have wood shavings on the floor, with underfloor heating and/or a heat lamp above. Plus they are always given a cuddly toy which acts as mum! They are fed on duck


crumb and chopped grass and have access to water in a drinker. Ducklings look very sweet but are very labour intensive as they need their food and water to be replenished throughout the day and to be cleaned out on a daily basis. Once they reach around 200g in weight, their feed is changed to growers pellets. They are then moved outside to a shallow pool with a grass area and a loose box before moving to a larger pool and paddock when their flight feathers are almost developed. Our outside area has recently improved thanks to a donation of artificial grass from Cheshire Artificial Grass - huge thank you to them. Once they have their flight


feathers and can fly, we will release the ducks in family-size groups on nearby waterways with suitable habitat. Since January 2009, here at


Stapeley we admitted 6,035 mallard ducks, with the majority of these being orphaned individuals. Others may have become entangled in line


7


or netting or stuck down a drain, and some were also admitted after being attacked by other animals or hit by cars. It is very hard work - but


incredibly rewarding when they are released back to the wild, happy and healthy!


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