For the last week of January 2019 i ordered 15 ducklings from two different hatcheries:
This article will describe the whole story from setting up the brooder, receiving the ducklings, raising them until they are ready to live in a temporary house outside and meet their future flock until they are grown-ups and can roam freely.
More pictures related to this thread are collected in the »2019 Spring Ducklings« album and there is a discussion thread in the forum.
Pictures of the little ones arrivals, left the five from Metzer Farms, right the ten from Ideal Poultry.
Additionally pages will be added to this article, depending on the ducklings progress. You can select the pages of this article through the »Article Overview« menu right at the top of the article, you can read the whole article or just click on the »Next« button below.
- Five White Layer Hybrid ducklings from Metzer Farms
- Five Buff Orpington ducklings from Ideal Poultry
- Five Magpie ducklings from Ideal-Poultry
This article will describe the whole story from setting up the brooder, receiving the ducklings, raising them until they are ready to live in a temporary house outside and meet their future flock until they are grown-ups and can roam freely.
More pictures related to this thread are collected in the »2019 Spring Ducklings« album and there is a discussion thread in the forum.
Pictures of the little ones arrivals, left the five from Metzer Farms, right the ten from Ideal Poultry.
Additionally pages will be added to this article, depending on the ducklings progress. You can select the pages of this article through the »Article Overview« menu right at the top of the article, you can read the whole article or just click on the »Next« button below.
Brooder Preparation
After being a bit frustrated by my five Indian Runner ducklings, who have developed into »Touch me NOT!« ducks i wanted to raise the new ducklings in a way that they would not be so afraid of us, would trust us and be more like pets. So the idea was to have them in a brooder in my home-office for the first couple of weeks so that they can see me working during the day.
I also want to avoid using a heat-lamp for two reasons: First it is a fire hazard, regardless how well it is secured, second and more important to me, i want the ducklings to be able sleep during the night without a harsh light shining at them. I read a lot about the Mama Heating Pad (MHP) and decided to build a duckling version of that, the »Momma Heat Cave« (MHP).
Raiding the local $-store i managed to get my hands on a beautiful metal basket which, if turned upside down, has a nice cave-entrance:
Some duct-tape later the heat-pad was installed and the Momma Heat Cave was ready for a test-run:
After just five minutes, the thermometer inside showed a cozy 32.5°C (90.5F) at the bottom with the room at 21.4°C (70.5F) and the heat-pad just on medium. That should be warm enough for any duckling!
Also at the $-store i found flimsy white plastic bins and very sturdy plastic baskets:
The idea was to cut out an opening into one of those white bins, cut a basket in half and put it upside down into the bin as a platform for the waterer, like this:
That should help keeping the bedding material in the brooder dry!
Speaking of the brooder, it will be a plastic kiddy-pool, 1.2 meter (4') in diameter and 25cm (10") high. I hope that will keep the little ones contained for the first two weeks. Once they are tall enough to escape, i will add some height to the kiddie-pool, either a cardboard-strip or some chicken-wire. This is the final setup:
As you can see, there is a kitchen scale beside the brooder, my plan is to mark the ducklings with spiral leg-bands in different colors and track their weight gain on a daily base using a spread-sheet.
I also want to avoid using a heat-lamp for two reasons: First it is a fire hazard, regardless how well it is secured, second and more important to me, i want the ducklings to be able sleep during the night without a harsh light shining at them. I read a lot about the Mama Heating Pad (MHP) and decided to build a duckling version of that, the »Momma Heat Cave« (MHP).
Raiding the local $-store i managed to get my hands on a beautiful metal basket which, if turned upside down, has a nice cave-entrance:
Some duct-tape later the heat-pad was installed and the Momma Heat Cave was ready for a test-run:
After just five minutes, the thermometer inside showed a cozy 32.5°C (90.5F) at the bottom with the room at 21.4°C (70.5F) and the heat-pad just on medium. That should be warm enough for any duckling!
Also at the $-store i found flimsy white plastic bins and very sturdy plastic baskets:
The idea was to cut out an opening into one of those white bins, cut a basket in half and put it upside down into the bin as a platform for the waterer, like this:
That should help keeping the bedding material in the brooder dry!
Speaking of the brooder, it will be a plastic kiddy-pool, 1.2 meter (4') in diameter and 25cm (10") high. I hope that will keep the little ones contained for the first two weeks. Once they are tall enough to escape, i will add some height to the kiddie-pool, either a cardboard-strip or some chicken-wire. This is the final setup:
As you can see, there is a kitchen scale beside the brooder, my plan is to mark the ducklings with spiral leg-bands in different colors and track their weight gain on a daily base using a spread-sheet.
Once again: There are many more pictures related to this thread in
the »2019 Spring Ducklings« album.
the »2019 Spring Ducklings« album.
The Ducklings Arrived!
The first five ducklings, the White Layers from Metzer Farms, arrived on the morning of January, 30th (2019-01-30) in a large box with some Grogel and two heat-pads:
They seem to had a rough ride, one duckling had a leg-injury and was hopping along on its left leg:
The other four ducklings were doing fine, after drinking and eating they slept in the Momma Heat Cave for a while:
They slept through the whole night without artificial light, very quiet and no one was peeping in fear or loneliness, so the heat cave worked as expected.
On the morning or January 31st (2019-01-31) the second shipment from Ideal Poultry with five Buff Orpington and five Magpie ducklings arrived:
All ten ducklings were healthy and vigorously tried to escape the shipping box, once it was opened.
The new ducklings integrated well with the five from yesterday, however as they hatched one day later, the difference ins size and weight is already noticeable.
The White Layer duckling in the left clocks in at 58 grams, the younger Buff Orpington duckling to the right weighs 36 grams. Here is a video of the ducklings in their brooder after being brought together:
They seem to had a rough ride, one duckling had a leg-injury and was hopping along on its left leg:
They slept through the whole night without artificial light, very quiet and no one was peeping in fear or loneliness, so the heat cave worked as expected.
On the morning or January 31st (2019-01-31) the second shipment from Ideal Poultry with five Buff Orpington and five Magpie ducklings arrived:
All ten ducklings were healthy and vigorously tried to escape the shipping box, once it was opened.
The new ducklings integrated well with the five from yesterday, however as they hatched one day later, the difference ins size and weight is already noticeable.
The White Layer duckling in the left clocks in at 58 grams, the younger Buff Orpington duckling to the right weighs 36 grams. Here is a video of the ducklings in their brooder after being brought together:
The self made Cardboard-Box and Tarp Brooder for the Garage
At the end of the second week, the kiddie-pool brooder became too small for 14 rapidly growing ducklings, also the stench became unbearable so a new brooder was erected in the garage. A couple of cardboard boxes was cut open and glued into a long, semi-circular strip of cardboard, using duct-tape. This strip was placed over two insulating Styrofoam-boards on the garage floor:
Important for the stability of this brooder is that the bottom flaps of the cardboard-boxes are facing the inside of the semi-circular structure, as seen in the second picture.
An 8' x 10' blue tarp was the used to cover the floor and the walls of the brooder with a duckling (poop) resistant surface:
The floor was covered with pine shavings, a large feeder was set up and a non teflon-coated, ceramic heat-lamp was placed overhead:
The Momma Heat Cave and the waterer construction from the old brooder were transferred into the new brooder and finally the ducklings moved in:
They like the colder air in the garage as well as having more space to run around. The disadvantage of having the brooder on the floor is that a human looks much larger and much more scarier to the ducklings than from a raised brooder. Also one has to bend down a lot more to refill the food and the water and grab a duckling to weigh.
Cleaning of this brooder should be fairly easy: Remove all equipment and the ducklings, then grab all four corners of the tarp, so that it forms a large bag. The content of that bag can then be dumped on the compost bin, the tarp can be hosed down and re-installed.
Important for the stability of this brooder is that the bottom flaps of the cardboard-boxes are facing the inside of the semi-circular structure, as seen in the second picture.
An 8' x 10' blue tarp was the used to cover the floor and the walls of the brooder with a duckling (poop) resistant surface:
The floor was covered with pine shavings, a large feeder was set up and a non teflon-coated, ceramic heat-lamp was placed overhead:
The Momma Heat Cave and the waterer construction from the old brooder were transferred into the new brooder and finally the ducklings moved in:
They like the colder air in the garage as well as having more space to run around. The disadvantage of having the brooder on the floor is that a human looks much larger and much more scarier to the ducklings than from a raised brooder. Also one has to bend down a lot more to refill the food and the water and grab a duckling to weigh.
Cleaning of this brooder should be fairly easy: Remove all equipment and the ducklings, then grab all four corners of the tarp, so that it forms a large bag. The content of that bag can then be dumped on the compost bin, the tarp can be hosed down and re-installed.
Duckling Progress Report
Ducklings grow fast! Really fast! There was already a size and weight difference between the ducklings that had hatched on January 28th and January 29th.
All ducklings have a leg-band to identify them and their daily progress in gaining weight is documented in a Google-Docs spreadsheet that anyone can open for viewing in a browser.
As the first ducklings have arrived on a Wednesday, each page of the spreadsheet starts and ends on a Wednesday. Weighting the ducklings will be continued as long as the ducklings play along and can be kept on a scale.
Week 1, 2019-01-30 - 2019-02-06
After the first week all ducklings (»Forest«, the injured duckling is not considered here) have at least tripled their weight, one duckling, a White Layer has almost sextupled her weight (x5.7). Interestingly this duckling was the lightest of the five White Layers, just weighting 36 grams.
Week 2, 2019-02-06 - 2019-02-13
During the second week the duckling's diet was slowly changed from Duckling Starter with 22% Protein to Meatbird-Crumbles with 18% Protein to prevent the development of angel wing. All ducklings gained weight at a steady pace and three of White Layer ducklings weighted more than 500 grams.
Week 3, 2019-02-13 - 2019-02-20
At the beginning of week three, the ducklings were moved from their kiddie-pool brooder in my office into a larger brooder in the garage. Weight gain continued at an incredible rate for the White Layers and they surpassed 700 grams.
All ducklings have a leg-band to identify them and their daily progress in gaining weight is documented in a Google-Docs spreadsheet that anyone can open for viewing in a browser.
As the first ducklings have arrived on a Wednesday, each page of the spreadsheet starts and ends on a Wednesday. Weighting the ducklings will be continued as long as the ducklings play along and can be kept on a scale.
Week 1, 2019-01-30 - 2019-02-06
After the first week all ducklings (»Forest«, the injured duckling is not considered here) have at least tripled their weight, one duckling, a White Layer has almost sextupled her weight (x5.7). Interestingly this duckling was the lightest of the five White Layers, just weighting 36 grams.
Week 2, 2019-02-06 - 2019-02-13
During the second week the duckling's diet was slowly changed from Duckling Starter with 22% Protein to Meatbird-Crumbles with 18% Protein to prevent the development of angel wing. All ducklings gained weight at a steady pace and three of White Layer ducklings weighted more than 500 grams.
Week 3, 2019-02-13 - 2019-02-20
At the beginning of week three, the ducklings were moved from their kiddie-pool brooder in my office into a larger brooder in the garage. Weight gain continued at an incredible rate for the White Layers and they surpassed 700 grams.
A rolling account of the lives of any creature if carefully observed can be very informative. A cut above the usual.