I need Your Opinion (Again!) ASAP

For more information about these ducks go here http://www.petoftheday.com/talk/show...threadid=45771

Someone at the Pet store used to get ducks and raise them in her kitchen and then set them free at her grandparents pond. She did this for years and then stoped. They deced to start up again and plan on getting, get this 2 DUCKS!! She is willing to rescue my two, train them to be wild and help them to be free, but is this a good idea? I'm a little un-certain, it would be GREAT for them to be free, but can they learn? And what about incounters with wild ducks? She said that it is legal as long as they do it on private property (When she was lil her parents called the Wildlife Fish and game people to see if it would be ok before they started)

What are your opinions???

Ash

I think it may be a good idea, but then again I know nothing of this girl or her family. If they'll be in good hands, sure.

If it fails that they're able to become wild, i'm sure there's someone willing to keep them as pets. :)

The girl is SUCH a great person. She is a animal lover, she just loves all animals. I think she would be perfect. I'm going to tell her that if they for any reson don't make it out in the wild, that she can call me and I will take them back.

The only thing is I have no idea on how well ducks do going from being captive to wild.

Ash

Those ducks are never going to survive in the wild. They are going to be used to humans unlike wild ducks, and most of their wild instincts are gone. I'd say those ducks only have a 40% chance of surviving if that. Ducks and geese imprint and if they imprint on something other than their own specie, they are never going to make it in the wild.

Not only that but she is messing up the environment big time by doing that because it knocks the environment out of balance, hard to explain, but if you were into wildlife/waterfowl conservation (like me) you'd get a better idea of what I am trying to say. :p Captive raised animals can harbor diseases that wild animals do not carry and there is always a chance that the captive animals will give their disease to the native species in the wild, I'm sure you can figure out what happens then.

Never release captive raised animals...

LMAO! I printed out what you said YLL and I read that to my dad and he said, "Who is releaseing ducks, you shouldn't do that." and said the girl we are going to give the ducks to and he said "No, she is going to keep them in the barn and in a pen." :rolleyes: when he said release he ment let them live on the farm :rolleyes: Geez, LOL! Him and his wording, ok, so this is definitly the home for them then, they will have a famr to live there day's out on and a nice wamr (heated) barn!

Ash :D

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posted by YellowLabLover
Never release captive raised animals...

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I have raised and released many of doves and other birds along with squirrels and bunnies. I think it's the right thing to do. I always take them to a place far away from people. It's man who is hurting these animals by taking their land, we need to help them.

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posted by Aspen and Misty
I have the chance to rescue 2 ducks from a meat farm. This person has 17 thousand ducks.

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posted by YellowLabLover
They are going to be used to humans unlike wild ducks

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Those ducks aren't used to humans, they live in a meat farm.

I say do it.

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Originally posted by Aspen and Misty
LMAO! I printed out what you said YLL and I read that to my dad and he said, "Who is releaseing ducks, you shouldn't do that." and said the girl we are going to give the ducks to and he said "No, she is going to keep them in the barn and in a pen." :rolleyes: when he said release he ment let them live on the farm :rolleyes: Geez, LOL! Him and his wording, ok, so this is definitly the home for them then, they will have a famr to live there day's out on and a nice wamr (heated) barn!

Ash :D

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OOOOOH, OK! *smacks head* :p :p

I won't know the whole story till she calls me, hopefully tonight! But yea, bad dad :rolleyes:

Ash :D

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Never release captive raised animals...

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I should have worded it better: unless you are a professional and/or are trained on what to do, how to do it, etc. do not release captive raised animals- you most likely are doing more harm than good...

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It's man who is hurting these animals by taking their land, we need to help them.

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Yep, that's why my father and I are members of conservation groups (Ducks Unlimited).

Hi,

we have one duck. We found her in our woods when she was about 2 months old. She had been attacked by something and was pretty messed up. My husband helped me bring her inside and I raised her back to health -- (2 1/2 months in the guest bathroom gives the word "guest" a whole new meaning!! :D )

Anyway, I've joined a bunch of duck info lists and done a bunch of reading since then. One important thing I learned: DO NOT RAISE DUCKS FROM BABIES AND THEN RELEASE THEM ... you might as well just kill them the quick way if you plan to release them, because it's a slow death sentence.

Most domestic ducks aren't adapted to live in the wild. ie: they don't fly.

When you raise a duck from a baby, it will imprint on YOU -- it is the sweetest thing -- the duck thinks you're "momma" and will follow you and rely on you ... and love you!

Our Quackers was too old to imprint on us, but we have DEFINITELY bonded! She lives in a converted, secured dog kennel with all the perks (kiddie pool, heater in the winter, etc) She also comes out to play in the yard when my hubby or I are out there (we live in the woods and there are coyotes, fox, hawks and more -- so she is NOT out in the yard without us). She also comes inside to visit, but prefers to be outside.

Once she was recovered people asked why we didn't "let her go". That's funny! Go where? This is her home! She's had ample choice to leave -- but all she does when she's out of her pen is to run around after hubby, me, our dog or one of our cats! She is part of the family. She relies on us now. If we brought her to a local pond and dumped her, she'd be dead.

I'm sure there are professionals who know how to raise animals in a "natural" way -- to prevent reliance and imprinting. But, just thought I'd share this for otehrs who think they may be doing a duck a favor by raising it and then "setting it free" on a pond. It's no favor!

Hey -- if you want to see photos or our duck, check our my weblink:

http://home.comcast.net/~d.kney/

Thanks!

deb

quackersduck,

Cute duck, handsome doggie.:) Cool hat.:D :D

OH YEAH ... the hat MAKES the outfit, dontcha think???

Gimme enough snow and I'll wear just about anything out there!!

brrr ..... speaking of snow ... we are getting MORE today ... what gives??

Poor little Ms. Quack does NOT want to leave her pen ... I offered .. .several times, but she is all snuggly .... brrr....

:D

deb

As some one who has worked with thew fish and game dept for years.you had better check with you local dept. as in most states it is illeagal to raise and release unless you are a licensed game farm. There are many carriered diseases form domestic to wild game . Even if your ducks appear healthy you don't know what they may carry . We just had a guy turn loose his deer and it cause a problem as they had a mouth disorder that cause the death of a small herd that as tax payer we had gotten started in a area again. all had to be KILLED.
It's a noble and nice idea to try to help nature regain balance but it has to be done in the proper way or it can be even more devastating to the wild population.

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Originally posted by Corinna
As some one who has worked with thew fish and game dept for years.you had better check with you local dept. as in most states it is illeagal to raise and release unless you are a licensed game farm. There are many carriered diseases form domestic to wild game . Even if your ducks appear healthy you don't know what they may carry . We just had a guy turn loose his deer and it cause a problem as they had a mouth disorder that cause the death of a small herd that as tax payer we had gotten started in a area again. all had to be KILLED.
It's a noble and nice idea to try to help nature regain balance but it has to be done in the proper way or it can be even more devastating to the wild population.

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Amen.

***AS I HAVE SAID, WE WILL NOT BE RELEASING THE DUCKS, THE WOMEN IS KEEPING THEM IN A PEN OR IN A BARN AT ALL TIME, THESE DUCKS WILL NOT BE GOING WILD, THEY WILL BE PETS***


That is soo cute! I have some questions if you don't mind me asking!

We were considering buiklding a pen in our back yard (it would have wire fence around it then wooden fence around the whole yard, we also have no predetors but dogs in our neighborhood) We would get a kiddie pool for them to swim in of course. Do you have to clean up his pen? Like pick up poop? How has he adjusted to the winters? Does he have a house in his pen? How much does it cost (monthly) to keep him? Where do you get your food??

Thanx a bunch!

Ash

Hi Ash,

Even if you just have dogs in the neighborhood, you want to make sure the pen is secure -- including a roof. Do you have hawks? They can kill a duck in no time flat -- our Quackers is terrified of them. She is constantly watching the sky and she'll come running to me when she sees one!! (I must look like quite the fool: waving my arms and "shooing" the BIG BAD MEANY HAWK away!! :D

I just came in from cleaning Quackers pen a bit. Yes, you need to clean the poop -- lots of different ways to do it. We line her pen with a bunch of hay in the winter (although we're going to switch to straw next time I hit the farm store -- it's supposed to be better because they won't be as tempted to eat it -- which could cause an impacted crop ... <ouch!>

So I just clean off the top layer of hay and out goes the poop!

In the summer, I hose things down more. Since it's a chain link enclosure, and it's sloped a bit, the dirty poopey water just runs down and fertilizers the grass. Good deal!

However you do it, it's important to keep it clean -- and to keep the bedding dry. Ducks can get sick from the mold that spawns in the wet bedding. We have her pen covered with several tarps -- I also put plexiglass panels over it for the winter. That way she can still see out and it feels like "outside", but it keeps the wind out and also the rain and snow.

Another thing to be cautious of is any shiny metal foreign object (coins, screws, staples, wire, etc). Ducks will eat it and it can kill them. It's really sad and easy to prevent if you know up front. Just be careful when you work on the pen to pick up all the nails and stuff.

Quackers eats duck chow. We get it at the feed store and it's relatively cheap. 25 lbs bag for less than $10 ... and she doesn't eat that much. I supplement it with greens, tomatoes, pears, apples, carrots and some corn. Have to watch the corn, since it's fattening ... but in the winter I think the extra fat is probably good. Other treats are mozzarella (she LOVES IT!!!) and meal worms (she TOTALLY loves them ... I get them from www.thewormman.com -- way cheaper than local pet stores and they have good service).

You could get the feed the web, too, if you didn't have a local place. It would probably cost as much to ship as it does for the feed. Not sure .... but you want to use duck chow, not something like medicated chicken food -- that's not good.

We have a great e group at yahoo where there are others who can tell you a lot more. The mom of Nibbles the duck (a former pet of the day ... Nibbles, I mean, not mom) is on that group ... that's I got on here, too. You can join us and find out more duck info here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/petducksrus/join

I hope that helps. Ducks are GREAT pets!!!

deb

I fell in love with Quackers and all of your pets when I went to your website, Quackersduck. :)

Ash, you can find duck feed at the local feed store/farm store. In my area you can get a 50 pound bag of feed for $5!!

Hey, take some pictures if you ever get a chance! It would be nice to see the cuties in their nice house!!! :D :D

hey all,

just realized I made a boo boo in my post about the meal worms ... I get them from here:

www.wormman.com

if you put "the" in it (like I did first time) you get a different site ...

oops!

deb (that's me ... "quackers ducks" is our duck!!

;)

Hey Logan!

I saw the blinking pics of your pets next to your name. How did you do that???

the blinking one of your yellow lab looks JUST LIKE my sister's yellow lab, Casey! She was visiting with us for a week when they sister and family went to Florida. She's an OLD lab, but still sweet!

My sister complains that Casey is incontinent alot ... both #1 and #2 (to be polite :D ) ... we didn't have as much of a problem with that when Casey was here ( we live in the woods and she could go out with with our dog and just hang out and poop whenever the mood hit her)

do you have any suggestions/tips about older labs and incontinence problems???

thanks!

deb

ps ... I will see if I can post a pic of Casey ... you'll see your dog's twin!!

hi again,

here's Casey .... yellow lab look-alike!

She's cute -- but NOT as cute as our Rugby ... part lab, part whatever happy mut!!

:D
deb

Casey is so cute, Deb!! Actually, if you look at my signature, rather than my avatar (which is quite old), you can see our whole gang. The "lab" you saw is actually one of our Golden Retrievers. We now have 3 Goldens, but do have an older Yellow Lab lady, Murphy (who turned 14 in February). I love them all!!!! I figure they are all "cousins", anyway, being Retrievers and so lovely! I know that Cookiebaker(Anna) and Tatsxxx11 (Sandra) will love seeing Casey too, though because they both have Yellow Labs, Malone and Star, respectively! :)