How to relocate or transport mallard duck and her ducklings?

January 2, 2013 | Filed under: Poultry | Posted by:

Question by PHIL: How to relocate or transport mallard duck and her ducklings?
My aunt has a mallard duck on her balcony which laid 9 eggs. I read that the ducklings hatch within 30 days. I’m just worried if I transport the ducklings, which means i have to pick them up for transport, that the mother won’t accept them. I heard it is myth. Btw this in the city.
I did contact them but they said we should kill the eggs!

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2 Responses to How to relocate or transport mallard duck and her ducklings?

  1. Contact the nearest zoo or a wildlife NGO. They will automatically approach you and take the ducks to a safe habitat that suits them.

    torterra_maztergod
    January 2, 2013 at 5:08 pm
    Reply

  2. Get a large box, preferably with some type of safe, soft bedding in the bottom. If the balcony is raised, your biggest issue will be mom flying over the edge when she gets wind of your plan. The safest thing to do may be to let the eggs hatch first; mother ducks are reluctant to abandon their ducklings, but may ditch a new nest with eggs if they feel it is threatened. Also, if you were to catch the mom AND the ducklings, all you’d have to do is release her then the ducklings at the new area and she’ll take over raising them again. Be sure this new area has a pond/lake. If you tried to deposit her and the nest of eggs in a new location, there’s a chance she’ll simply abandon it whereas she’ll be more inclined to stick around if there are ducklings. If you decide to wait until they hatch, keep in mind that she’ll stay put for about a day so that all of the eggs can have a good chance of hatching before taking them on an outing. If you have a net, it’ll work perfectly for catching her and the ducklings. You may have to wait a bit so that the ducklings can imprint on mom after hatching before scooping them all up. it’s better to give them all a chance instead of just killing the ducklings. Hope this helped at least a bit!

    Kathryn
    January 2, 2013 at 5:38 pm
    Reply

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