What you need to know about rescuing domestic ducks
Our mission is to build a culture of responsible domestic duck ownership by educating the public and securing domestic duck survival through necessary rescue.
This is a story about a girl named Luckie. Not thirty minutes after we dropped one of our rescues off at his forever home, we were on our way to pick up a Pekin hen who lost her flock to predators. The plan was to pick her up, drive her to Erie, where her adopters were going to take her. Since no one was able to meet us, she was left in the driveway in a kennel. As soon as soon as we saw her, we could tell she had not had a bath in a long time. Then we saw her feet and knew right away that she had bumble foot. This duck needed to see a vet and could not be adopted out in that condition. Here we are two weeks later. We have seen the vet, she’s on antibiotics, painkillers, and the vet has cut away the dark mass on the bottom of her foot. X-rays have shown that the bone in her foot has changed and she may always walk with a limp.
This rescue has really challenged the organization, with the vet services expending the our resources. While the prognosis looks good for Luckie, she still needs considerable help. You can support Luckie by donating to us to help continue her care. Luckie cannot get her feet wet so puppy pads are desperately needed. Luckie may be a lucky duck, but she and other ducks face an uphill fight when people forget to care for an animal they promised to love and protect. Please consider donating.
Too often ducks are purchased by families at corporate feed stores for $2 to $3 as a cute addition. But very quickly the reality of duck ownership is realized. And not knowing domestic ducks cannot survive in the wild, they dump them in our city parks and lakes.
Duck dumping is a death sentence for most domestic ducks. When we are alerted to ducks that are dumped, we try to assess the situation as soon as possible. Its no easy task catching a duck on water. We use a variety of tools like, nets, food, paddleboards, waders, and a lot of luck! We're hoping to expand our toolbox with a Clap Net, Netgun launcher, and a remote controlled speedboat.
CDDR is looking for fosters and adopters to house the domestic ducks we save. If you currently have the facilities to raise domestic ducks, we would love to review your space and add it to our lists. Email us to learn more about our criteria, fostering, and facility requirements.
CDDR is looking to the future by working to grow funds and awareness. We hope to build a sanctuary in the not so distant future while at the same time working with corporations and the public to end the hatchery to dump pipeline. In the meantime, we will be using funds to grow our rescue efforts.
CDDR 5K Run, Walk, or Waddle
Participants came out to run, walk, and waddle during our race to stop domestic duck dumping held September 28, 2025, at Berkeley Lake in Denver. Check out our winners and pics!
Contact coloradodomesticduckrescue@gmail.com to get more information about our work.