ducks ducks ducks i need help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by jt813 

ok so i wanna get two ducks but my parents keep saying all they do is poop and make a mess if anyone has any ideas on how to keep the ducks clean and the cages clean i would like to kno exspecially if you have pictures if its visible thanx

Ducks are really messy. I don't think their is any way to keep them from making a big mess. They love to try to swim in their water, and will get it every where trying. If you convince your parents, you will need to clean their cage a lot. Are you planning on getting them as ducklings or adults? That is not ALL they do, they lay eggs too :D A lot of people probably wouldn't even want to try a duck egg, but they really are not much different then chicken eggs. Ducks are take a lot of responsibility, but they are really fun to have. I'm 13 and I LOVE having ducks. Good luck :D

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Hi!

Check out the setup tweetysvoice has.

Something I discovered is that it does take some time to keep the brooder and pen clean.  At the same time, if you have a really good setup, it is not that big a deal.  

Wifezilla has a good brooder setup, too, it's shown in some older posts.

There are a number of really good ones, but those are the first two I thought of.

Water management.  That's key.

With ducklings, you need to work on a design that will keep the brooder bedding fairly dry, and at the same time, provide the ducklings with relatively clean water (it starts out clean, but ducklings will make it murky . . . they cannot help it, they love to play in water, and their bills are such that they spill quite a bit) 24/7, for drinking and head washing.

Take a spin around the forum.  Try some keyword phrases like "duckling brooder" "duckling water" "duckling mess."

Note the number of topics that are something like, "when can they go outside?" because at times the new duck person is having trouble keeping the brooder clean.

Now, if you want to adopt adult ducks, you don't have to worry about the brooder phase, but you still need to provide an environment where water and wastes are managed.  It can be done.  Thousands of people do just fine with loads of planning and some work.  Some work harder than others, because of other things like climate, or other responsibilities, or budget.

So, please ask questions, please take advantage of all the good information available, and

Welcome to the threshold of Duckdom!

Hi, are you intending to keep them in cages, or are you just talking about when they are babies?  Do you have land for them to use, or are you intending to have house ducks?  What your ultimate intentions are will make a big difference in what set-up you will need.

Here is the setup that Amiga mentioned:  http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

and yes, they are messy.  You have to clean the bedding at least every other day, if you don't want any smells of any kind.  Ducks poop a lot! I mean a lot! and then they step on it and squish it and drag it around. I had no clue there would be such a difference between chickens and ducks. Now i almost giggle when i read a chicken thread on the messy brooders - apparently they've never owned ducks. LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by tweetysvoice 

Here is the setup that Amiga mentioned:  http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

and yes, they are messy.  You have to clean the bedding at least every other day, if you don't want any smells of any kind.  Ducks poop a lot! I mean a lot! and then they step on it and squish it and drag it around. I had no clue there would be such a difference between chickens and ducks. Now i almost giggle when i read a chicken thread on the messy brooders - apparently they've never owned ducks. LOL

We never had an odor problem.  We brooded eleven runners.  I cleaned the brooder three to five times a day.  I did not have a great water system for them, so changing bedding was pretty frequent.  The number of ducklings matters, of course.  A couple of ducklings can be managed more easily in much less space.  But they still splash!

Oh, and my ducklings discovered the joys of picking up poop in their bills and flinging it!  Wheee!