Letting ducks swim

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400

400

Here are my two. They've been exposed to water since a week old. Most of the time it was them playing in the water bowl but by 5 weeKS we put them in the pond closely monitored and by the 6th week they went straight for the pond. By the 7th week I can confidently know they are fine. They get in and out and even sleep without going too far. When you allow them in water they can preen each time they get out. They have almost all they waterproof down because of early preening. I put them in in the morning and take them back to the shed at sunset. They definetly are waterfowl birds and know their insticts. They both dive under water, search for by dipping their heads and play.
p.s.I bought them at a feed store at a day old. Don't know how they were hatched.
 
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thanks for the tip! my older group are 3 months old. they weren't exposed much to water at a young age due to being raised with our chicks and i was a first time duck mom so i thought it would just come naturally for them. I let them swim a handful of times in our sink, now they free range and they sit on the bank of our ditch but I never see them swim... not sure how to encourage them or if I should get a kiddy pool. I got 2 ducklings yesterday that are 3 days old. I plan on introducing them to water sooner and more frequently than I did with the first group.
 
thanks for the tip! my older group are 3 months old. they weren't exposed much to water at a young age due to being raised with our chicks and i was a first time duck mom so i thought it would just come naturally for them. I let them swim a handful of times in our sink, now they free range and they sit on the bank of our ditch but I never see them swim... not sure how to encourage them or if I should get a kiddy pool. I got 2 ducklings yesterday that are 3 days old. I plan on introducing them to water sooner and more frequently than I did with the first group.
 
If you have a kiddie pool they should be drawn to it. I'm also a new duck owner. Never owned anything other than dogs, cats, rabbits... I was scared to let them go into the pond but now I open the shed and they go right for it. Its lays a hassle to get them out. Let your bigger ducks teach the smaller ones. If they are motherly they may even help out in preening.
 
Ah, for those that have ducks I want to say one of my greatest pleasures so far was watching my ducklings first discover water in the bathtub. It was hilarious to see them instinctively go underneath the water and move so fast that it freaked them out and they were like oh my gosh what was that. After the bathtub I got them a kiddie pool for outside. Same thing, they swam so fast it freaked them out and they jumped out until they realized the fun was too hard to resist! Now all four of my girls discovered my husbands outdoor goldfish pond! The pump we have is suffering because they swim around and muck it up so bad! Now I am working on getting a horse trough. I'm going to dig dirt out and put it underground and so on and so forth. I love ma ducks and I love watching them discover and enjoy water! ...... Now my biggest fear is I know they will eventually figure out we have a very big pond farther out in the backyard! I know it will happen but I'm just not ready yet
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From the CDC
Can bird droppings in the pool spread germs to swimmers?

duck_family.jpg
Many germs that might be found in bird droppings can infect humans. Duck and goose droppings, in particular, might contain germs such as E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, orCryptosporidium ("Crypto" for short).
Most germs in bird droppings are killed by chlorine within minutes in a well-maintained pool.
The germ Crypto, however, has a tough outer shell that allows it to survive for a long time in the environment. Crypto can survive for days even in properly chlorinated pools. Currently, CDC is not aware of any evidence of Crypto being spread directly from birds to humans.
 

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