Duckling Bedding

[MandBducks]

Hi everyone! I am going to be a new duck mom by May 11 and have been researching and doing preparations since February. The research is both good and bad, I know a ton but I now know everything that can go wrong! So my question (at least for today) is what flooring/substrate to use in a brooder? I'm seeing a lot of people who use puppy pads but want to make sure that isn't too slick a surface for ducklings, we don't want any splay leg!

 

[The Duck Ladie]

I used pine shaving.
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[cayugaducklady]

This year I'm using disposable puppy pads in my brooder. I have them placed on top of a nonslip roll of cabinet/drawer liner paper. It works really well for easy cleanup. My ducklings are over 4 weeks old now.. no splay leg and no slip/falls.

 

[MandBducks]

Thank you! That's a good idea, I'll look into getting no slip grips for underneath.

 

[Duck Drover]

I use shelf liner, nothing absorbant that will create a stinky mess or be fatal if they eat it.

 

[MandBducks]

You use only a shelf liner as the flooring?

 

[Amiga]

Hi everyone! I am going to be a new duck mom by May 11 and have been researching and doing preparations since February. The research is both good and bad, I know a ton but I now know everything that can go wrong! So my question (at least for today) is what flooring/substrate to use in a brooder? I'm seeing a lot of people who use puppy pads but want to make sure that isn't too slick a surface for ducklings, we don't want any splay leg!

My Runners found ways to get at the insides of the puppy pads and eat them.

We used old towels. They also ate shavings.

 

[Duck Drover]

You use only a shelf liner as the flooring?

Yes, although I use a plastic grate under the shelf liner when they get bigger so the mess goes through it. I use a dog heating pad under my stage one brooder for warmth and it keeps the shelf liner dry. I also have channels in the sides of the tubs so any wet spills drain away from the ducklings. To clean the tubs I move the ducklings into a clean tub and then hose out the fertilizer under my lilac trees before scrubbing the tub with antibacterial dishsoap.

I use Victor Ultimate flea traps for warmers and I vent the lids on the tubs more or less to keep in the heat so the ducklings stay warm and dry. I have raised hundreds of happy ducklings this way.

 

[DuckGirl77]

My Runners found ways to get at the insides of the puppy pads and eat them.

We used old towels. They also ate shavings.

Mine ate shavings at first, too. I had to use paper towels for the first week or so, but paper towels get disgusting! I suppose anything that goes in a duck brooder does, but that really smelled.
Thankfully, they don't really eat pine shavings anymore, which is good, because I didn't want to have to wear a clothespin on my nose. (Not that it doesn't still smell!) The bad thing about pine shavings is they get in the water, which is disgusting enough as it is! Old towels is a good idea.

 

[dotknott]

You can try pine shavings, in my experience many ducklings don't actually eat them, but they pick them up, realize it's not tasty and spit them out (lots of head shaking with this realization.)

I imagine they are somewhat similar to babies and puppies in that they don't really have a way of interacting with the world other than with their mouths.

Of course, some could just straight up be eating pine shavings, I've never really been that impressed with my ducks smarts.