How to Take Care of a Duck in Your Home
As strange as it might sound, there is an increasing movement among animal lovers to breed and raise ducks as pets. The next step, naturally, is to transfer ducks into the house. Although they are not known for their natural intelligence, ducks can make good pets and can be successfully kept indoors. To live with a pet duck, buy a duckling at a local feed shop and get started.
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Things You'll Need
- Dog carrier/storage box
- Blanket
- Stuffed animal
- Lamp/heating pad
- Shallow dishes (2)
- Water
- Duck starter feed
- Baby diapers
- Expandable harness
Instructions
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Give your duckling a place of its own within your house. Use a small dog carrier or storage box. Make sure it has some sort of roof, to make the duckling feel secure. Put an old blanket in the box for the duckling to nest in.
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Set a lamp or heating pad on the roof of the box to keep the little duck warm until it gets used to its new surroundings. Leave the warming device on for seven to 10 days.
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Put out a shallow dish with water and mix the duck feed with a small amount of water. Put the food in another bowl for the duck to eat by itself, but spread a little on its beak to give it that idea that this is food.
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Bathe the duckling once a week. Put it in a sink with a couple inches of water and let it bathe itself. After the duck is a couple of weeks old and has started developing its adult feathers, you can put it in more water.
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Diaper the duck to keep it from making a mess on your floors. Use baby diapers until the duck is too big for them, and then switch to an expandable harness, available at pet stores.
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Tips & Warnings
Give your duckling a stuffed animal to cuddle with.
Keeping farm animals such as ducks is illegal in some cities and is illegal for some breeds of duck.
Ducklings drown easily until they develop their adult feathers. Always supervise them around water.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit duck image by David Sexton from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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we have a baby duck born today it only one the others have done anything.. I guess we will see if any others make it..
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they r so cute.
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after you bathe them, be sure to hold them in a towel until they are dry when they are babies and before they get their adult feathers - they are not "waterproof" yet.
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How do you brush their teeth?
