This past spring, a friend was fishing and a very young lone duckling was in the water where he was wading. It swam up to him and was completely alone. He brought it into work knowing that a coworker and I both had chickens. I took it home and raised it with some other peeps. We thought it was a mallard (based on looks and probability for our area), but it turns out that the duckling is a wood duck! I still have her in a trailer in our yard with another young pullet. I never planned on keeping her, but I am not sure how to go about releasing her with the best chances for her adaptation and survival. I know woodies migrate (and are doing so very soon here in south eastern PA) and my concern is that since she has been in a relatively confined space, she hasn't developed enough wing muscle to fly the necessary distances. She has a small wading pool which she makes use of constantly, but that is of course not the same thing as a full out pond/lake. We have a wildlife management area pretty close that has significant water (Middle Creek Wildlife Area). Any suggestions would be welcome. Here's a photo of the little girl in question.
