Quote:
Originally Posted by
scratch'n'peck 
My husband and I had wood ducks for a while (with a wild life permit) and he decided that he wanted to incubate some of the eggs. Raising them as ducklings is not too different from raising domestic ducks as far as meeting their basic needs. Similar to chicks, they need a heat lamp and the option of moving away from the heat to regulate their body temperature. If you don't have a place to get water fowl starter, Tractor Supply Co has a starter that is formulated for chicks and waterfowl, that worked out fine for us.
Ducks have a tendency to really splash in their water when they are drinking and can make all the bedding wet along with all the ducks in the brooder. The splashing around serves a purpose - they should be able to fit their bill and preferably their whole head in the water to clean their bill and eyes. I found that putting the waterer on something like a grate (we used hardware cloth) with a container underneath to catch the water can help. Maybe even finding some plastic container with a lid and poking holes in the top to drain the water would work.
The major differences that I found between raising wood ducks and domestic ducks was that wood ducks seemed more flighty and did not seem to imprint on us as much as domestic ducks. That means eventually you will want a covered brooder because they may start flapping and hoping out after several weeks.
If you find that you don't get answers to any more care questions fast enough in the ornamental section, you could also post in the duck section for more ideas.
Ok, so the crate I have them in was a bad idea...Im sure many of you saw this coming, but the holes in the back of the crate were big enough to squeeze threw. I came out of the shower and whallah, they were screaming around the living-room with the cat's giving chase...
Now I have them in a new crate and the front is covered in tinfoil @_@ OMG...
Anyway I have a brooder and everything already set up. There inside it, nice and dark with enough light for them to see.
I am being told by many people that these babys are supposed to be fragile and die easily? is that simply based off of the ones that are left behind, or the ones that were accidentally abandoned?
The little buggers are determind to get out, wow, I might have to move my pullets and put these guys in there pen!!
