ducklings

[metex]

Our duck has just hatched about 6 ducklings last night (xmas day)
was wondering what we have to supply for her to help her look after her babies
thanks

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Our duck has just hatched about 6 ducklings last night (xmas day)
was wondering what we have to supply for her to help her look after her babies
thanks

Congratulations on your new ducklings and

!

What's your setup for the ducks? One of my primary concerns with my broody ducks was keeping them (and the hatchlings) safe from predators and away from the other ducks. I had them in their own netting-covered run with a small coop that I closed up at night - I found out quickly that ducklings can squeeze through small openings, so I added netting around the bottom foot of the fencing to prevent escapes.

Food and water were available in the run, but I only provided shallow waterers until the ducklings grew older and larger to prevent drowning. I happened to have a shallow plastic dish (it was actually the bottom piece of a large waterer) and would fill it with about a half inch of water and those little ones would get right into it and splash around. As they grow, a paint roller tray works well for safe, supervised swimming.

Ducks have higher niacin requirements than chickens, so I also added brewer's yeast to their food. I fed chick starter for the first couple of weeks, then lowered the protein by adding rolled oats until they were fully feathered to prevent angel wing from developing.

There are a lot of handy resources here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/other-backyard-fowl-ducks-quail-turkeys-geese-etc.

Best to you and your ducks.