ducklings housing

[BelleInBoots]

Hey guys, i impulsively picked 4 ducklings at tractor supply a few days ago foolishly thinking that they would be a lot more like chicks. lmao. they are so incredible messy and wet. lol. i cant keep their waterer full to save my life or their box even partly dry. lol. i have an empty chicken tractor that i was thinkin of getting a gallon size waterer for and moving them in there as soon as possibly the dirt would be a lot easier to keep dry than chips and they would have more space. I could put a heat lamp under it and there is a ramp that they could walk up and have a little dry place to hide from the wind and rain. They may be about 1-2 weeks old and seem to be growing fast. I live an hour south of atlanta. does anyone have an idea when it would be safe for me to move them outside? thanks so much for reading!

Christie

 

[needlessjunk]

Congrats! Ducks grow fast! And water is always hard to keep under control. Lose the chicken waterer. They will just make a mess and it isn't deep enough for them. You can look through my pics for ideas on water containers. I find it much easier to just make my own. I used a rabbit litter pan full of pine pellets and then put their waterer on there. Controls a lot of the mess. Also ducks will need heat for a while and with this crazy weather they will need to be able to stay warm and dry. Read through this https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings and I would get a book on ducks. I like Storey's guide to raising ducks.

 

[Mrs.H]

I keep my ducklings inside, in a plastic kiddie pool (if you happen to have one) with a piece of fencing around its easier to clean imo and only a small section of bedding gets wet, easy to just scoop out that part often.