Hi I’m new here and hoping someone could help me identify the sex of my ducklings! They are Golden 300 ducklings

[Corbdee]

Supposedly Golden 300s are sex-linked, which essentially means you can tell by their colors as ducklings, but some are harder to tell than others. Ultimately the darker ducklings are males and the lighter brown/yellow ones are female, so based on that it looks like yours could be males.Your best bet is waiting for their true adult feathers to come in, at around 10-14 weeks.

 

[amjenkins444]

Adult Ducks don’t need additional heat. They need proper ventilation. 1sqft of windows up high with hardware cloth for each bird ( I have 13 ducks and 13 sq feet of window. But no drafts, protection from wind is important. I once converted a chicken coop to a duck coop by making the ramp much wider . Only chickens can do the narrow ramps. How small a run are you thinking? I’m not sure what the minimum required is for run space per duck but we can look that up… my ducks have about 3000 sq feet of fenced in yard with dozens of things to hide under ( hawks) but at night they get locked into their house.

I have this shelter left on our new property from a previous owner. It needs cleaned up obviously but the back portion (with the door) is enclosed. Could this work? If I put mesh wire over the opening for ventilation? They would have access to the pictured fenced in pond. There are coyotes. I spoke to the last owner of our home and she said they had ducks but they slept on the water so that predators couldn’t get them. Is that an option for all adult ducks?

 

[amjenkins444]

Glad to meet you, and welcome to BYC. It's so cool that you got really helpful, breed specific advice right here on the welcome board. Best wishes with those ducklings - they are just so adorable! I love the photo with the cat cuddling them.

Here is an article on duck care that might help you feel more prepared.
To look for articles on your own:

A. Use the SEARCH button, but use the Advanced Search choice, and select ARTICLES at the top of the box. Just enter your keyword(s) and scroll through your results!

B. I find it helpful to notice the rating and reviews. All articles are by BYC members, and all the reviews/ratings are as well. The ratings help a newbie like me sort the most useful and reliable articles.

C. You can bookmark the articles or posts you think you want to refer to again using that bookmark icon at the top of articles or posts. You can find them again by clicking on your own avatar and looking at the list of bookmarks you have built up!

Thank you very much

 

[Jenbirdee]

Clean it out and make sure there’s no holes bigger than 1/4 inch ( like the 1/4 in hardware cloth) A weasel or a mink can fit through a one inch hole--about the size of a quarter--so you'll want to go over your coop and make sure that any holes this size or larger are sealed in some way. Is it dry inside? Ducks will have respiratory illnesses if it’s damp inside, especially if there’s any mold. Check all over for rotting wood when it rots if it’s wet in the mud it gets squishy and easy for a predator to chew through. It’s convenient to use some thing that’s already there but are you comfortable with going inside it to clean up their messes and collect their eggs, if the height is low… I used to use a run that required me to bend over the whole time I was in there and I hated it now I am so happy when I go in my duck houseI can stand upright.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Welcome to BYC neighbor!
Good luck with your ducklings.

 

[amjenkins444]

Clean it out and make sure there’s no holes bigger than 1/4 inch ( like the 1/4 in hardware cloth) A weasel or a mink can fit through a one inch hole--about the size of a quarter--so you'll want to go over your coop and make sure that any holes this size or larger are sealed in some way. Is it dry inside? Ducks will have respiratory illnesses if it’s damp inside, especially if there’s any mold. Check all over for rotting wood when it rots if it’s wet in the mud it gets squishy and easy for a predator to chew through. It’s convenient to use some thing that’s already there but are you comfortable with going inside it to clean up their messes and collect their eggs, if the height is low… I used to use a run that required me to bend over the whole time I was in there and I hated it now I am so happy when I go in my duck houseI can stand upright.

It is dry inside! Thank you for all the helpful info I am going to put them in a chicken coop until they’re full grown and feathered and hopefully will have that enclosure all cleaned up and safe by then

 

[Jenbirdee]

Yay ducks will love it ! Have fun ducks are so cool

 

[Tookie]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined us!