Long story, Short:
We found a day old mallard duckling whose mother was hit by a car near our house. We rescued it and put it into a box under a heat lamp next to our 3 one-month old chicks in the house. She is now 2 weeks old and we have grown very attached to her/him, and prepared to keep her/him and take care of her, but it is illegal to keep migratory birds. Is there a way we can keep her without breaking any laws?
If you would like to know more details to better understand the situation, this is the longer version:
Exactly two weeks ago, an elderly woman knocked on our door telling us there were a couple of ducklings on the side of the road in front of our house in a semi-suburban town in Southern California, and their mother had been hit by a car. We didn't want them to wander into the road after their mother so we caught them and put them in a box with a teddy bear under a heat lamp next to our 3 one- month old chicks who were in a separate cage. We looked them up and they are definitely mallards. Their were 4 then suddenly, one by one they would break from the group into the corner then lose control of their necks, roll over onto their backs and die. They had water but we hadn't fed them yet. By the look of them they were about a day old. By the next morning their was only one left, and we tried eagerly to keep him/her alive. We bought non-medicated duck mash and let her rest and she survived. Since there was only 1 left we decided to keep her, and she quickly became very attached to us and us to her. We made her a little pool out of a storage container and find worms for her and plop them in and she would go nuts for them. My mother and I garden and little Winnie just follows us everywhere, crying if she cant see us. The 3 chickens hang around us as well, but only together and though they are very curious about Winnie, it doesnt last long and they walk away and mind their business. Through research on the internet we found out that keeping migratory birds like mallards is illegal. But, people sell mallards over the internet and many have them as pets. I have heard that you must have their hind toe and tip of their right foot and wing, respectively, and tattoo the webbing of their foot before they are 6 weeks of age.
Questions:
1. Is this true
2. If not how can we make it legal to keep her? We did not take her from her mother though we did take her from the wild because she was in danger.
3. Will she an the chickens warm up to each other? They sleep with each other in separate cages but within sight.
4. Or, do we need to get her a friend? What gender if she is a girl? or a boy?
5. We do not live by any lakes, but would like to make her a little pond in the backyard.
We keep meaning to call a vet but keep forgetting until they are closed
Thought it wouldn't hurt to ask and would appreciate some advice from knowledgeable duck handlers. Thank you so much.
We found a day old mallard duckling whose mother was hit by a car near our house. We rescued it and put it into a box under a heat lamp next to our 3 one-month old chicks in the house. She is now 2 weeks old and we have grown very attached to her/him, and prepared to keep her/him and take care of her, but it is illegal to keep migratory birds. Is there a way we can keep her without breaking any laws?
If you would like to know more details to better understand the situation, this is the longer version:
Exactly two weeks ago, an elderly woman knocked on our door telling us there were a couple of ducklings on the side of the road in front of our house in a semi-suburban town in Southern California, and their mother had been hit by a car. We didn't want them to wander into the road after their mother so we caught them and put them in a box with a teddy bear under a heat lamp next to our 3 one- month old chicks who were in a separate cage. We looked them up and they are definitely mallards. Their were 4 then suddenly, one by one they would break from the group into the corner then lose control of their necks, roll over onto their backs and die. They had water but we hadn't fed them yet. By the look of them they were about a day old. By the next morning their was only one left, and we tried eagerly to keep him/her alive. We bought non-medicated duck mash and let her rest and she survived. Since there was only 1 left we decided to keep her, and she quickly became very attached to us and us to her. We made her a little pool out of a storage container and find worms for her and plop them in and she would go nuts for them. My mother and I garden and little Winnie just follows us everywhere, crying if she cant see us. The 3 chickens hang around us as well, but only together and though they are very curious about Winnie, it doesnt last long and they walk away and mind their business. Through research on the internet we found out that keeping migratory birds like mallards is illegal. But, people sell mallards over the internet and many have them as pets. I have heard that you must have their hind toe and tip of their right foot and wing, respectively, and tattoo the webbing of their foot before they are 6 weeks of age.
Questions:
1. Is this true
2. If not how can we make it legal to keep her? We did not take her from her mother though we did take her from the wild because she was in danger.
3. Will she an the chickens warm up to each other? They sleep with each other in separate cages but within sight.
4. Or, do we need to get her a friend? What gender if she is a girl? or a boy?
5. We do not live by any lakes, but would like to make her a little pond in the backyard.
We keep meaning to call a vet but keep forgetting until they are closed
