brand new to this, looking for advice

[Kacey52]

Hi all

I'm new to this duck thing. My mom ordered 6 mallard duck eggs and 3 hatched. She went on vacation when they were just a few days old so I watched them. I have a smallish (1400 gallons) koi pond in my backyard. Well the 10 days they were in my care we got quite a routine down. They swim in my pond (only under my supervision) and follow me around the yard. When someone is not watching them they are in a pen in the yard. At night I bring them in the house and they stay in a dog crate (they outgrew the small plastic tote they were in) Since I am so new to this I was looking for any advice with caring for these little guys. I have what I believe is a 1 gallon waterer (the kind you fill, screw the bottom on and flip over) and they are eating Manna Pro non-medicated starter. When the go in my pond they eat constantly, they LOVE string algae!! My husband is going to build them a house/hut/coop whatever you want to call it lol but before he gets started I wanted to ask for advice from people who have done it. They are starting to get VERY messy at night when I bring them in!! So what kind of house should we build them? How can we make it easy to clean? I'm afraid wood would rot and get yucky with how messy they are. Do they have to have food and water at night (I know if they have food they have to have water)? When should I take them off the starter and what should I feed them then? I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but there's just so much to learn and I really want to do my best to take of my "kids"

Thank you in advance for your help!!!

 

[ChickInDelight]

Hi. I have had my ducks and chickens just over a year now. I learned all I know right here at BYC. You can search for stuff once you get some ideas brewing.

Check out my pictures to see Quackmire Downs made from pallets with sand floor and auto-waterers. (I am an older gal - so if I can do it....) Baby pools are great, inexpensive, easy to dump and clean.

I am in the process of building a drake pen and pallet shelter now. Will post more pictures as I progress. My biggest mistake has been ending up with more drakes than ducks. Then, I buy more ducks... and more ducks.....

Feel free to post pictures of your area and ideas. Those of us who know all about everything will be glad to subject you to our opinions.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Here is a link to some info on duck housing: enjoy and

https://www.backyardchickens.com/search.php?search=Duck+housing

 

[Kacey52]

Thank you everyone for your help. I'm going to look through the links and look around some more on this site. I'll also see if I can figure out how to post some pictures of my babies

 

[RubberDuckee]

Congrats on the new babies! I have 3 mallards too and am fairly new to the whole thing as well. We are 15 weeks and going strong. It sounds like your little pond is going to be a big hit! I want to build something like that for my ducks.

I used to use the same watering jug as you described. I hung it up from the rugs of the dog kennel that my girls used to stay in at night when they were smaller. Hanging the jug helped keep bedding and poop from getting into the water. I did end up ditching that jug after my mallards were about 7 weeks old though. One thing I found with the gallon "waterer" is that my ducks couldn't flush their nostrils out very well once they got a little bigger, and they ended up clogging the waterer with food grime each night. Also, they became unimaginably messy with the water once they got bigger and actually ended up spilling the entire gallon out in their kennel each night which made for a big, wet mess. My ducks now live in my barn and I have found that a 1 gallon ice cream tub works great for my 3 ducks! The height of the sides allows them to submerge their entire head so to wash their face and nostrils. Also, the size and shape of the ice cream tub makes it impossible for my girls to tump over. They spill very little water at night now.

Mallards should not be fed chick starter, but should instead b fed game bird starter until about 6 weeks of age. At that time you can transition them to a "grower" feed until they mature after about 10 - 13 weeks. Then you can transition them to a "sustainer" feed. This week I am in the process of transitioning mine fully to the sustainer feed. I bout it from the Mazuri website. It is called water fowl sustainer.

You should be able to tell if you have any males by around the 12-14 week mark. By that time you should see some coloration differences. Also, my girls have REALLY LOUD quacks! The cute little "cheep, cheep, cheep" disappeared and a loud, annoying laughing sound took the place. hehe

At around week 10 or so, get ready for FEATHERS EVERYWHERE! They are going to molt enough feathers for you to make "a-whole-nother" duck! They will be everywhere! Mine are still molting, but it has slowed down quite a bit.

After you take them out of the pond, make sure they have heat to keep them warm, as they won't have oil of their feathers until 8 weeks. It was so cool to watch my ducks preening themselves once their oil came in. I just sat and watched them for hours... rub, fluff, rub, fluff, rub... etc., etc., etc.

At about 5 weeks old you will start to notice little "tree-like" feathers protruding from their tails. These tiny little trees will be the beginning of "Good-bye baby down feathers!"

I have had SO MUCH FUN with my 3 little mallards! I know that you and your husband are going to have such a great time watching these babies grow!

Sorry this response was so long! I had so many questions and I just wanted to share this info with you. Congrats again!

P.S. Post a few pics! I would love to see your babies!

 

[Kacey52]

Thank you so much for your reply

Please don't apologize about it being long, I need the info!! Mine are about 2.5 weeks and I'm starting to hear one of them get a deeper voice. I tease him/her about trying to sound like a big duck lol. I'm already seeing the feathers on their tails. They grow so fast!! These 3 come out of their pen, go to the pond where they go under, fluff their feathers and EAT a LOT lol Then they get out and do the preening you mentioned. Last night was the first night they stayed out of the house. I put them in their crate in the garage. I'm going to look for a dog house type thing for them to stay in at night. I'm headed to the Tractor Supply Company in a few. I've never been so I'm looking forward to it hahaha Hopefully they have some cool stuff for them

I will try to post pictures tonight. They're on my phone so I'll probably need my sons help lol

 

[RubberDuckee]

Thank you so much for your reply

Please don't apologize about it being long, I need the info!! Mine are about 2.5 weeks and I'm starting to hear one of them get a deeper voice. I tease him/her about trying to sound like a big duck lol. I'm already seeing the feathers on their tails. They grow so fast!! These 3 come out of their pen, go to the pond where they go under, fluff their feathers and EAT a LOT lol Then they get out and do the preening you mentioned. Last night was the first night they stayed out of the house. I put them in their crate in the garage. I'm going to look for a dog house type thing for them to stay in at night. I'm headed to the Tractor Supply Company in a few. I've never been so I'm looking forward to it hahaha Hopefully they have some cool stuff for them

I will try to post pictures tonight. They're on my phone so I'll probably need my sons help lol

Glad to help! I still have so many questions myself. I am a "circumstantial" duck mommy hehe. This forum has been so helpful for me. I tried googling a lot of the questions I had, and BYC kept coming up on the search. I read the posts and found them to be more helpful than any of the other sources in terms of Mallards. Since Mallards are wild ducks, many of the information I was finding concentrated on wild mallards and did not give me the information I was seeking.

I tend to be a bit anal and obsessive with my animals, so I watch them constantly and I have found this forum to be so helpful!

Having a duck and lea ring about them is kind of like having my first car. I learned about the engine and how to do things as they broke... I think learning and caring for ducks is sort of the same way, except you are trying to keep the "broke" from happening. But overall, much of what you learn is done so simply by spending time with these funny little creatures. I just love them!!!!