Swimming Ducklings?

[DuckyGurl]

Mine are for eggs and meat, not pets ( this is a working farm). We don't need to touch the ducklings at all until it's time to clip wing feathers.

Okay. Well, if it works for you....

 

[Mashallaharabia]

Yeah, it works GREAT! We get a LOT of eggs and the excess young drakes to sell and/or eat, mother duck does all the work. And the mouse and insect control is another big plus.

 

[RitzyBud]

Mine were two days old the first time I had them swim. I used warm water, and dried them with a blow dryer on medium and a towel. They loved it! So cute. I think I'll put them in again tomorrow, they'll be 5 days old! Yay! So much fun. Also, watch them very closely as they can get waterlogged quickly and that's not good.
@Mashall, I think she's brooding them herself....it's different if the mother duck is brooding them since they get the oil from her.

Thank you I'll put mine in today for a minute or 2 and try to snap somee pictures of each of them

 

[lynnee]

I let them swim within the first three days in a paint roller pan so they can get out easily and back to under the heat lamp. This was all supervised though

 

[RitzyBud]

I let just let them swim for a minute or two in a pink bucket you get from hospitals. I didn't get a picture of my gosling swimming because she wasn't to interested in it but here are pics of the Cayugas and Saxonys swimming with their significant other

and yes, the Saxonys had less water when they swam than the Cayugas did, I still think of them as little tiny babies and only gave them a little bit of water

First swimmers, The Saxonys

Clary & Savannah

They all loved me after their swim, let me love on them and everything

last swimmers, Theo and Simon.

" This is GREAT mom!"

"Let us swim again" say the Saxonys and the gosling says " Never do that to me again"

"Seriously, let us have another turn."

Watching the cayugas

"How are we going to get out of this bucket to the water?"

Needless to say, they all loved it and I'll be making this an every other day thing. ( except I'll let them swim again tomorrow so they know it wasn't a one time thing )

Thank you all for the replies and helping me get my duckies in the water ^_^

 

[KelliG]

I bought four couple-of-day-old Rouen ducklings last November. I have let them swim supervised since the first day. Had one weak swimmer, so just made sure the water level was low enough they could touch bottom if they sunk. Once they got used to it, increased the water level.

Since the mother duck is not there to share the oils from her feathers to protect them, just make sure the water is warm and they have a warm place to dry off afterwards! I really enjoyed watching them swim as babies! (And love the duck eggs every morning now that they are older!)

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm not going to spend my time watching for the ducklings to swim. That's the mother duck's job. She can take them to water and watch them herself, as her kind has been doing since OUR kind were still pre-human hominids. We have only had two ducklings drown, that's certainly an acceptable rate.

Some of the members are the mother ducks since so many buy from hatcheries. even my ducklings hatched by mama ducks I make sure to watch them and not to start them off with something to deep. I start my ducklings in a cat litter pan with a way in and out.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

I put mine in the water at a day or two of age for short swims and only in warm water and then a very thorough dry. Around a week or two I moved them to a pool outside and supervise.

 

[RitzyBud]

Hello all, I've been letting them swim everyday now, they're loving it! They're going outside this weekend but I plan to let them keep swimming ( supervised of course! ). How should I do this? Bring them inside to swim or let them swim outside with their "pool" under the heat lamp? ( I won't leave it out there all day, only until they've each had a turn to swim)

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hello all, I've been letting them swim everyday now, they're loving it! They're going outside this weekend but I plan to let them keep swimming ( supervised of course! ). How should I do this? Bring them inside to swim or let them swim outside with their "pool" under the heat lamp? ( I won't leave it out there all day, only until they've each had a turn to swim)

Main thing is if your temps are warm the risk of them chilling if not completely feathered, so I'd do swim time inside [don't think I'd put a heat lamp over water] let them completely dry then back outside. Love the pics.. and may i ask why only 1 gosling? they do so much better when there's 2 of their own.