for the chicks to gain weight better, they should be fed with vitamin herbs - dill, scalded nettle leaves, beet tops, Beijing cabbage. Growing ducklings for fattening lasts up to seventy days, since then molting begins. Carcasses will be difficult to pluck and the meat will become tough.

Features of breeding

In nature, females build nests and lay eggs in the spring. Males leave them after the appearance of masonry and go to molt. Birds mate in a pond, so you need to put a bowl of water in the duck house or release the ducks to the pond.

In captivity, females lay eggs three times a year. Mallards do not leave the chicks, so an incubator is not needed. Ducks incubate eggs intermittently during which they feed. Before leaving, they cover the masonry with their own fluff. Laying hens need to be fed four times a day, adding more oats and barley to the diet.

The shell of mallard eggs is harder and smoother than that of farm birds. The weight of one egg is 60-80 grams. The duration of the incubation period is 26-28 days. Chicks hatched in cold weather should be kept warm in the first days. The brood is placed in a box lined with foam plastic and placed on a bowl of hot water or next to the battery. In summer, chicks do not need heat, but should be protected from drafts.

Possible errors

The first miscalculation is the capture of a wild duck of an untamed species. Near the villages and in city parks, it is rare, but you can meet migratory waterfowl. If the bird is aggressive, does not eat or drink, it is better to let it go free. More often catchers come across friendly mallards, gray duck and red-headed pochard. These three breeds quickly get used to a person, gain weight and lay eggs several times a year. Birds look like gray plumage with a wavy black pattern.Mallard drakes are distinguished by their green heads. Unfavorable conditions for wild ducks:

• cellular content;
• lack of water and walking;
• large chunks in food;
• grass-only feeding;
• no solid additives - chalk, eggshells, shells.

Cereals for birds of all ages should be given crushed. Boiled vegetables are given only in crushed form or mashed into porridge. Grass, cabbage leaves for chicks are cut. The beak of adult ducks is adapted to tear off pieces from the leaves, break off the stems. It is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the duck house regularly, as with the maintenance of thoroughbred domestic ducks: renew the litter every two days, disinfect the premises in the summer while the birds are walking.

In the wild, mallards do not come into contact with droppings for a long time. In a dirty duck house, they will contract the same infections as poultry. If the temperature in the duck house in winter drops below five degrees Celsius, the room needs to be heated.

Ducks should not be let out for a walk unattended in an area unrestricted by the grid. Chicks at the age of ten try to fly, they can fly off the site and not return. Birds tamed as adults should theoretically return to a place where food and shelter are always waiting for them. But still, wild ducks are advised to trim the plumage on the wings before the fourth generation appears.

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