Ducklings swim on their own??

[Brickman House]

My ducklings have always managed to find a way to swim at 2-3 days old, whether I like it or not! I have yet to find a water receptacle (chick waterer, gallon milk jug, shallow dish, whatever) that they cannot manage to worm their way into and make a total mess of on an hourly basis.

I have accepted this fact, and have managed to keep my blood pressure at an acceptable level solely by brooding them in my hall bathtub (provided I'm not expecting houseguests!). It hoses down in 30 seconds flat.

I try to keep mine in for at least 4 weeks, because once I put them outside, they make a beeline for my little duck pond, whether I like it or not. It's just what they do. Honestly, I go more by temperature than age, feathering or anything else. If it's warm enough, I'm likely to put them out closer to 4 weeks old. If it's colder, I'll tough it out with them in the bathtub until they're closer to 6 weeks and more completely feathered.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
That info is dead on. go with it.
They dont drown, regardless of water depth. The get chilled and hypothermia sets in from improper fuzz/feather conditioning allowing the water to soak up and reach they skin.
If these are being raise with a mother duck, they are fine at day one, if being brooder raise, short daily trips to water, then return to a heat source to dry up. The water triggers their natural instinct to preen themselves as they do this, they spread their oh so important oils on to their fuzz and gradually waterproof themselves. I like to wait til the feathered up still though to release them unsupervised and even then, if they havent been introduced to water, they will still get water logged. So
short daily supervised trips, then once feathered, let 'em have at it.

 

[bigdawg]

mine have been getting daily swims in the tub since they were two days old. 5 mins at first. now at 10 days old they swim for 20 mins. you can tell when they get tired. and back to the warm celan brooder they go. oh and use warm water, not to hot. they love it.

 

[newchickmom09]

Quote:
That info is dead on. go with it.
They dont drown, regardless of water depth. The get chilled and hypothermia sets in from improper fuzz/feather conditioning allowing the water to soak up and reach they skin.
If these are being raise with a mother duck, they are fine at day one, if being brooder raise, short daily trips to water, then return to a heat source to dry up. The water triggers their natural instinct to preen themselves as they do this, they spread their oh so important oils on to their fuzz and gradually waterproof themselves. I like to wait til the feathered up still though to release them unsupervised and even then, if they havent been introduced to water, they will still get water logged. So
short daily supervised trips, then once feathered, let 'em have at it.

What I was going to say.

Wait until they are feathered and you see them preening themselves.

 

[Amiga]

BBB,

that confirms what I have read and seen with my ducklings. I am working to balance my concern about them getting enough exercise and a good cleaning to prevent eye infections and so forth, against my concern that they not get a chill. They are in the house, in their own warm room right now.

About every few days I have put them in a couple of inches of warm (90 F) water in the tub for 3 to 5 minutes. They are about 10 days old. I started when they were a week old.

I put them in a warm box under a heat lamp, clean their brooder, get the heat on there, and take them to a warm bathroom with warm shallow water, watch them closely. They start out like little torpedoes, hurtling through the water, then dunk their heads and shoulders and begin preening. They do get soaked, but I am seeing that some of them already have a little oil on their feathers.

After just a few minutes, when it seems a few are ready to rest (I go by the first ready to go, I do not wait until everyone seems ready), it is into the box, back into the clean warm dry brooder. I scoop up a few who seem too pooped to preen and dry off by themselves, wiping them down with a dry washcloth.

I watch over them for a while, until everyone is clean, mostly dry and resting comfortably. It is quite an outing for them, so I do not plan to do this every day until they are a bit bigger.

I also don't let them swim if any of them seem a little tired. I do it when they are being energetic.

 

[Wifezilla]

When I went to buy a duck buddy for a lone hatch, every duckling that could climb in to the water bowl was in there splashing around. They were about 3 days old. I picked one of the water bowl babies.

 

[deerman]

Duckling dont drown, they can float and swim, if not able to get out they will get chilled and died. So you dont have to worry about them being able to swim, just dont let them get CHILLED.. Even a dayold duckling that has died will float if put in water.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

I think mine were 3 or 4 weeks when they started swimming..

Or I'm insane and they were actually 2 weeks, but tbh I can't remember I just know they were young! LOL



I put mine in a tupperware container with water in it for the first few tries, then they moved onto bigger and better things such as the kiddy pool out front of our house. I gave them a rock as a safety island incase they needed to get out of the water and my pool was on an angle to accomodate a shallow end for splashing.

 

[Leesameyer]

although... if the water is VERY shallow..like a couple inches ONLY... it may be okay... because they cant really drown in that small amount of water..
another thing to consider is.. ducklings chill easily like baby chicks... so getting them wet isnt the best for them...

A human can drown in a couple of inches of water!