Both my ducks have been panting unless in the pool.

[donaldanddaisy]

Agreed, that waterer is far too small.

I would encourage you to get the rabbit cage from tractor supply.  For 2 duck the 30x30 would work as a brooder in hot weather for another 3-5 weeks.  I left the top open on mine to make cleaning easy and used painters tape to make a poo shield.  I gave it feet and used the tray underneath.  they quickly adapted to the girll under their feet.

Poo shield? How much does one cost?

 

[Amiga]

Yes, they grow quickly, and yours need much more space and water.

You can use something like a rabbit hutch - with old towels over the wire to prevent foot problems. Liquid will drip out of the towels into a pan underneath, and the air under the towels will help them dry out a bit.

A watering station is a nice idea, too - keeps the rest of the bedding from getting soaked as quickly.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/679433/water-water-everywhere/10

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/858161/feed-water-solution-for-brooder#post_12901321

http://frankiemakes.blogspot.ca/2012/06/watering-solution-for-ducks.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/259876/do-your-ducks-have-water-at-night/10#post_13568197

post number 8 from this
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/959603/ducklings-getting-stuck-on-their-backs#post_14939819

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/969751/help-baby-ducklings#post_15125952

I would give them closer to 3'x3' for now. Do you know the temperature in the brooder? Have you seen this? https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

 

[Darkwing4]

Plastic also keeps heat in. An open cage will be much, much cooler. Do you have a bathtub? I've even let mine paddle around in a shower stall with an inch of water. They live to dabble and eat their food this way. Super easy to clean up, too. Scoop out the large pieces and rinse rest down the drain.

I also used a kiddie pool for about a week until they outgrew that. At this stage they outgrow everything in less than a week.

 

[seashoreduck]

here's what I used. poo does go all over so you'll want something solid 3-6 inches up.

 

[donaldanddaisy]

here's what I used.  poo does go all over so you'll want something solid 3-6 inches up.

Image?

 

[mrrr0809]

If you're looking for a free brooder for them, go to your local produce store and ask them for a cardboard watermelon bin. It's reinforced and most will be large enough to raise your ducks in until moving them to their permanent location.

 

[Amykins]

If you're looking for a free brooder for them, go to your local produce store and ask them for a cardboard watermelon bin. It's reinforced and most will be large enough to raise your ducks in until moving them to their permanent location.

Whoa, that's a REALLY good idea! Wish I'd thought of that when the babies were still little They jump right out of a plastic kiddie pool.

 

[donaldanddaisy]

Whoa, that's a REALLY good idea!  Wish I'd thought of that when the babies were still little They jump right out of a plastic kiddie pool.

How would you go about cleaning it? The tote is easy side just dump the straw out and rinse. Any ideas would be appreciated?

 

[Smurfbrew]

How would you go about cleaning it? The tote is easy side just dump the straw out and rinse. Any ideas would be appreciated?

You'd probably have to line it with plastic bags and tape them up the sides for the "poo shield." If you had a roll of trash bags I would just unroll several at a time and use them like that. That way it would be a double layer of plastic as well. Those bins are pretty big, they fit on a standard sized pallet, so it you just spot clean the poops everyday, you could probably get away with only having to change the plastic out once a week. Depending of course what kind of bedding you use. I work at a grocery store and wish I had one when my duckies were small. I got them in the fall after watermelon season was over.

 

[mrrr0809]

How would you go about cleaning it? The tote is easy side just dump the straw out and rinse. Any ideas would be appreciated?

Smurf is right. We would lay a black contractor bag down and it generally has the surface area to cover the bottom. We would then just dump the shavings and replace with at least 3 inches of pine shavings and then just top it off every other day or so. Full clean out would be once a week. The water was initially a mess until we use a deep baking sheet to catch whatever water they opted to remove from the waterer and not drink.