Good morning, newbie duck slave here

Good morning everyone, yesterday my children and I acquired two 3 week old Aylesbury ducklings, we have brought a huge indoor Rabbit / Guinea cage for now until they are big enough for a duck house and run in the garden,

I used to have chickens so I have a good idea of level of care needed, iv spoken at length with the lady we got them off but the only real advice I got from her was the food they needed, does anyone have any advice please so I can keep them healthy and happy, my children are desperate to make friends with "Daffy" and "Quackers" lol

Hi and to BYC - glad that you have joined us. I'll let the duck experts provide you with advice, I just wanted to welcome you to the site as a member.
all the best
CT

Thank you for the welcome

Anyone? Please?

My goodness, I don't know why I did not see this post before!

Congratulations, and welcome to Duckdom!

This is a good start

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

@deedee28

We also have this list of stickies

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/256233/ducks-sticky-topics-index

and I like to share these threads about water management before it becomes an issue.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/679433/water-water-everywhere/10

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/858161/feed-water-solution-for-brooder#post_12901321

http://frankiemakes.blogspot.ca/2012/06/watering-solution-for-ducks.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/259876/do-your-ducks-have-water-at-night/10#post_13568197

post number 8 from this
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/959603/ducklings-getting-stuck-on-their-backs#post_14939819

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/969751/help-baby-ducklings#post_15125952


Since they are waterfowl, they have a special relationship with water. They need it, 24/7 especially at first, and they splash quite a bit. They need to be able to rinse their heads frequently, too, and yet ducklings must not be left alone in water as they will tire and sink! Ducklings can drown

Welcome to BYC and duck ownership. I've noticed a dearth of replies here lately too. Maybe it's spring fever.

I've had ducks and chickens for a few years now. Not an expert, but did my research and have a few years duck keeping under my belt.

Nice looking ducklings. I've not heard of that breed.

As for food, you can feed chick starter but make sure it is NOT the medicated kind. That medication can kill ducklings. You can finely chop greens (not spinach), or frozen/thawed out peas, or even chopped dandelion greens and float them in the water bowl for treats, too. They will need some chick (not full-grown chicken) grit added to the starter. If you can find higher protein chick starter (try turkey starter) at about 20-22% that's better. Mine did OK on the regular 18% chick starter, though.

Rather than a chick/chicken waterer, I use a bowl. Crockery works well as it's heavy and they can't tip it over. Don't be surprised if they swim in it, just make sure they can get out. You WILL be cleaning the bowl out a lot. I'd say my ducks are about three times as messy as chickens, mostly due to the water factor. Ducks always need to be able to dunk their entire bills/nostrils into water to keep them clean. Thus, chicken waterers really don't work well for them.

Ducklings need more niacin than chicks. I bought a cheap bottle of niacin caplets, the kind you can take apart. Add 100 mg of the powdered niacin to a gallon of water. I just mixed up a gallon jar full of this and used it to refill the water bowl.

Make sure you have pine shavings or some other non-slippery footing for them. Otherwise they can get splayed legs.

Ducklings grow WAY faster than chicks, you'll be amazed. They're about adult size at two or three months. Start the heat lamp at 90 in one end (so they can get away from it if need be) and reduce by 5 degrees per week. If they constantly are trying to get to the cool end, they may not need it anymore. You can put a pan of water in there and they will swim in it. Only supervised, though, as without adult feathers they can get waterlogged. And they MUST be able to get out of it. You can just put it in there for a while for your entertainment, then remove. Nothing cuter than swimming ducklings.

Once they're fully feathered you can provide sprinklers or a wading pool for them. For my adult ducks (and chickens) I lost the chicken waterers and just use the rubber tubs you get at feed stores, or buckets. Much easier.

Have fun and good duck luck!

@beccaWA - any news on your Khaki? I posted a response.

Thank you for the links and advice everyone, lots of reading to do now

Thank you so much for all of that advice, going to sit down and look through the links now x