How to find a mother duck

patsman07

This evening a mother duck and about 10 ducklings were spotted in the corner of our garden. We have a fence with chicken wire so they were unable to get out. I opened a gate that leads into a field and attempted to show them out. Unfortunately the mother flew out over the fence, I had probably gone too close, about half of the other ducklings managed to get through the chicken wire and I lifted the other half over. I noticed though that the mother started moving into some undergrowth when the 5 escapees caught up with her. The ducklings I lifted over went in her general direction but stopped beside a wall about ten yards from where I last seen her.
I got a box and gathered them up. At this stage it was about 15 minutes since I had seen the mother duck. I had a good look around for the mother but to no avail. So I left one in a bucket (they only seem to chirp when on their own) and went into the house to keep watch to see if the mother would return but unfortunately not.
There's a pond to one side of the field so I released all the ducklings there at around 7pm. They ran off chirping. Went back out half hour later and there was neither sight nor sound of them. So hoped they were reunited with the rest of the family. Went out once more just as it was getting dark and unfortunately heard one solitary duckling chirping from the pond. It was swimming up and down chirping away so I presume the mother isn't in the pond. I managed to attract him over with mother duck noises from my phone and have him in a cardboard box with water&a mashed up boiled egg.

So how do I find the mother duck in the morning?
The pond is very close to my garden (20m) but there is also a river about 300m away.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Please, just leave them alone and go away from the area and they will be fine. A bit late now perhaps, but other than letting them through the wire you should have done nothing else.

patsman07

Marco Purring Asphalt wrote: »

Please, just leave them alone and go away from the area and they will be fine. A bit late now perhaps, but other than letting them through the wire you should have done nothing else.

Your right. I should have left it to die.

patsman07

Sneaked around the pond this morning and spotted mother duck with three chicks. So went back and took the duckling to the ponds edge, he paddled across chirping all the way to a sheltered area on the far side. He stopped and continued chirping, then from an area obscured by vegetation, the mother duck swam out with ducklings in her wake and over to the prodigal duckling!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

patsman07 wrote: »

Your right. I should have left it to die.

They would have been perfectly fine. This is common with ducks. The mother would have found it.

People, at this time of year, need to learn to leave young birds and animals alone, with minimum interference.

patsman07

Marco Purring Asphalt wrote: »

They would have been perfectly fine. This is common with ducks. The mother would have found it.

People, at this time of year, need to learn to leave young birds and animals alone.

I keep hens. If a chick was left outside on its own last night it wouldn't have survived. But maybe your right, perhaps it would have been perfectly fine. But now I know it definitely is.

But thanks Marco Purring Asphalt for your constructive and helpful input to this thread.

Bogwoppit

patsman07 wrote: »

I keep hens. If a chick was left outside on its own last night it wouldn't have survived. But maybe your right, perhaps it would have been perfectly fine. But now I know it definitely is.

But thanks Srameen for your constructive and helpful input to this thread.

A wild duckling is not a farm chick, Srameen is absolutely correct in what he said.

patsman07

Bogwoppit wrote: »

A wild duckling is not a farm chick, Srameen is absolutely correct in what he said.

A duckling will survive a night on its own?

Danzy

patsman07 wrote: »

Your right. I should have left it to die.

You already did that, over the fence and walk away from them, was the best option for them. The duck would have found it, it probably still did, long as you leave it alone.

Odelay

patsman07 wrote: »

A duckling will survive a night on its own?

It would have had a far better chance surviving if left alone.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

patsman07 wrote: »

I keep hens. If a chick was left outside on its own last night it wouldn't have survived. But maybe your right, perhaps it would have been perfectly fine. But now I know it definitely is.

But thanks Srameen for your constructive and helpful input to this thread.

I have been involved with, and dealing with, Nature for 55 years and that duckling would have been fine had it just been allowed through the fence and left alone.
Every year, at this time of year, I come across many instances of people thinking they are helping lost, orphaned, or abandoned young birds and animals. I've lost track of the number of times I have been brought 'rescued babies' to look after and the first thing I have to do is get the poor thing back to where it was found as quickly as possible.


So, you may sarcastically refer to constructive and helpful input but the most useful advice at this time of year is to not interfere, over and above a basic removal of any immediate obstruction or danger.

recedite

I think the OP keeps poultry so will already know that a hen or a duck who loses a few chicks will not stop to mourn them, or to search for them.
The mother will respond to distress calls of a lost chick though, if she can hear them, and if it does not mean her separating from whatever other chicks are already with her.


The flip side of this is that a new born chick can easily be adopted into a different family, which is what seems to have happened here.
So all's well that ends well

OpenYourEyes

Mod Note: Situation is over, differing sides have had their say, thread locked.