Wild Duck Suppliment Diet

[Eluin Gentry]

My mom has adopted a wild duck. It nested right next to her garage door so she took all of her houseplants and built the duck a privacy fence. They are having a new well dug so she spends a lot of time chasing and scolding workmen who disturb the duck. I told her I'd ask if there was anything she could put out for the duck to eat that would help her get through sitting on her eggs. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Eileen]

What do you mean she has adopted the duck? Just that she is watching out for it while it nests?

She doesn't really need to do anything for it other than, as she is doing, keep workers,pets, children and other curious eyes away.
If she wants to put some water out, that would be ok but that is all she needs to do.

Duck moms beef up in preparation of nesting; they then sit on the nest, getting off of it very rarely (she has to stay on the eggs to keep them warm) until they hatch, at which point she will get up and her whole family will move along, following behind the mom. They only eat grass and bugs in the wild, that is their natural diet. Leaving food out by her will only attract predators, and put her & the nest in danger.

Hope that helps!

[Eluin Gentry]

Yeah, by adopted I mean she is just watching out for it while it is nesting on her property. She says things like "I'm going to be a grandmother...........(while daughter stresses out about which of her brothers screwed up) of ducks!"

[RattiesSix]

Eileen is the expert here, but I wanted to chime in agreement. My dad works at a park that has a lot of ducks and geese who nest there. Feeding them really doesn't help them at all and really just gets the baby ducks more dependent on people when they hatch and realize that people provide food.

[Eluin Gentry]

I told her water dish only, no food. If I go over there and the duck has her own poly pool for baths, I'm going to laugh. I could see my mother doing something like that too.

[Eluin Gentry]

I was right. I was thinking poly pool, while she was thinking pie tin but the ducky was going to get a bathing pool either way. She is very worried that the workmen will disturb the duck. In addition to having a new well dug, the last couple of storms flooded the livingroom and the grand piano too. She really wants to keep things quiet so nothing will upset the duck but life just hasn't been cooperating.

[nancycccslp]

Eluin; thank your mom for me.  The VAST majority of people don't even attempt to keep things quiet and calm around wildlife; the fact that she's doing anything is so much more than most people will ever do.....most people want the wildlife removed because "I have CHILDREN!!!" or "I have a DOG!!!!!"  Oh, in that case, I'll be right over with a shovel......
All she can do is what she can do. I hope she's rewarded with watching them waddle off, quietly quacking.