PeskyRaven
In the Brooder
Hello all! This is just a long winded recap on my first few weeks with the ducklings. On Novemeber 17th my four Cayuga ducklings arrived from Murray McMurray Hatchery. All were just fine - save for the sexting band around one of their legs was so tight it made a deep crease.
They are housed in a huge plastic tub from Lowes. Their bedding is a pure alpine shaving topped with soft hay. Their water dish is now a gallon plastic jug with a cutout housed over a smaller plastic container covered in chicken wire. No water gets into their bedding which is just awesome.
The first few days getting the temp right was difficult. I have a brooder bulb secured near the tub and when I first put them in, the temp was between 90 and 95. When I checked on them later they were crammed into the far back corner away from the light. I moved the light several different times and it still didn't matter. Starting today or tomorrow they won't even need the bulb anymore but it was a curious thing how they did not like being near the light, and instead liked to huddle on the wire covered tub their water was in.
To establish a type of bond with them I wokld visit them throughout the day, changing water and taking feed from their tub to hand feed them. I talk to them and pet them but also I would remove each one by itself and have them waddle after me for a bit to stretch their legs.
Flash forward three weeks and they are all quite "tame" letting me pick them up and hold them or move them around when I need to. However only one seems to have actually imprinted or is in the process. She won't leave me, when I sit down on the floor she jumps on my leg and lays down. She's so calm and sweet.
Man they grow fast. Blows my mind. Three weeks in and they're getting the juvenile feathers, the beetle feathers, and their voices are changing. Sometimes one will make a random BACAAA sound like a chicken.
The only thing I wonder about is how they lay down so much. They lay in the brooder box, sure. But also when taken out. They went outside for the first time three days ago in a big pen on the grass and ended up laying down all together picking at the ground lol. I want to make sure they get some exercise and stretch their little limbs.
All in all they are very fun and interesting. Definitely a conversation starter and the question "why would you get ducks?". I cannot wait to move out from our rental property into a house all our own so we can build obnoxious pens and have many more ducks.
Anyway that's my story so far
They are housed in a huge plastic tub from Lowes. Their bedding is a pure alpine shaving topped with soft hay. Their water dish is now a gallon plastic jug with a cutout housed over a smaller plastic container covered in chicken wire. No water gets into their bedding which is just awesome.
The first few days getting the temp right was difficult. I have a brooder bulb secured near the tub and when I first put them in, the temp was between 90 and 95. When I checked on them later they were crammed into the far back corner away from the light. I moved the light several different times and it still didn't matter. Starting today or tomorrow they won't even need the bulb anymore but it was a curious thing how they did not like being near the light, and instead liked to huddle on the wire covered tub their water was in.
To establish a type of bond with them I wokld visit them throughout the day, changing water and taking feed from their tub to hand feed them. I talk to them and pet them but also I would remove each one by itself and have them waddle after me for a bit to stretch their legs.
Flash forward three weeks and they are all quite "tame" letting me pick them up and hold them or move them around when I need to. However only one seems to have actually imprinted or is in the process. She won't leave me, when I sit down on the floor she jumps on my leg and lays down. She's so calm and sweet.
Man they grow fast. Blows my mind. Three weeks in and they're getting the juvenile feathers, the beetle feathers, and their voices are changing. Sometimes one will make a random BACAAA sound like a chicken.
The only thing I wonder about is how they lay down so much. They lay in the brooder box, sure. But also when taken out. They went outside for the first time three days ago in a big pen on the grass and ended up laying down all together picking at the ground lol. I want to make sure they get some exercise and stretch their little limbs.
All in all they are very fun and interesting. Definitely a conversation starter and the question "why would you get ducks?". I cannot wait to move out from our rental property into a house all our own so we can build obnoxious pens and have many more ducks.
Anyway that's my story so far
