Andrew Acomb

Rescued Wood Ducks Released

August 9, 2006 at 9:43 pm (Family, Nature)

A couple of months ago, my mother and stepfather saw a fisher sneaking into one of their wood duck houses. They witnessed it making off with some eggs. Robert, my stepfather, scared the fisher off. He discovered that the fisher had killed the mother and started taking eggs. Without their mother, the babies would never survive. With this in mind, Robert took the rest of the eggs to the house. He had to act quickly because the incubation process is very sensitive. He went to the local store, bought an incubator, and placed the remaining eggs in it.

Over the next couple weeks, they kept a very close eye on the eggs. They turned the eggs twice a day in the incubator. By the end of the third week, they saw some movement. This meant they had to stop turning the eggs. The little babies inside were positioning themselves to break free. Soon the baby ducks started to crack their way through the shells. They have a special tip on their beak that they use to break the shell. It takes each duck a couple hours to hatch. It took just about 2 days for all the little ducks to emerge. The babies were moved to a small container under a heat lamp until they were completely dry.

Then my mother moved the baby wood ducks into a container that Robert built. They were fed fresh pond water and a starter meal. By week two, the ducks graduated to meal worms and mashed up hard boiled eggs including the shells. This provided valuable protein and calcium. They were also big enough to be moved outside during the day and back in at dusk.

By week three, my mother started to get them acquainted to their future home by feeding them pond weed and crab grass. She also made sure the pond water she kept in a dish for them included some water bugs. The ducks loved it.

By week five, the ducks were ready for their new home. My mother and Robert took them down to a large pond behind their house. After some hesitation, they opened the container and watched them swim away.

My mother and stepfather have been down to the pond to visit them. All the other wood ducks run for cover, but the ones they rescued seem to know who they are and don’t mind the company.