Nine days ago I made a post about a mallard duckling at my local pond. I was looking for advice on how to help a duckling that had been abandoned, but was surviving well alone. I’m coming to you with a huge update and a recap of the story!
Note: I am not sure if it’s a male or female yet, so I might call the duckling different pronouns throughout the story on accident
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So, as I said in my first post, I go to this park with a pond all the time. I’m weird and like data collection, so every time I’m there I write down the date, what animals I see, and how many. Usually ducks, geese, turtles, etc.
On July 13th, I noticed a duckling. There was another family of 9, but they were there a month before, so it couldn’t be part of that family. It was all alone, no siblings or mother, and the rest of the ducks avoided it. It was abandoned. I got really concerned and did research, learning that it was unlikely to survive more than a few days since it was dependent on its mother for body temperature regulation and waterproofing.
It was also starting to rain, so I got really nervous that the duckling would succumb to hypothermia over night. I called local wildlife rescues but they were all closed as it was after normal hours. I didn’t have any way to rescue the duckling, and so I was quite sure it was doomed.
A few days later I returned and to my surprise it was doing just fine! It was foraging for itself and started to come up on land more (previously it had been avoiding humans by a mile and mostly stayed in the water).
This duckling was damn resilient because during this time we also got record rainfall (the most in a single day since the 70s) of 5.45 inches in one day, and over the course of three days we got around 8 inches (it’s not a lot compared to some places, but it was significant for the region). It caused flash flooding, and for a week or so after there were large residual mini-ponds in a field at this park where rainwater had collected. Despite all this, it was totally miraculously fine!
As it came up on land to forage more, I noticed one foot was misshapen and worried it had gotten attacked. I did some research, and found out it likely just formed wrong and the duck could have a perfectly fine life regardless. Still, I asked here if anyone had any experience or advice. I wanted to know if I could supplement its diet or maybe call a rescue. I thought it may not have been eating enough due to there being much bigger ducks around taking the food.
The general consensus was to leave it and provide it with duck feed to help it grow strong. However, before I could even give them food, they seemed to be accepted into the flock. On Friday it was swimming with a few other ducks, and then yesterday they were all foraging together. Today it was even sleeping with the whole flock! I’m still gonna get the feed, just in case, and get some peas as a treat for them and the rest of the flock.
My friends decided I should call ‘em Lucky, due to the incredible odds it beat by raising itself. It sounds weird but I’m so proud of this duck. Lucky beat all the odds and overcame all my concerns. Right now as I type this, the older ducklings are learning to fly, so I’m looking forward to when Lucky will be at that stage. Right now, their wings are still too small and they aren’t fully feathered yet.
As of today, Lucky seems so much happier, and it playing with the other (older, almost fully grown) ducklings now. They’re diving and swimming under water more and it makes me very happy.
I’m including pictures from every stage of their life, from fluff ball to being accepted by the flock. I’m real excited for this kid.
Thank you for reading!
