A Baby Duckling

Our neighbour found a baby duckling on the road alone and brought it over for me to look after. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. I popped it in my bra until I rigged up a pouch. I was amazed at its resilience, strength, curiosity and the sharpness of its claws. Thank heavens for the internet as I googled what to feed it – mashed dog food and chicken crumbles seemed the best choice. Touching its bill to water encouraged it to drink and putting it in bowl of tepid water encouraged it to poop. It was just like any other baby animal, you feed it when it wakes up, then it poops, then it sleeps. I made up a wheat heat pack and tucked it up with that and a bit of fur overnight and it stayed warm and slept fine. I had to take 2 days personal leave as I got absolutely no work done as I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It followed me everywhere round the house – we have concrete floors – and the dog was intrigued by it, until it tried to sit on her head. The imprinting instinct was so strong in the duck that I thought it better to be with other ducks and took it to a wildlife shelter. After this experience I hope I can raise some ducklings in the future.