A few Duck Questions..

[lvlann]

I have two ducklings..both were born on August 16th 2010..so they are about 3 weeks old. One is a Cayuga named Dawn. She is a female. The Other is Buster, who is a Pekin.

So during day time..i put them in my back yard with a little dry grass in a corner where they like to sit. and every day i give them a mixture of tomato and cucumbers chopped into very very little pieces+their water+their non medicated feed. all separate obviously. At night however I put them in a plastic pond..its a 150 gallon pond and it is about 47-50 inches long which gives the ducklings big enough space to roam around and its not filled with water..its just used as a place for them to sleep in. once i put them in..i again take some dried grass and put it in the corner for them to sleep on, notice there is no bedding on the pond floor..its just plastic. their non medicated feed is is set aside and so is their water. every morning i wake up to find that pond in its messiest state..so every day i clean it.

now here are my quires.

1) is it ok for me to spread kitty litter or sand all over the tub as their bedding? Is it safe for them?? Will they consume it? If they do, will it cause problems?

2) How often do I have to clean the tub filled with kitty litter/sand? Do I have to dump all of the sand and fill it up with new, fresh sand or i can just clean up the lumps? Will it be sanitary for ducks to be in the same sand the peed and pooped in?

3) few of my friends are telling me that the tomato and cucumber mixture is not good every day..it should be given weekly or like twice a month as a treat. whats your take on this?

4) also i have been asked not to provide them with food constantly..they should be given food every three or four hours..and once given, the food should be in their enclosure for about an hour..and then taken away..i don't know if i should follow it or not..so need your advise on it.

5) when they are eating..Dawn will eat standing up but Buster will be sitting down and eating. When I put them in my bath tub for their every day bath..I see Dawn swimming under water and enjoying her self..where as buster just dips his face into the water and just nibbles himself. Is there something wrong with him? how can I make him more active? also compared to Dawn..he is pretty big..is it normal for Pekins to be that size or is he getting over weight?

This is all I can come up with..i will sure to ask again once i remember.
thanks for the help.

 

[savingdogs]

I have not had ducks very long but here are my answers for you based on my recent experiences.

1. I would not use sand in a brooder or anything you were going to empty. It would be good drainage under straw in a run, but I would not use it in a brooder. It would get too heavy. I don't know what the ingredients in kitty litter are, therefore I would not use it.

2. They can tolerate quite a bit of poop, but make sure their food and water are clean. If you clean their area twice a day and there are only two of them, I think that would suffice. Take out the wet bedding and replace with dry. Make sure they have clean water all the time.

3. I did not feed tomato or cucumber. I fed duck food! I fed a few peas as treats.

4. I provided food pretty much constantly, but their feeder did run out occasionally during the day. I never took their food away although sometimes the bedding would be covering it. Mine are not overweight.

5. I can't answer that one for you, don't have Pekins. I do know that compared to my muscovy, my cayuga really really really like to swim. Ducks have different personalities though.

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

1) is it ok for me to spread kitty litter or sand all over the tub as their bedding? Is it safe for them?? Will they consume it? If they do, will it cause problems?

I guess I would not try the kitty litter, I don't know what is in it and all I can think about is the clumping kind would be REALLY bad.

2) How often do I have to clean the tub filled with kitty litter/sand? Do I have to dump all of the sand and fill it up with new, fresh sand or i can just clean up the lumps? Will it be sanitary for ducks to be in the same sand the peed and pooped in?

I don't know the answer to this.

3) few of my friends are telling me that the tomato and cucumber mixture is not good every day..it should be given weekly or like twice a month as a treat. whats your take on this?

I guess I have never heard of this mixture and I just give them duck food.

4) also i have been asked not to provide them with food constantly..they should be given food every three or four hours..and once given, the food should be in their enclosure for about an hour..and then taken away..i don't know if i should follow it or not..so need your advise on it.

I have been giving them food constantly. I don't think mine are fat. But I guess I would also like to see everyone's opinion of this.

5) when they are eating..Dawn will eat standing up but Buster will be sitting down and eating. When I put them in my bath tub for their every day bath..I see Dawn swimming under water and enjoying her self..where as buster just dips his face into the water and just nibbles himself. Is there something wrong with him? how can I make him more active? also compared to Dawn..he is pretty big..is it normal for Pekins to be that size or is he getting over weight?

My pekins are double the size of the others they look big they waddle slower but I don't think they are over weight. He just might not like to swim as much as Dawn.

 

[chickensioux]

I would not use sand/litter, they will eat it. Pine shaving is a good bedding.
I feed babies 24/7. Mine have always had food and plenty of water all the time. Messy but necessary for babies.
Veggies should be treats and their main diet should consist of an appropriate chick starter for ducks.
Good luck and enjoy those babies.

Oh and on the subject of swimming, I think it depends on the breed. My scovie babies were never as enthused about the water as my call duck babies.

 

[saxet]

If I may pick only one question to answer:
The swimming. Not to worry. Pekins swim as well as other breeds. It is an individual learning curve. My longest survivors on the natural pond were the very apt pekins, but they all have to get the hang of it, it seems. I have added ducks that would RUN back out of the water when first instroduced, and I have had some that would just waddle in and paddle away. (same breed) It was the same for Pekins, Campbells and Cayuga's. I assume that most will just have to learn, but all do

 

[goosedragon]

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