Thinking of getting some Muscovy ducklings in March. Considering how quickly they grow, how does someone brood them indoors (outside can still get frost through May 1st in the PNW) without making a large and elaborate structure? I have an extra large dog Crate at my disposal and intended to start them out in the tub, then maybe move them into in large rubbermaid bins (which will be great for storing straw and food bags when they get moved outside). Is that enough? I suspect that they will get quite large over the course of the 6 weeks or so it'll take them to get big enough to go outside full time. Input?
Our eleven runners spent their first three months in the house due to an early arrival and a late spring. Actually, when the weather was mild enough, we took them outside during the day. But nights were spent in the spare bedroom in a brooder setup. What we ended up with was Brooder III - two puppy playpens, 6 mil plastic on the bottom and a foot up the sides, plastic poultry fence lining the puppy playpen panels to keep ducklings from first escaping, then getting caught trying to squeeze through the playpen panels (coated wire, 2"x3" squares. And If I knew then what I know now, I would have had a watering station like this one that I finally came up with for their night pen. It's what they use now.
Wherever we keep them will need to be secure. We have 2x 80lbs dogs and a clever and huge cat. About how much square footage can I expect to need for 10 unsexed muscovies? When I was a child, we used a refrigerator box with plastic inside, but we only had 3 and it was spring and I think they were only inside for a few weeks.
My experience...the last time I decided I was going to brood the ducklings in the house was because we wanted them to get more handling. We had 14 in a 200 gallon stock tank in the living room. Buy the time they were 2 weeks old I was having to strip the tank daily & they were STILL managing to get spatter out of it. I tripled the space, put their water in isolated trays, & still couldn't take it. I adapted my coop to allow for a heat lamp & reflector & moved them outside by week 4 even though it was getting down to about 20 degrees at night. Needless to say, they didn't end up the friendly sweet ducks we'd hoped but I don't think I'll ever try to brood in the house again. Maybe if I was only doing 2 or 3, but we don't ever seem to do ducks in that small of a quantity. A big circular area might have worked better but we have indoor/outdoor cats that were quite serious about trying to eat the ducklings (they're terrified of my adult birds...I think they looked on this as a chance for vengeance!) so I had to have something that I could put a wire top on strong enough to keep the cats out.
Dang, that's kind of what I expected! All I really want is 4-5 females, but I haven't found a place that sells sexed muscovies, and I am hoping that whatever ducks I have end up being friendly. I'd even be willing to stagger ducks(a few here, a few there), but it looks like there are only a few places that sell muscovy ducklings and they are shipped in quantities of 10.
This is our set up... https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/845195/keeping-ducklings-indoors-yuck/0_100#post_12552101 I have two 1.5 month old ducklings in a zip tied particle board crate we made in a few hours. It was super simple to construct and if you don't need the wheels and such it should be easier. Ours has a space underneath and a pan that collects any spilled water or food under it. Their eating area has hardware cloth so any splatter falls into the pan for me to dump.... Flea thee than make a big sloppy mess! It's really helpful! I lined the flooring with a tarp, and then pine shavings, and then rubber counter liners in top. I change the liners as they get cruddy. I soak the liners in a giant tub outside and then my husband uses the poopy water in the garden!
