Brooder help

[Lilysquared]

Hi! I have 2 buff and 2 call ducklings (hatched July 18/19). The buff ducks are quickly outgrowing their brooder, and I’m finding it hard to navigate brooder setup with the size differences. I am in the process of building their outdoor coop (8x16 covered Predator-proofed open air run with small wooden enclosure in one corner). I’m in Delaware, USA (7a) where the weather has been in the 80-90s F*, and down to the 60s-80s F* at night.

Their current brooder is the biggest plastic tote I could find.

I’m wondering what you think is the best idea:
1. Set up another indoor brooder to separate the buffs and calls to better address their size needs.
2. Build a big outdoor brooder so they can all live together with size relevant feeders/heaters.
3. Finish the coop and add heater until they’re bigger.
4. Find a way to make a bigger indoor brooder that will work for the big and little ducklings together(any suggestions welcome)
5. Another option?

 

[BabyGotQuack]

Hi! I have 2 buff and 2 call ducklings (hatched July 18/19). The buff ducks are quickly outgrowing their brooder, and I’m finding it hard to navigate brooder setup with the size differences. I am in the process of building their outdoor coop (8x16 covered Predator-proofed open air run with small wooden enclosure in one corner). I’m in Delaware, USA (7a) where the weather has been in the 80-90s F*, and down to the 60s-80s F* at night.

Their current brooder is the biggest plastic tote I could find.

I’m wondering what you think is the best idea:
1. Set up another indoor brooder to separate the buffs and calls to better address their size needs.
2. Build a big outdoor brooder so they can all live together with size relevant feeders/heaters.
3. Finish the coop and add heater until they’re bigger.
4. Find a way to make a bigger indoor brooder that will work for the big and little ducklings together(any suggestions welcome)
5. Another option?

Ducks are hard to keep in a typical brooder cause they get so big so fast! I usually do a brooder for the first couple days and then as long as weather permits (your weather temps sound good to me) I divide my coop in two and have the babies on one side still with their heat until everyone is ready to be in one coop.

I would only do this in the warm months. Trying to do this is the colder months it’s just too cold for them even with the heat.

 

[BabyGotQuack]

We just torn down our old coop and replaced it with a new one so I don’t have photos of the actual set up but I still have the piece of plywood I bought and the hardware that I can show you

So I got a piece of plywood to fit and found these things at ace, I have no clue what they’re called but anyways the hook part stayed in the coop and then when I needed to divide the plywood just clips right in. I had one on each end.

 

[Lilysquared]

Okay this is helpful! Thank you!

 

[ruthhope]

Okay this is helpful! Thank you!

Ì suggest you get another tote and have 2 brooder temporarily while you finish your run/coop

Once you run / coop is finished, the little one can be in it during the day, and then bring them in for the evenings/nights until they are bigger enough to stay outside at night. At 6 weeks your ducklings will be fully feathered and not need a heat lamp. They should be good to be in the little enclosure in the run by then.

In future years, if you have more ducklings, do the same but partition the run so the ducklings are separate from the adult ducks.

I manage my ducklings with a modification of this. I have a large 5'x10' fully predator proof coop. I received 2 two week old ducklings in April. I let them out in the coop during the day from 4 weeks old: I just closed the door to keep the big ducks out. I am in NE Florida with warm temperatures during the day at the end of April, but this year the temps were falling to low at night for ducklings. So they came into the house to their brooder every night for a further 2 weeks. No heat lamp as the temp inside the house at nightcwas warm enough. From 6 weeks old, when fully feathered, they slept in a dog care in the coop with the rest of the ducks and began see but no touch in earnest. The other ducks knew they were there from as soon as they went in the coop during the day as the metal wire door is screened with hardware cloth and they could all see eachother through the door. After 2 weeks see no touch they were all allowed out in the garden together. The ducklings still slept in their dog crate and were the first to come into the coop at night to go to their dog crate.