- Thread starter
- #231
How appropriate for me to title this thread "Do's & Don't-s".
OMG.. Guess who is getting a crash course on ducky 101?
I have been waiting for Spring to start my Duck adventure and I felt like Spring was already here. SO- I purchased these little angels and thought the heat was here to stay. Meaning, indoor brooding. The last few nights have been brisk. The last 2 nights have been low thirties on the Fahrenheit scale. So the little boogers are indoors at night.
I have discovered that Ducklings are high maintenance while in the brooder stage of development. I have been replacing the tub daily. When they eat, they wash down their food constantly. Also the are infatuated with the water dish period.
I don't have a water nipple drip system implemented so cleaning has been non stop. Water gets spelt and works it's way abroad until the entire tub is soaked and saturated.
So Farmer Connie says this is a serious problem.
Our rule of thumb is- "work smarter not harder".
Here is what I did to rectify this seriously ridiculous situation.
In the bottom of the freshly cleaned out tub (cleaned for the 1000th time
) I placed a folded salvage section of hardware cloth mesh. Kind of like a pair of binoculars but not round- but square. The square shaped tubes beneath add support to prevent flexing. Then on top of the wire mesh goes the shavings.
So now when the little fellas spill/splash & turn the brooder tub into a water park, all the water goes downwards and not soaked sideways to be absorbed by the bedding.
It was very refreshing when to see a dry Brooder this morning as I began my chores. Knocking off 20 mins of maintenance of my day, as well as saving money on the shavings as well.
We have another solid week of brisk weather ahead of us. So storing the young dudes indoors is a must. Being indoors along side us in our human habit, had me working double time to keep oder to a minimum. Now I can sit back and smell the roses, not the soggy ducky tub.
I have a short pictorial of their outdoor habitat coming up. Not as extravagant as first thought up in the plans, but I will get there. Baby steps to do it right. Not to mention funding. Chick sales are going to fund most of the project to help it manifest accordingly. And chick sales has only begun. So stay tuned. I have so much to share and add to this thread. Thanks to all whom have contributed and helped me kick start this adventure into the wonderful world of Duckhood!
OMG.. Guess who is getting a crash course on ducky 101?
I have been waiting for Spring to start my Duck adventure and I felt like Spring was already here. SO- I purchased these little angels and thought the heat was here to stay. Meaning, indoor brooding. The last few nights have been brisk. The last 2 nights have been low thirties on the Fahrenheit scale. So the little boogers are indoors at night.
I have discovered that Ducklings are high maintenance while in the brooder stage of development. I have been replacing the tub daily. When they eat, they wash down their food constantly. Also the are infatuated with the water dish period.
I don't have a water nipple drip system implemented so cleaning has been non stop. Water gets spelt and works it's way abroad until the entire tub is soaked and saturated.
So Farmer Connie says this is a serious problem.
Our rule of thumb is- "work smarter not harder".
Here is what I did to rectify this seriously ridiculous situation.
) I placed a folded salvage section of hardware cloth mesh. Kind of like a pair of binoculars but not round- but square. The square shaped tubes beneath add support to prevent flexing. Then on top of the wire mesh goes the shavings.
