Earlier this week my husband saw a duck with 9 babies....then there were 7....then there were 4...then there were 2...today there was 1. The big bad crows have been taking them. So hubby decided to catch the last little one & bring it home.
Luckily we have a nice safe area where we have put it under a heatlamp & it has eaten some chick crumbs & had a bath (bless)... wish it had some mates, but still better to be looked after here than taken by those naughty crows.  :)

if you are in the UK & its a wild duck, this would be illegal. What about the poor duck (mother) wondering where her last duckling has gone?

From what I can understand of the wildlife and countryside act it all depends on the species involved as some have more protection than others, have a look
here
lots of wildlife rescure centres say it is better to leave them, unless obviously sick or in danger. This duckling probably would have been eaten by something but maybe she had already successfully raised a clutch earlier in the year. I admit it is hard to walk by everyday seeing them go one by one but nature is cruel, something has to die so something else can live.
Thats's JMO of course, what is going to happen to the little one if it pulls through? Keep us updated.

Emily Rose ~ thanks for your more helpful advise. :)

The baby is doing fine & has a bath, eats well, seems happy & contented, is living in a nice secure place with a heatlamp & some water to splash in. :)

Well thanks for you opinion Sam - ! (?)

What do you think the poor mother duck thought when her other 8 children were stolen by a crow!

As for it being illegal, well my hubby phoned the a wildlife trust for advise & they seemed to think he did the right thing.

& the duckling is doing really well, eating etc & will go back to the pond she came from in the spring!

If its a non indigenous species then you wont be able to release it. If it is...then you have the problems caused by a hunanised duck being released! Ducks are one of the few species that "learn" from their siblings & not so much from their parents & a singleton duckling very rarely thrives or actually manages to be successfully released. I have much experience on this subject. Also, whilst adult ducks do not appear to notice the disapearance of  their brood by gradual predation (usually one at a time) they do however become very stressed when the whole brood or the remaining duckling disappears. Once again this is a topic I have much experience on & have written about. I think that either you will have a lot of problems in the near future, or (and this is a more likely scenario) the duckling will have problems when its "released" but you are unlikely to know about them as you are probably not familiar with duck behaviour. (I use the word "probably" because of course you might know about duck s:)  )

Just something else I remembered-a friend at college bought 2 baby ducklings(not sure of their age but didn't get theri feathers through until about 4 weeks after she got them)they weren't wild mallards but Khaki campbell(sp??)crosses. They were bought as 'pets', they came to college everday and didn't mind being picked up but preferred to follow her around as they would a mother duck. These ducks now live on a farm(petting farm rather than food production)where, although, they don't mind humans will rather get on with 'duck activities' than spend time with her. This would make me think that said duckling may not become too humanised, especially if another duckling can be found to keep it company(try phoning around, you may be able to find one) and it is not treated like a 'pet'. Don't know that much about duck behaviour but as it is already imprinted on ducks then it woun't become 'tame' like my friends ducks. Maybe someone else can shed light on this
Emily
PS You weren't being sarcastic were you?!! Sorry if you weren't but I did get that impression!

<<<<<<<<<<Don't know that much about duck behaviour but as it is already imprinted on ducks then it woun't become 'tame' like my friends ducks. Maybe someone else can shed light on this
Emily>>>>>>>>>>>
My mum was the only 'mum' Dill and Sorrel knew from 1 min old. So used to treat her like their 'mum'. I know someone who got  a few day old ducklings and they were never quite  as tame as dill and sorrel (we could pick them up at the age of 6 or 7 and cuddle them!!!!) Maybe it was different up bringing/different breeds the reason why the act differently or maybe mum spent more time with them than her freinds did.
So if you want it tame tame, ,y adbice would be spend as much time as possible with it. Mum had them with her near enough every waking minute plus bside the bed at night as well!!!!!!! but her freinds didnt.
Lea :)

Sorry Lea, I think our posts crossed, I was replying to smudgleys last post. I agree if you want them tame then they need to see you, or a least a human, straight away. This of course won't happen with the wild ones, unless what happened to 'your' eggs happens! And they would never have lived til 15 in the wild so I think you did a good thing, they sounded like they had a v. good life!
Smudgely-what did the wildlife trust say about releasing it? Did they give you some advice about company etc? Do you have an idea of the age?
Emily :)

Smudgley.
Your husband did right :D
At this time of the year, even if the brood hadnt been got by crows, they would have died from the cold. It is FAR to late in the year to raise ducklings out in the wild.
As for releasing it. Dont!!!!!!!!! It will be too humanised :(
When I was young, a nest had been disturbed by a fox, and the eggs were strune everywhere.
My dad picked 4 up that were still above water level, and brought them home to blow for me to put on the nature table at school.  The first one he saw a dead duckling. The second one, the ducklings legs moved. So the last 2, he put under a light bulb and they hatched out :D
2 yellow ducklings. 15 years later they died. But growing up, we always had dill and Sorrel in a pen in the garden.
When they were ducklings they followed mum around. inside and out. She was mother duck!!!!! They never flew away (we did clip their wings to start with, but after the first few years we didnt need to)
good luck and keep us informed.
Lea :)

my friend had a pet duck called dilly that she hand reared,it used to go to the stables to muck out the horses,then one day it just flew off!