Need to ask some questions about a duck.......

[aravenschild]

My daughter rescued a small wild duck, we found out tonight that it is called a Ruddy Duck, a little hen to be exact............
Even though her legs and wings look ok (I couldn't find any breaks), she will not fly and prefers to sleep in the water dish my daughter gave her. My daughter put her in my pond and she really seemed to enjoy it , and gave no indication that she wanted to leave (at least willingly  )
According to the website we found the identification on they eat pond weeds, seeds and insects......
Since my goldfish are way too big for her to swallow, and she too big for them, Could I let her stay in the pond? Should I provide her with some sort of shelter. The pond is 8 foot square and about 2 feet deep, if I put an "island" in the middle so she can get out to dry off occasionally be ok?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.....

Thank you,

Vicky

[Julles]

I don't know much about ducks, but I do know she will need more room on land that a little island will provide.  Ducks in the wild spend a lot of time on land, and they roam a lot. 

I also wouldn't trust her one bit with your fishies.  Irregardless of what you read, ducks do eat fish!

Now, hopefully someone else here who knows more than I will chime in and give you some more info.

[happyoutsidegirl]

Oh how sweet! But ducks are messy! if your edges arent just straight up and down she will hop in and out. Or eventuially fly. She is probably in some trama and you have provided her with safty. they like to go to the bottom and muck around for goodies, and yes may nibble on plants. But if you have slugs in your area they love them. they used to keep my yard and beds clean of the nasty things. If you have a good filter system it shouldn't be too bad but be warned, they poop a lot and in the water too boot! If your fish are bigger than her mouth she probably wont bother them, depending on what kind she is. I raised ducks for years but didn't have a pond then. I just gave them a kiddy pool.

[karen J]

It is so sweet that you are caring for this little duck. 

While I agree that your fish are probably not "out of the woods", it really boils down to a choice. If you care very much about your fish & plants, then maybe having a duck isn't the right thing. If you're willing to sacrifice a few fish & plants for the health of the duck, that is also the right thing.

A similar thing happened here. There was a pair of Mallards who come to the pond every spring to check it out. The "husband" I guess was killed/eaten and the female stayed for weeks. Eventually things got better for her and she left (not before making big mess in pond). She must have hooked up with another male, because they came back the following year.

[aravenschild]

She is a Ruddy Duck (yep, thats the name of the species, look it up ), they are a very small duck, about the size of a soft ball with a head....... According to the information we found on them, they are very aquatic, prefering to spend most of their time in the water.....

and yes the pond does have straight up and down sides, the island I was talking about making would just be big enough to let her get out of the water if she wanted to......

We really don't have any plans of keeping her as a pet, we just wanted to give her some time to recover  her strenght..............

Thank you for replying and the advice offered so far........

Vicky

[frloplady]

she won't have any problem getting out of a straight down sided pond unless she truly is injured.

Ducks can bring in parasites by their pooping in the water.  I wouldn't put one in my pond on purpose.

[Johns]

Absolutely under NO circumstances should you ever introduce or invite any kind of duck into a small fishpond.  Ducks poop in the water, overload any bio filter, turn the water green, and cause massive fish deaths from lack of oxygen when the algae decays.  Bad idea.

But what do I know, I've only had fishpond/watergardens forty years.  Free advice is worth what you pay for it.  Usually.

[Liane]

Hi there,
Just joined this forum and wanted to comment on this.  I'm glad to hear that you've given this little ruddy duck a chance to recover in a safe place, but the reality is, she needs to be taken to a licensed wildlife rehabber.  It is illegal for the general public to own (and I know you don't really) or keep native species without a permit.

Please go online and do a search for wildlife rescue/rehab in your area.  Alternately you can call a local animal shelter and they will have the names and numbers for licensed rehabbers in your area. The Department of Fish & Wildlife might also have contacts.  The other folks are right too, she may be a little duck, but she WILL mess up your pond water. 

So, take your fantastic deed one step further and get her to folks who are licensed and trained to rehab these critters.  If she can't be rehabbed, but it is determined that she can live comfortably, she will be placed with other ducks in an appropriate environment. 

Liane

[Arey]

If yopu go to this site you can find a wildlife rehabilitator in your area.
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm

[Esther]

As much as I would also love to give Mrs. Duck a place to stay while she recovers, I have to agree with the above advice.

We have a couple pairs of Mallards that come to visit the pool cover and the pond every spring but they don't stay over 2-3 weeks and maybe an hour or so each time. They may pop in 2-3 times a day but when the Mrs. begins laying, they we only see the Mr. for a short time and then no more. We live near a river and assume she nests near there.