Ducky Water Slide

[katharinad]

My ducks don't mind changes that much. I've been exposing them to new things since they are born. Daily swimming was on the program when they were 3 days old. Warm water swim in the tub that it. We moved them out of the brooder into the duck house at 2 weeks. Seems that Saxony ducks don't need the warmth of a light early on. We based everything on their behavior. Looking out for huddling with each other and avoiding the heat lamp. Daily outdoor time in the aviary since 2 weeks as well. Started walks in the outer yard with a bowl of peas a few days later. They love to follow and to explore. We are now in the process of building a one acre outdoor area they will be herding in daily. Should be completed in two weeks. At that time the 5 week old ones are big enough to move out of the aviary. Right now I would worry about flying predators. They are so spoiled out here.

 

[katharinad]

Almost had her. Will try a video tomorrow.

 

[Violet22]

Does your pool have a drain on the bottom, or do you have to tip it to clean it? I've never seen one with a slide before, and really want one, so am hoping it has a drain, I have a hard time tipping the full ones over.

 

[katharinad]

It has a small plug and comes with an extra plug. You can see the plug in the picture. Just go visually down from the tops right edge (ruffled look next to step) and you can see the small plug shimmering whitish in the water. This pool is way to heavy to be picked up with water in it. I've purchased it at Walmart for 30 dollars. We will replace the small plug with a shower drain and some piping below once we move it to another location. For now we drain it once per day.

 

[Violet22]

Great! Thank you! Now I just hope they have one! With all the babies I am getting this year, I am going to need more than my one kiddie pool now.

 

[Cetawin]

LMAO that is great! The pic of your precious pup is priceless. I love it when mine does goofy things like that.

May I ask where in those mountains you are? I just moved from Cave Junction the end of March.

 

[katharinad]

We are on Hwy 66 next to Topsy reservoir also known as John C Boyle reservoir. It's 2/3 from Ashland towards Klamath Falls.
Google Map
Ironically we were looking around Cave Junction for a property. Ended up on the other side of the Cascades. Love it up here. No toxic algae to worry about. No ticks or fleas either.

 

[katharinad]

Quote:
It takes a while to fill up the larges one. I will get more of the medium ones from Walmart at 15 dollars each. Can't flip them either, but you can always put shower or kitchen sink drains into them. The reason why I'm saying this is because of mating time. That's when you want a pool the girls can put their feet down in it so they don't drown when they boys do their dirty thing.

 

[Violet22]

Good thought on keeping the pond shallow for the girls. I am happy my drakes seem to be "land lovers", it scares me to death when I see ducks mating in the pond. When they were young and couldn't quite "get it", they were trying it in the pond, now that they are able to do the deed, I have never seen them try and mate in the pond, just on the ground, ALL the time! I feel so bad for my poor girls, but I am happy they are on ground instead of in the water. I may keep one of my new baby drakes, so I will keep in mind the shallow water next year, in case he turns out to be a water lover!

 

[katharinad]

The deep pool is for fun and the heavy weight Saxony ducks you see right now are 6 1/2 weeks old. No worry about mating at this point. So you should think about different sized pools when it comes to ducks. I have 3 sizes. They graduated each size first. Started off with 2" paint trays in the bath tub and got deeper and deeper as we went along. They go so fast from 2" all the way to 14" in the deep pool.