Duck questions

[Jobean22]

I just hatched a baby duckling that had a harmed leg. After a couple hours they are fine and walking around great now. I do not know the gender yet, for it is only one day old. It’s name is Pebbles and has imprinted on me. I don’t know much any tips will help. Things I would like to know: What toys do they like? What happens if I give it medicated chick starter? What tubs for first swim do you recommend? How do I tell the sex? Can I only raise one or do I need multiple? How do I build a duck swing? When can i give them a kiddie pool? How do I get the poop of it’s bum? And lastly, what feed and waters do you recommend? (Below in the pics they are not dead just resting)

 

[Brooke_R]

You should get it a friend or two. It will be very depressed if it is alone. I don’t know what would happen if you gave them medicated chick starter but I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t. You could get them maybe a litter box or a short plastic bin to swim in while they’re young. Or let them swim in the bathtub. You can tell if they’re boys or a girls when they get a little older by their voices. Girls will start to get a little honk in their chirp at some point and boys will be more quiet and get a raspy voice. When they’re quite a bit older, boys will get a curled tail feather. I have no idea what a duck swing is lol. You could give them a kiddie pool anytime as long as the water and environment is warm and you keep the water shallow for it. I’d have it where they can stand up but still swim a little. If it has poop stuck to it, you may look up pasty butt. I don’t know if ducks get that too or if it’s just chickens. If it doesn’t have that, maybe use a baby wipe. I give ducklings non medicated chick starter with brewers/nutritional yeast added. I use 1 tbs of nutritional yeast per cup of chick starter I think. You may look it up though in case I’m remembering wrong. I get the little plastic chicken waters (one where they can dip their whole bill in the water. They needs to be able to clean their nostrils.

 

[SolarDuck]

What toys do they like? What happens if I give it medicated chick starter? What tubs for first swim do you recommend? How do I tell the sex? Can I only raise one or do I need multiple? How do I build a duck swing? When can i give them a kiddie pool? How do I get the poop of it’s bum? And lastly, what feed and waters do you recommend?

They like lots of toys, dog toys cat toys bird toys, medicated chick starter should be fine, it is advised against in many places because medicated chick stsrters used to contain a medicine toxic to ducklings but they do not anymore and should be safe, however a duckling starter or waterfowl starter would be a better choice, and you will need to supplement niacin if you use chick starter. You will be able to tell the sex based on the voice, females will loudly quack and males will have a low rasp. You absolutely cannot just raise one, ducks are very social animals and absolutely need at least one friend of their own kind. Not sure what you mean by a duck swing. They can have supervised swim time but you must put in extra effort to assure they stay warm and dry, as ducklings in the wild are waterproof from their mothers oil, but without the mother duck you will need to dry them off. If there is poop stuck on its bum it might be pasty butt shouldn't be too hard, I'm sure you can find a thread on here regarding that. I would highly recommend Mazuri waterfowl feed, they make a starter feed, a maintenance feed, and a layer feed, and you can order them all on chewy.com
As far as the water goes, make sure while rhey are ducklings they have a water source they can stick their entire head in, but cannot jump into and swim. I like using the dog replendish as an in coop waterer as it doesn't fill up enough for them to splash it all over the place.

Best of luck with your ducks!! Definitely look look getting another duckling to be friends with yours as soon as possible!

 

[Brooke_R]

Oh also, I’d get maybe a plate or some kind of tray to set the waterer in. It will help reduce the mess

 

[Jobean22]

You should get it a friend or two. It will be very depressed if it is alone. I don’t know what would happen if you gave them medicated chick starter but I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t. You could get them maybe a litter box or a short plastic bin to swim in while they’re young. Or let them swim in the bathtub. You can tell if they’re boys or a girls when they get a little older by their voices. Girls will start to get a little honk in their chirp at some point and boys will be more quiet and get a raspy voice. When they’re quite a bit older, boys will get a curled tail feather. I have no idea what a duck swing is lol. You could give them a kiddie pool anytime as long as the water and environment is warm and you keep the water shallow for it. I’d have it where they can stand up but still swim a little. If it has poop stuck to it, you may look up pasty butt. I don’t know if ducks get that too or if it’s just chickens. If it doesn’t have that, maybe use a baby wipe. I give ducklings non medicated chick starter with brewers/nutritional yeast added. I use 1 tbs of nutritional yeast per cup of chick starter I think. You may look it up though in case I’m remembering wrong. I get the little plastic chicken waters (one where they can dip their whole bill in the water. They needs to be able to clean their nostrils.

Thank you for the tips!!

 

[Jobean22]

Oh also, I’d get maybe a plate or some kind of tray to set the waterer in. It will help reduce the mess

Thanks!!

 

[Jobean22]

They like lots of toys, dog toys cat toys bird toys, medicated chick starter should be fine, it is advised against in many places because medicated chick stsrters used to contain a medicine toxic to ducklings but they do not anymore and should be safe, however a duckling starter or waterfowl starter would be a better choice, and you will need to supplement niacin if you use chick starter. You will be able to tell the sex based on the voice, females will loudly quack and males will have a low rasp. You absolutely cannot just raise one, ducks are very social animals and absolutely need at least one friend of their own kind. Not sure what you mean by a duck swing. They can have supervised swim time but you must put in extra effort to assure they stay warm and dry, as ducklings in the wild are waterproof from their mothers oil, but without the mother duck you will need to dry them off. If there is poop stuck on its bum it might be pasty butt shouldn't be too hard, I'm sure you can find a thread on here regarding that. I would highly recommend Mazuri waterfowl feed, they make a starter feed, a maintenance feed, and a layer feed, and you can order them all on chewy.com
As far as the water goes, make sure while rhey are ducklings they have a water source they can stick their entire head in, but cannot jump into and swim. I like using the dog replendish as an in coop waterer as it doesn't fill up enough for them to splash it all over the place.

Best of luck with your ducks!! Definitely look look getting another duckling to be friends with yours as soon as possible!

Thanks!,

 

[RockwoodDucks]

I'll add our 2 cents from our experiences.

You want 2 or 3 minimum if possible. They are social birds and need the interaction for proper mental health.

Food/Water... We start with a mason jar chicken waterer and put marbles in the water tray to keep them from drowning. Yes, baby ducks can drown. We make sure they always have food and water also. In our experience, water without food can cause them to get water drunk, which possibly can kill them. We dip their bills in the food and water to teach them to eat/drink. When hand feeding, I add water to the feed (crumbles) to moisten it and make it easier for them to eat and also have water available next to it.
Things may have changed in 10 years, but we stay away from medicated chick starter feed. Ducklings grow VERY fast (I have a Call Duck weight chart and milestones thread here that I posted recently and am updating) and go thru food quickly and they may get too much of the medication. We start with duck/gamebird starter for the first 3 weeks then switch to chick starter.

We put a mostly flat 9" platypus stuffed animal in the brooder when we only had one duckling hatch, and made sure she had LOTS of people time. The heat lamp warms the stuffed animal (not TOO close to the heat lamp for safety) and they cuddle up to it. Keep in mind it's gonna get "messy" pretty quickly and you'll need to wash it every few days after they get older.
We use a large thick black plastic 6" deep cement mixing tub from Lowe's ($16) for their first pool and start at about 1.5-2 weeks old. The black color helps warm the water during the day. Don't let them get too cold. We start with a couple inches of water and supervise them closely, then gradually increase the water depth and swim time as they get older and larger. Bathtub with warm water is another option, but we put down rubberized mesh shelf liner lining because of the slick surface. Slick surfaces are bad for very young ducklings and can cause spraddled legs which they will kill them eventually if not addressed quickly. We use the rubberized shelf lining in the incubator also for this reason. It's cheap and easy to clean.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/EasyLine...-5-ft-Taupe-Shelf-Liner/16451274?athbdg=L1200

If using a kiddie pool when they are older, we use rocks/bricks so they can easily get in/out.
Hens can start quacking as early as 3-4 weeks but some take longer. Males never quack (raspy voice), are larger, and develop a curled feather or two at the base of their tail.

Final notes:
Hens are LOUD as adults. Some are very talkative and some barely talk at all.

They are also very good flyers and can easily fly a couple hundred yards or more. Once they know where "home" is and it's a big enough area where they have/get everything they need/want, you shouldn't have to worry too much about them flying off and not returning, even when they are startled and fly off. Ours have always returned at dusk or earlier after kids startled them. I play loud rock music when I feed/water the animals. They know that means feeding time and gives them a signal to home in on also.

They are a great size for MANY predators including possums, racoons, foxes, coyotes, rats, large snakes, cats, dogs, and ESPECIALLY raptors (hawks in particular). We lose more to hawks than anything. Luckily the crows on the property "usually" keep them away. A secure duck house for at is essential if you keep them outside and a netted covering pen is good if feasible. Without a completely secure coup and pen, you WILL lose some eventually if you keep them outside. You might be surprised how persistent critters can be to get at them, so check your pen/coup often.