Are these normal duckling feet?

[Isabella Mcadams]

These are ducklings not hamsters they can't live in the cage like that. It's like you living in a closet it's not doable. I just rescued three ducklings from next door that were living in a guinea pig cage and they were going to die shortly mainly because they were feeding it medicated chick food because that's what cal ranch told him they needed. get them out of that cage immediately and put them in a pan with dirt. if you don't have a pen with dirt that's big enough to support adult ducks you need to find new homes for them. Just because you want ducks doesn't mean you can care for them. I myself am having problems because it's going to be 113 today in Arizona and my ducks feet are burning on the bottom so I had to put them in dog kennels in the shade with medication and antibiotics and water. they're free roaming and they have plenty of shade but it's still $113 so there's really nothing I can do. I've tried penning them up but they're miserable and they have a lot of room to roam as they are right now. They have kiddie pools and I just hosed down a big part of the yard for them. It's only 11:00 a.m. and it's 102°. Had I known this I never would have had chickens, ducks and geese.

I feel for you in your situation. I live in south Texas so it’s quite hot down here too. Hopefully it will cool down soon

As for my ability to raise ducks, I have currently 13 healthy adult ducks in my backyard that I incubated and raised by hand.

My ducklings live in a brooder until they can be blended with the adult ducks, every day spending as much time out in the grass as possible. I’ve never lost a duck due to sickness or bad incubation, only to natural predators. They’re all healthy and laying close to a dozen eggs a day.

 

[CoriM]

That brooder is way too small! You need to have something like a big plastic wading pool so they can easily move around, then just provide a bowl of water and a dish of food. You probably need to clean the brooder like three times a day - not every three days. They make a mess and they're in a small space. Also, they need to be able to dunk their heads in the water to clear their nostrils.

 

[keringordon]

I feel for you in your situation. I live in south Texas so it’s quite hot down here too. Hopefully it will cool down soon

As for my ability to raise ducks, I have currently 13 healthy adult ducks in my backyard that I incubated and raised by hand.
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My ducklings live in a brooder until they can be blended with the adult ducks, every day spending as much time out in the grass as possible. I’ve never lost a duck due to sickness or bad incubation, only to natural predators. They’re all healthy and laying close to a dozen eggs a day.

my ducks live in my bathroom until they're old enough to go into a large dog Kenner kennel that has wire all around it so the toes can't get in and hurt the chicks. sometimes I put him back in the bathroom if I think it's going to be too hot or too cold or if I see ants or too many toads. I just ran down to home Depot to get some fire ant killer they're terrible this year. someone told me they lost 12 chickens to fire ants and I put down diatomaceous earth over 100 lb and did nothing I put down 30 mule laundry detergent it did nothing and some other fire and stuff that killed some but there's so many. I ordered some fire ant killer that will be here tomorrow but I got 1 lb from home Depot and put it all down hopefully I'll be dead by in the morning I got like 35 bites on my today. I went all the way into town and came home and kept rubbing and I realized it's been a fire rat attached me for like an hour. always give your chicks enough room so they can run and cause a little bit of trouble. Make sure they always have enough water but not enough water they can drown in. so many people lost upholstery this year because of the heat but I haven't lost a single one because of what I do with them daily. Right now I have two in the bathroom, one has the ongoing problem with her foot and she lost a couple toes and one guy just never has enough feathers on him and this heat is too much so they're in my bathroom but they're pooping everywhere. I say better chicken pooped than dog poop.

 

[CoriM]

It sounds like you have a lot of challenges! I don't have experience with fire ants but they sound awful. Is there a way you relocate your bird coop to where there aren't any ants? I would be awfully concerned that whatever chemicals are in the spray might harm your ducks.

 

[keringordon]

Well I wouldn't spray or put anything down without researching it I do have half a brain. I put some stuff down. I went out quick last night and got some and all the answer dead. I had a delivery of 2 lb of poison coming today but I couldn't wait so now I have like two and a half pounds. I really can't relocate the chicken pen as it is a horse corral part of one anyway and that would take about a year to disassemble. We get really high winds and microbursts which last year blew my 600 lb porch roof clear across a fence over two cars and a shed into the lot next door. It also blew two mobile homes completely upside down they were still new wrapped in plastic which is pretty funny cuz the guy who owns them is a dick. He kills any dogs that come on his property and is legal. he put it before foot fence filled with goats and chickens and expects coyotes not to eat them. So the people from United States insist your German shepherds and he started killing all the dogs that come on his property. He is a very strange man. I just went out and host everybody down so I haven't lost a single animal yet this summer.