Photos! duckling help

[mxmvlcty]

hello everyone! my roommate and I adopted a duckling from a local shelter. the shelter workers said that someone had gotten it for Easter, and then dropped it off at the shelter after realizing it poops and makes noise!

well we were going to be sane and just admire it from a distance, but then these kids came in and were shoving it in its water dish and poking it, and the poor thing was screaming, and, well, now we have a duck. we named it Maybe, because it may be a girl or it may be a boy!

as of right now, at night and when we are not home, it lives in a big ol' plastic bin with hay on the bottom. when we're home, we sit outside while it pokes around or swims in the kiddie pool. we are feeding it poultry feed from the tractor store. every morning it has the bedding changed and the bin rinsed out. I have a few questions, but I am more looking for general advice, as I have never had a duck, so I am curious about things like...

- what can we do in general to make its life good?

- pretty soon it will be too big for this bin; should we just get a larger one, or is there a better way to house it while it's too small to live outdoors alone?

- is there any better kind of bedding to use? the hay needs to be changed every day at least once, and it gets really mucky. I took on this responsibility, so what needs to be done will be done, but I'm just wondering if there's anyone to make the process a little easier.

- any other general tips/advice...just want to keep it happy and healthy!

I've added a picture below. we have no idea if it's a boy/girl or what kind of duck it is...based on where we live it's probably a muscovy or a mallard. it's getting bigger every day!



THANKS EVERYONE!

[Kendalle]

aw its cute! I found online duck diapers so you can let it walk around the house.

[kathydip]

A friend at work and his wife just got a baby duckling. They ordered duck diapers for him so he can be an inside duck! So Kendalle is right - there are house ducks. I would love to have a duck one day. Your baby is adorable. Are you having fun with him/her? Does he/she follow you around?

[mxmvlcty]

we have a nice big fenced yard, so we are thinking it will be an outdoor duck once it's big enough. we're having lots of fun! it does follow us around, but it isn't too keen on being handled, though it will let us. it is SO cute when it runs around after us! it also follows our dog around

[rodentopia]

im afraid ducks are just messy, we have to clean ours out pretty much every day/every other day. the greenhouse really smells of poo! if you have a greenhouse you could keep it in there once it's a little bigger. ill show this post to my brother tomorrow during the day and see if he can tell you something useful (he has the baby zombie jesus ducks)

[Kendalle]

ducks are really social, you may want to get it a friend.

[rodentopia]

the hay is good, you'll need to change anything everyday, so if you could find something cheaper that may do you better.
if you can find a children's play house you could bar the doors and windows. that'll give it somewhere to chelter, and later when it can live outside it can use it as somewhere to sleep if you leave the door open.

[Dustette]

one thing is for sure! It's not a mallard
I rehabilitate mallards, and since it's just until they're big enough to be released at a animal sanctuary with a pond, I'm not sure how to keep it at home all it's life! We used to keep them in a big bin at night, and they'd be out all day in a little dog play pen with a net on top so they couldn't get out or be bothered by cats or dogs in the area!

Here is a link to my mom's blog page about rehabilitating ducks, it's in french but there's loads of pictures of mallards!
http://kiwibonga.com/ecureuiland/?cat=21

[Dustette]

considering your duckie was adopted for easter, it's probably a domestic farm duck, especially for it to be this big and still have baby fuzz. We get those too to rehabilitate, because people get them sent in the MAIL sometimes too! they order them online for easter and then the next day they're not so cute! A lot of them have feet problems due to being shipped in small boxes or kept in tiny cages. I really hope this trend stops...

pictures of domestics:
http://kiwibonga.com/ecureuiland/?cat=20