chicken math + grandparents = 11 chicks & 2 ducks. ducks??? HELP!!!

[Dobela]

So, this obviously changes some of my coop and run plans. 2 small ducks, I don't know what kind although the Atwoods employee says they are both female. I hope she knows because her name tags says her name is "Chicken Lady".

At the moment I have the ducks on one side of my 3 ftx4ft brooder with their own lamp and the chicks on the other. The chicks are quite an assorted lot from banty to crested something or another. I have a short board between them until I can make other arrangements.

Which brings me to the next questions. What the heck do I do with ducks???

I haven't been researching them!!!!

Right now they have food and a small tub for drinking and swimming. How much more space, when, what temps, and all that good stuff do I need to know???

Oh, I also have 25 more chicks coming thru 4H in 13 days. Uh huh. Besides the coop now needing to be larger than our house, and the run needing to be larger, what do I do???

Oh, I also want to say thank you!

 

[Melinda35]

Last year I had 30 chicks and six ducks in my brooder. Actually it was a kiddo pool. They all mingled well and I never had any problems. The ducks ate the chick food and drank from the same waterer. They all still live happily together. The ducks even go into the coop at night to sleep safely. I do have a two small splashing pools out in the chicken yard for the ducks. The chickens drink out of it if they want. I never separated mine in the brooder. There was one light on the end and they had a choice just like the chicks if they wanted under it.

Your children will love having the ducks. You will be amazed at how they communicate with one another. They will not like to be separated either.

I think you are doing a great job. Keep it up!

 

[secuono]

Make sure the food is NOT medicated.
Ducklings grow very fast and in a warm room, won't need a heat lamp after 3wks. [[Mine are in the garage, gets cold, but no heat for them from 3wks onward, day or night.]]
They actually eat their food, unlike chicks, who just shovel out a ton of it and eat a bite every other scoop out!
They don't really need a pond until their oil glands in their tail works, otherwise they can get cold. They also make an insane mess with water as well as their own poo.
I have 6 5wks in a 4ft by 3ft kennel, I change their floor towel every day! Soaked and poo covered like you wouldn't believe. Also dump out their 30g laundry bin pond 1x a wk, just add water everyday until it's cleaning day.
They will very soon, 1-2wks be several times larger than the chicks, so they can easily smoosh chicks.

 

[gryeyes]

Ducklings are so wonderful. Ducks are SO cool! They're such happy birds, always smiling, being foolish, and boy they LOVE rain. When it's not raining, a sprinkler can make their day.

I have a Cayuga pair with my flock, had four call ducks I had to rehome (due to the landlady's edict) and really, ducks don't absolutely need a lot of water. A kiddie pool is perfect for 'em, but many ducks can get buy with a dish pan of water in the yard! The chickens will drink out of it, too. On really hot days, some of my chickens have actually hopped in and stood in the water in the kiddie pool.

Ducklings will grow in size very very quickly and they do not need to be kept as warm as chicks for as long. They put their growing energy into bulking up in size while they still have fuzz, unlike chicks who put energy into feathering out. They grow so fast and can smoosh chicks with those webbed feet when they get the zoomies in the brooder, so I would brood them separately.

I add Brewer's Yeast to their feed because they need more niacin (and I feed them medicated chick starter because the Amprolium in it will not harm ducklings, despite what some folks think - it isn't an antibiotic!).

Ducks bill EVERYTHING, even more than chicks peck things.