Does anyone know how to take care of duck eggs? My grandmother found one in her backyard (she lives right next to a lake) and she needed someone to take care of it so she gave it to us(my family has been known to take in homeless animals),
And we don't know how to take care of it. it's probably dead, but
we're gonna try and hatch it anyway. Any ideas?

I know that in farms they go in a "stove".

You could try a simular thing with a infrared light.

There should be plenty information on this on the net.

I would not breed the egg, because the duckling will see the first person/animal he/she sees as the parent.
It will follow you everywhere.
The duck will have no chance on a "normal" life.

I looked it up on the web, and learned that the egg has to be kept humid, so we've been keeping uder a lamp (for heat) next to a humidifier.

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I would not breed the egg, because the duckling will see the first person/animal he/she sees as the parent.
It will follow you everywhere.
The duck will have no chance on a "normal" life.
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Yeah... i was thinking about that.

This reminds me of that ugly duckling story and how he grew to be beautiful and all that. So just because this duck is going to be a people duck it shouldnt have a chance at life 1vegan?? This is just my opinion but I think you are trying way to hard to be the "perfect vegan".

I thought for a while about wether or not i should hatch the egg and decided i am still going to try. I think Wyldfyre is right.
Besides, i have heard of many "success stories" about people who have raised orphan ducklings from eggs.

Originally posted by WyldFyre
This is just my opinion but I think you are trying way to hard to be the "perfect vegan".

It's 50/50.

I'm also an egoist that likes to be "free".

When we decide to go away for a couple of days I don't want to worry about who is gonna take care of the pet.

actually, i kinda agree with WF :confused:
cause yeah if there's a chance the duckling will survive and be healthy it deserves a life
but on one hand it may not even be fertilized, so i'd try it and see how it goes. if it hatches, you'll have tons of info on it by then i'm sure and will be fully prepared to do what's best for him/her and you.

i have seen programs on tv where orphaned ducks or geese were introduced into the wild successfully. because they don't really depend on scent too much they'll see you as the mother and it'll be up to you to teach it everything a duck would teach it's young. it can be done though, i saw one where the researchers wore puppets on their arms to signify the mother bird's head, which they used to teach pecking for food, preaning etc. the babies would look to the puppet for direction, not the person operating it, so that there wasn't that hard to break bond between animal and human

maybe you could do a search for documentaries on this topic

I like LF's idea of a duck puppet. But how do you know what kind of duck? I understand the harm of it being a people duck, but if you can take care of it and give it a good life, that is better than none.

i've found lots of lonely duck eggs in the past (live(d) on a lake) and more than 90 percent hatched and were healthy. if you have an egg incubator thing (which i'm sure you dont, but if you do..) use that. otherwise, wrap it up in pulled apart cotton balls and some fleece and put it under a heat lamp. rotate the egg occassionaly. if you dont have the time or the stuff do do it, bring it to a nature center or somewhere that will.

and, it'll be fine if it hatches, yeah - it'll view you as it's mother and you'll have to raise it in the bathtub or something until its begin enough to defend itself in the lake. but it'll adapt to it's normal habitat and natural duck life in time. i wouldnt worry about that. but heh, releasing it into the lake is always fun.

like i said, i've raised lots of ducks from eggs. and rescued lots of abandoned ducklings too...i love the little guys. if you have any other questions, i may be able to help. good luck :)

My mother used to watch duck families in the spring near her work. She noticed one couple that had like 15 ducklings of all different ages following behind them. (They looked tired!) So I wonder if those eggs hatch where they are if there is a chance they will get adopted if they are in an area with a lot of ducks like this was.

My parents have wild ducks living with them. The parent ducks often end up with each others ducklings - the real mother goes off and the smallest one is left behind, and tags onto the next passing line of ducks. They might be bigger than the adopted family but it never seems to matter. Hand raised ducks adapt to being wild quite easily as long as you don't kiss and cuddle them. Which is very tempting, because ours look like fluffy bumble bees.
They remember you, but they go off and do what ducks do.
Same with pigeons, green finches and sparrows.

I was reading the laws for my city and here's what i found:

"No animal [discluding dogs, cats, parrots, canaries and parakeets], livestock or fowl may be kept within 200 feet of any human residence, dining area, or sleeping area other than that of the owner."

Since nowhere on my property is farther than 200 feet from other
"residences", we won't be able to keep the duck for long.
So i was thinking that i go find a ducks nest by the lake and, before the egg hatches (which will be soon-within a week) put it in the nest. Does anyone know any reason why this won't work?
Or should i just the duckling for a week or so and then release it?

if you are going to release it, i would call a local nature center type place and see if they can take it. ducks/birds/animals in general are pretty fickle in nature - the duckling may be taken in or rejected. from my experience - normally 'strays' are accepted, but you never know.

i found a baby cardinal this summer at the vet i was working at (outside by a gas station/interstate) and took it home to my yard (we have a nice bird happy yard). literally, within secods of putting the baby down, a male and female cardinal couple came by and took him in. it was one of the most awsome things i've ever seen actually. i cried it was so damn sweet. i watched the three of them for about 30 minutes...in that time, the male cardinal had taught the baby how to fly. pretty amazing, i have to say.


anyway - back to the duck...check with a local nature center or wildlife rehab center to make sure. by the way..i dont think anyone is going to complain you have a tiny duckling in your house, but then again..ya never know..

wow funk that's amazing. and they say cardinals and jays can be very territorial and violent in some cases. wow. we have a couple cardinals that come by my back yard now and then, they're so awesome.

actually our back yard is flooded because of the snow melting combined with no drainage, so we're always half expecting to see ducks and geese land there on their way home from down south

RedWolf90 : did the egg hatch ?

No, it didn't hatch. I guess it was never fertilized in the first place, because my grandmother keeps finding them all over her yard, they all are from the same duck.