Cayuga ducks! new duck owner

[LadyScimitar]

We have just got three lovely cayuga ducks. they are about 6-7 weeks old. the vet said it would be fine (this was a week or two ago) to set them outside and that they would be completely fine. This worried me because what i had read said to keep them dry as much as possible for the first eight weeks. they seem to love it out there though. i have a homemade built duck house in a large pen area. enough room to have them run around and a home made pool. they are starting to get more feathers and turn greeny.
My one duck's wings (lilly) look a little "boney" and white when she fans out. is this because they will grow in or should i be concerned. shes the friendliest and i havent noticed anything else unusual.
questions, they poop a lot now! its almost hard to keep up with. what do you do with your duck poop? how often do you clean it up and how often? they like to hang out in one corner? is that common?
my ducks have not yet embraced the pool. and believe me i have thrown each one in.just so they know. im a little regretting it right now because maybe ive frightened them, but this was a week ago. any advice on this? are they too young. they bath in it they just dont get in and swim. Did i introduce this too them too late?
Also can i feed them people food ? i read that you can give your ducks cut up scraps from veggies, lettuce and corn? just nothing moldy?
Any advice for this newbe would be great!!!!


lilly pad, storm and daffy

 

[DBerryhill]

I

We have just got three lovely cayuga ducks. they are about 6-7 weeks old. the vet said it would be fine (this was a week or two ago) to set them outside and that they would be completely fine. This worried me because what i had read said to keep them dry as much as possible for the first eight weeks. they seem to love it out there though. i have a homemade built duck house in a large pen area. enough room to have them run around and a home made pool. they are starting to get more feathers and turn greeny. My one duck's wings (lilly) look a little "boney" and white when she fans out. is this because they will grow in or should i be concerned. shes the friendliest and i havent noticed anything else unusual. questions, they poop a lot now! its almost hard to keep up with. what do you do with your duck poop? how often do you clean it up and how often? they like to hang out in one corner? is that common? my ducks have not yet embraced the pool. and believe me i have thrown each one in.just so they know. im a little regretting it right now because maybe ive frightened them, but this was a week ago. any advice on this? are they too young. they bath in it they just dont get in and swim. Did i introduce this too them too late? Also can i feed them people food ? i read that you can give your ducks cut up scraps from veggies, lettuce and corn? just nothing moldy? Any advice for this newbe would be great!!!! lilly pad, storm and daffy

I have 5 Cayugas that are about the same age as yours. Im jealous you have yours outside! I still have some building to do (tomorrow!) I'm new to ducks...and would like to see the answers you get. I can tell you that I can't keep mine OUT of water. They get to use my bathtub every night...and they still constantly try to get in their water. I have milk jugs with holes cut out to attempt to deter them.

 

[Starfire669]

We have just got three lovely cayuga ducks. they are about 6-7 weeks old. the vet said it would be fine (this was a week or two ago) to set them outside and that they would be completely fine. This worried me because what i had read said to keep them dry as much as possible for the first eight weeks. they seem to love it out there though. i have a homemade built duck house in a large pen area. enough room to have them run around and a home made pool. they are starting to get more feathers and turn greeny. My one duck's wings (lilly) look a little "boney" and white when she fans out. is this because they will grow in or should i be concerned. shes the friendliest and i havent noticed anything else unusual. questions, they poop a lot now! its almost hard to keep up with. what do you do with your duck poop? how often do you clean it up and how often? they like to hang out in one corner? is that common? my ducks have not yet embraced the pool. and believe me i have thrown each one in.just so they know. im a little regretting it right now because maybe ive frightened them, but this was a week ago. any advice on this? are they too young. they bath in it they just dont get in and swim. Did i introduce this too them too late? Also can i feed them people food ? i read that you can give your ducks cut up scraps from veggies, lettuce and corn? just nothing moldy? Any advice for this newbe would be great!!!! lilly pad, storm and daffy

I use the deep litter method in my coops, it makes things much easier for poop control. You can search for deep litter on this forum, to learn how to do it. They love fruits and veggies. I throw out my veggie scraps to my chickens, ducks, and geese. But I make sure it's never enough that they won't still eat their feed. Ducklings require niacin for good leg development, this vitamin can be found in romaine lettuce. Peas is another good treat, and I put that in their pool to watch them chase the peas around, maybe you could do this to encourage your ducklings to get in the pool. Make sure they have access to grit so they can properly digest their greens and treats. Since they love bugs so much, try putting a bucket of water under a light at night, you will catch a great deal of June bugs that you can give to the ducks as treats. There are books about ducks that you can read to learn about their needs, common illnesses and treatments. Hope that helps. There are others who know more than I do, hopefully they find this thread and can give more advice. I have 3 crested ducks of unknown age, and 4 Cayuga ducklings that are a month old. I myself am still learning about chickens, ducks, and geese. We decided to jump in with them all this year, which has been fun, and a great experience.