Ducks getting brooder wet and gross

[ChickenMom04]

I have 3 two week old ducklings and we’ve been trying to figure out how to fix an issue with the amount of mess they’re creating in the brooder. It’s almost time to move them to a bigger pen, but for now we have one runt that needs to stay in the brooder a little longer so we’re giving it a week. We were using straw but it got wet easily and started to smell. When I cleaned it out, a TON of water came out. I’m not talking a few cups, I’m thinking a few QUARTS came out of that thing. We had a piece of wood under their water to keep it steady, but it turns out that wasn’t enough. They’d rather bathe in it than drink it. We tried newspaper as well but they were nibbling at it and it basically turns into a soggy heap when it’s wet. I ordered some puppy pads to test them out, but are there any other forms of bedding I could use to keep them dry or ways I could prevent them from doing anything other than drinking the water? There may only be 3 of them, but they make enough mess for 10. I can’t clean out the brooder every 8 hours so I need a method that can spare me at least a day. Ideas?

 

[Banana01]

If you remove the water. Or you could try putting their water inside of another container but that is what ducks do is bathe and splash water everywhere. A tub within a tub within a tub would slow down the brooder wetting, but it would still happen at the end of the day. Ducks just like everything wet and dirty.

 

[Shugercube]

I’m new to this myself, so there are probably better options that I’m unaware of. But. I have a couple 1 liter water bottles that I cut a small hole in, just a little larger than their heads. I have two, one with a hole at chest level when standing flat, and another at chest level when standing upright and tall (not sure the terms for these positions lol). They still make a mess, and the water still gets dirty fast, but it definitely seems to be much less of a mess than before.

I am also using pine flakes as bedding, and they seem to hold a lot. I change it every night just before bed, and while it is wet by that time, it’s not so soaked that there’s standing water underneath it.

Puppy pads are a good thought, I may try lining with them and then the pine on top and see if that helps.

Another thought I just had is stall dry. I wonder if that would be safe, or if they’d try to eat it.

 

[raingarden]

When I have ducklings theplastic tote brooder becomes intolerable after two or three weeks., Then they are moved to a 4'x4' cage of 1"x2" welded wire sitting on a bed of gravel. In one corner of the cage is a tray of water with a hose constantly dripping into it. In another corner is their feed bowl nailed to a board so they can't turn it over. In another corner is a tray of wood shavings next to their heat source light.

Every morning the tray of wood shavings and the light are removed, the hose valve is turned up, the water tray and food bowl are rinsed out and spilled wood shaving are washed through the wire. The crud goes down into the gravel. The ducks hate the hose and complain. Then they get their mornng feed and a tray of fresh wood shavings.

In the evening they are fed again and they get another tray of fresh wood shavings.

Day after day. It seems like an eternity until they are finally feathered enough to go to a big duck pen and pond. It takes almost a full bail of wood shavings to brood a small batch of ducks. Good drainage is key. Even with a daily wash-down they still attract flies.

 

[Majorbleepbleep]

When mine were little, I used a dog bowl as their water dish. That very quickly became the water bowl they jumped in, bathed in, and knocked over. I took a piece of chicken wire and bent it to fit over the top. It worked really well. The little faces could get in there and wash nostrils/eyes but, they couldn't splash all over.