Are Ducklings messier than Chicks?

[justduckie]

I have 6 Ruen Ducklings in my spare bathroom's bathtub. I have their waterer in a pan in an effort to keep them from soaking their bedding but they still seem to get water EVERYWHERE!

They are approx. 1-2 weeks old and don't trust us yet. But they seem to make this mess when no one is watching. My 6 chicks never seem to make this mess.

How do I keep the bedding dry without changing it every day? They do keep the end of the tub that they lay down in dry and I added a box with a hole in one side with pine bedding inside for them and they use it at night and it stays dry.

I didn't realize that ducks would be so much different babies than chicks!

 

[Duck-Madx]

I can't give you a definte answer to this one, since i haven't actually kept ducklings myself.
Though I Plan too soon, Hoping My Other Duck won't find this a problem etc.

Anyway.
My chicks where actually very tidy.
And my friend who kept ducklings well, she admitted they where very messy.
I dont think there is anything you can do to not change the bedding every day.
Its just something you'll have to do.
Ducks Just love water, Its a loveable fact.

 

[Chicken_Addict]

oh yes they are very messy! i have 2 they are constantly spillig or mucking up their water and mucking up their food everytime i pick them up and let them swim in tub they poop lol good luck!

 

[Oaknim]

I have 6 pekin ducklings and 5 toulouse goslings and they make more of a mess than a dog in a mudhole. I separated them from my chicks about two weeks ago and they have a deep plastic dog dish to drink out of, as well as a raised 5 gallon waterer. They still manage to bill water out, but don't make as much of a mess as if the waterers were on ground level. With the different waterers, we only have to change the bedding (straw) about once every two days, compared to three or 4 times a day two weeks ago. They have a shallow kiddie pool to swim in outside and I dump that daily. But, their coop is 8x10 feet and in their outside pen, they wander around on about an eighth of an acre of grass, so that helps spread the poop out quite a bit! All you can do is keep cleaning up after them and learn to love it...those little quacks help a lot...

~ Oaknim

 

[mlheran]

Well all my chicks are over six weeks now, but my ducklings are less than a week and I can tell you for sure -ducklings are messier than chicks! They also grow twice as fast, therefore their poops grow with them. And no matter what I try they manage to get water everywhere.

I know breeders that have large brooders usually have wire floors, or at least a section of floor that is wire (over a plastic basin) that they keep the waterer on. Looks like it would work, but I don't have the space just yet (using a big plastic storage bin).

Oh, and you definitely don't want to bother with a cardboard box -it'll be a soggy mess before their first day is over!

Good luck!!

 

[Critter Crazy]

Simple Answer: YES!!!!

Ducks are much messier than chicks. They are mostly messy because of the water, they are constanty spilling water, getting their food all wet and mooshy,a nd then poping out all that water and food! With eight ducklingsin a brooder, i had to change the bedding 2-3 times a day, cause they stink!

But the make up for it is pure CUTENESS!!!

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

Yep. Messy here too. 3 Pekins and 3 Rouens about 4 weeks old. Tried keeping em with the chicks-lasted 3 days lol!

Best bet is to clean them every day. Find some inexpensive straw or hay-I put newspaper under the straw to help absorb the water.

Highly recommended when moving them outdoors: Get a large galvanized pan, trough, or very deep plastic bowl and purchase a regulated float valve from your feedstore. It costs about 10 to $15 and uses screws to attach onto the side of the bowl. The float will automatically allow your garden hose to refill the bowl as ducks drink. They will drink a LOT of water and you don't want to chance them running out of clean drinking water in the hot months-or anytime for that matter.

 

[justduckie]

Oh, thank you! I was beginning to think that I was doing something wrong. I have been lining the tub with newspaper and putting the pine on top. Guess I'll just have to change it out daily.

But you are all right.....they are sooooo cute!

And they are growing like weeds. I'll have to take pictures soon. I've been trying to figure out a way to give them a place to play in the water, but it's going to have to wait till I put them outside. I already have the baby pool waiting for them.

 

[bantymum]

"Mud, Mud, glorious Mud!!!My ducks love it!
They have a blowup pool which I empty every day or 2 days.
I empty it in the same spot next to their pool and they go nuts. Its like a natural mini pond.
They really love to foul all the water containers in my yard that belong to the chookies and bunnies.
I must say that the ducks havent made any poo messes near the house or on the grass like the chickens do!
I think they do it in the pond, though i watched her yesterday and she placed her behind outside the pond while she was floating and backed one out!!!
So if they have a pond spot with access to mud, you may not get so much mess anywhere else.
Have fun with them, they are smarter than chickens in my opinion!!!!
Helen

 

[Forest_Nymph]

I curbed that wet problem in my duckling brooder. You'll never get it to stay completely dry but....I put their waterer in a large pie plate lined it with polished stones and that caught a lot of those dribbling lips. It amused them to "snozzle' in the wet rocks! Also, found that if I kept their "nest" and feed dish a few steps away from their waterer, then it reduced the soggy mess in their feeder also.
At the current time, they're snuggling up to my slippers under my computer chair! Just took a picture of that but haven't mastered the pic posting site yet...They're spoilt at 2 weeks and I let them roam the house when I'm not too busy. (They're always close by to me) Spring cleaning of the floors will come soon enough!
Last night was their first night without a heatlight and they were warm and snuggly in their nest and didn't have issues with warmth.