Advice!

[CRH1223]

Im getting three two week old White Perkin ducks and I'm starting to build there home and I have know Idea what needs to be in there! Its my first pet ducks ever and I want them to be special I have a kiddie pool and lots of hay and it has a roof so it is safe from predetors but what food do most ducks like? Do they need special water or just water from the hose? What should i do in the winter time? I just ordered a book but it won't come until next week and I really want to start building this home. Please HELP me!

-Chris

 

[Heather J]

I know my ducks just have a simple A-frame shelter consisting of two 4x8 sheets of plywood on their sides and held together with 2x4s. the idea being that they need somewhere out of the weather--if they decide they want to get out of the weather, that is. Other than as protection from the sun in the middle of the summer, my ducks almost never use it. The shelter is inside a secure fenced enclosure, which I shut them all into every night to protect them from coyotes, raccoons, the occasional mountain lion, etc.

I use straw in the enclosure to provide soft bedding and to make poop easier to scoop out periodically, and slide their feed dish under the shelter to keep it out of the rain and snow.

Most ducks won't use a real tight coop-like duck house, they prefer to be out and about, but some people have built some totally awesome little cuk houses for their birds.

I feed my ducks layer mix or turkey feed or gamebird feed,m depending on what I have on hand. When they are little it's best to give them either turkey or gamebird grower because it has a higher protein percentage in it, which will help them grow strong. Mine also like almost anything from the garden--especially melons of any kind--and garden weeds. They eat a lot of bugs, and I understand the straw or hay will draw slugs and snails to their pen, which they also love to eat.

Any reasonably clean water is totally good. I use irrigation water to fill the 'pond' (read cattle trough) and they drink out of that all the time just fine. Ducks really like to play in their water, and they make a mess.I'm thinking of adding an area in the pen with gravel to put the water dish on so the ground doesn't get so mushy and collect bugs.

Your ducklings will need supplemental heat for a few more weeks, at least during the night. It's getting plenty hot during the day for now. But once they are grown, chances are you won't need to worry about heat at all--not unless it gets way, way below zero where you live (I'm talking like -20 degrees F.). They are well suited for the cold and love the snow. My pekins sleep out in snow storms and think it's the best thing ever. We haven't gotten really, really cold here since I got ducks, it's barely gotten below zero, but there's been no problem at all, and I know lots of people on this forum end up with temps in the negative teens with no problems. just make sure they can get out of the weather if there's a serious storm if they want to and you'll be fine.

Whew! Now back to my real novel! lol

 

[CRH1223]

Thank You so much! That really helped me alot!