Luelromun,
I think you may have missed this post by the OP, HeatherFeather
It is always important to have multiple viewpoints. I believe that it is quite normal to brood a large number of poultry for the first week or two in a very small space. They take up very little room at that age, no more room than an egg. Providing too large of a space makes it difficult to ensure that there is adequate heat for all the birds. Even though I have a lot of ducklings in a 4 X 8 stall, I would say that their bodies cover perhaps 25% of the floor space. We have always followed Joel Salatin's recommendations for stocking poultry, and he is *very* well respected. I also found some govt publications on stocking levels and .2 sq ft is a recommended amount for the brooding stage. So I did not just stumble into this, I am actually planning it out. It is just not giving me the excellent results I had in the past. And since I have only done it a handful of times, I came here, to talk to people with more experience than me.
With what I am learning, I do think I will stock more lightly next time, primarily because it is a GIANT pain to crawl to the back of the brooder to distribute clean bedding, disinfect the bell, and put out fresh feeders twice a day, with so many ducks crawling all over me! However, I am not convinced that the stocking level is what has caused the ducks to eat so many wood shavings.
I did remove 30 ducklings to another brooding area, that is 20% of them, and if it continues to go well there I will remove more to that spot. I am prepared to do whatever is needed for my ducks.
Once we get over this hump, and they get out on pasture, they will have 1600 sq feet, rotated weekly to fresh pasture on which to frolic and play! That's over 10 square feet per duck! And bigger than many people's yards!
I think you may have missed this post by the OP, HeatherFeather
It is always important to have multiple viewpoints. I believe that it is quite normal to brood a large number of poultry for the first week or two in a very small space. They take up very little room at that age, no more room than an egg. Providing too large of a space makes it difficult to ensure that there is adequate heat for all the birds. Even though I have a lot of ducklings in a 4 X 8 stall, I would say that their bodies cover perhaps 25% of the floor space. We have always followed Joel Salatin's recommendations for stocking poultry, and he is *very* well respected. I also found some govt publications on stocking levels and .2 sq ft is a recommended amount for the brooding stage. So I did not just stumble into this, I am actually planning it out. It is just not giving me the excellent results I had in the past. And since I have only done it a handful of times, I came here, to talk to people with more experience than me.
With what I am learning, I do think I will stock more lightly next time, primarily because it is a GIANT pain to crawl to the back of the brooder to distribute clean bedding, disinfect the bell, and put out fresh feeders twice a day, with so many ducks crawling all over me! However, I am not convinced that the stocking level is what has caused the ducks to eat so many wood shavings.
I did remove 30 ducklings to another brooding area, that is 20% of them, and if it continues to go well there I will remove more to that spot. I am prepared to do whatever is needed for my ducks.
Once we get over this hump, and they get out on pasture, they will have 1600 sq feet, rotated weekly to fresh pasture on which to frolic and play! That's over 10 square feet per duck! And bigger than many people's yards!
