Need dry duckling brooder ideas.

Date sort Score sort
r4eboxer

r4eboxer

Crooked Creek Poultry
8 Years
Sep 20, 2011
909
72
133
Fairmont
I am at a loss for how tom keep my ducks dry. I have searched the forums here and have read suggestions about using wire and a pan but I am afraid this will hurt their feet. Does anyone have some ideas to keep my brooder dry. I have used hay and pine shavings, I am on my second brooder as I tried to get more space between the water and bedding area but they soak it in a matter of an hour.

I am thinking of a false bottom idea but can't think of what to use, I'd like to use something I have on hand but have come up empty handed.
 
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=531527
Here's another idea.
smile.png
 
Here is ours. We use 6 of these with Flucker brand heat lamps above them. The wire is small enough to keep in quail, ducks, chicks. Three doors to access food or the hatchlings easily. They fit on shelves and hang from the coop wall too making them easily moved around.


792bc421.jpg


Pull out tray for easy dumping.

Rubber shelf liner on top of the wire floor when they are first hatched

Water bottle that they use for clean drinking, bowl that is refilled through out the day for beak dipping.

141e3b50.jpg
 
I guess I am giving them too much access to water. I am going to change them a rabbit waterer and only offer water for dipping twice a day. Is this right? Will the rabbit waterer allow enough for eating and to moisten food?
 
What I did was take a rubbermade bin lid, and put the waterer on that so when they made a watery mess, I could just dump it out. It worked very well... And saved me money on straw...
 
I am home all day and check their water bowl about every 2 hours. So they don't hardly ever go without deeper water for dipping. We also give them baby food (left from our 10 month old son) that they love getting.

They also swim once a day while I clean the rubber liner. Hubby watches and dries them while I feed, clean and water.
 
Last edited:
I used a two piece broiler pan, covered with a washcloth under their chick waterer. I also used old towels for bedding for two months.

Then when they were a few weeks old, a larger waterer (with an overturned margarine tub) sitting in a very large salad bowl. The bowl caught the splash for quite a while, and I could just dump the splash water a few times a day.

I added face washers, similar to gryeyes setup and that worked pretty well.

Who was it who had a wire-bottomed cage with an old towel on top, and a drip pan underneath just in case? She said it dried out quickly and was easy to change.
 
Here's my brooder. It's on a stand so the house part can be lifted off. When in use it lives inside the human house, in our dining room.

80856_photo_1.jpg


The whole of the floor is mesh.

80856_photo_3.jpg


Underneath on the right hand side is a lid from a plastic container. You can see it in the first pic - the orange thing. It collects water etc and slides out. It's on some bits of metal that act as runners.

80856_photo_2.jpg


This is what it kind of looks like when set up.

80856_p1060460.jpg


Food and water up the mesh end with the slide out tray and a towel down the other end for sleeping on (this pic was taken before I put the tray in...). Normally there is a ceramic heat lamp up the towel end towards the back corner. I also put a bit of non-slip matting up the food/water end to make it easier on their feet. This has holes in it and water still falls through. Once or twice a day (twice a day as they got older) I removed the towel and replaced it and took out the non-slip mat and hosed it off and put a fresh one in. Didn't stop them pooping of course but everything stayed dry and did not smell bad at all.

The whole thing is about 3 feet by 2 feet.
 

Similar threads

S
can I convince a duck hen to raise a duckling?
Replies
4
Views
391
FrostRanger
FrostRanger
C
    • Like
Distressed duckling in brooder
Replies
7
Views
1K
christinesahyoun23
C
T
    • Like
Duckling Making Odd Sound
Replies
2
Views
326
Tadpole0352
T
Toad9000
    • Love
When and How to Introduce Ducklings to Dog
Replies
5
Views
437
CoriM
C
marxrab
Duckling leg shriveled and I wonder if it'll fall off?
Replies
3
Views
313
marxrab
marxrab

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom