Extreme Newbie here (like 1 day!)

[foxchasr]

Hi everyone .... I have 7 hens and a rooster and just got 2 white pekin ducklings, about 6 weeks old I think, please see picture below. I have them in a rubbermaid container with newspaper at the bottom and hay/straw. I had a water bowl in there, but they were constantly drinking and playing, most of the water ended up in the bottom of their house, so I put in a larger tupperware bowl (also in picture). My question is .... am I providing them too much water or should I just go back to giving them the bowl of water. They look like they are having so much fun, playing and jumping around in it. I'm in New York and we are at about 55, with their lamp it's about 80, but I worry that they are wet and they are still young. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[The Duck ABC's]

First of all I think they are less then 2 weeks old. Do not provide them with swimming water in their brooder. They will get water logged and cold. Drinking water only! They can go swimming in the bath tub once per day, but you have to be present and watch them so they will not drown. Take them out and dry them off when they stop playing. Make sure to put them back into the brooder underneath a warm lamp.

 

[Komaki]

I strongly agree! And to me they look about 2wks TOPS. And always supervise aquatic activitys at least until the are strong enough to .....EVERYTHING.

You are going to fall in love.

 

[foxchasr]

Thank you so much! Do you mean a real bath tub? How fun!!!!! I have a big water tub, kind of like bobbing for apples, what about that? They are PRECIOUS

 

[dumb_cluck]

Remember, they are babies and need supervision! They need adequate water for eating purposes, but not a "tub". The drinking water should be deep enough for them to dip their bills up to their nostrils.

DUCKS ARE MESSY. Don't blame them, it's just the way they are.

Please ask more questions here rather than guessing and losing the ducklings because of no knowledge. BTW

 

[adubsroit]

Really, what everyone is saying is very true. I to tried this when I first got ducks, but as it is with most other pets: you learn the do's and do not's really quickly. Less water in the brooder makes cleaning much easier.

Ducklings are the cutest thing in the world until you realize how gross and big their messes are. You may like them now, but once you clean them and realize they aren't always stinky little poo monsters: you come to LOVE them, lol. My boyfriend loves ducks (we have 10 Saxonys now), and there were time I was ready to just let them out with the other birds and fend for themselves. However, you can't really do that with 3 week olds, lol. Ducks are really a great thing, up there with geese and turkeys in my book. They're so responsive to your presence and they really learn to trust you, much more interactive than most of the chickens I've kept.


Hope you all the best. The people on this board really know whats up, you'll learn a lot if you stick around.

 

[BradC1080]

I am brand new to this forum as well! How did you post that picture? It told me I cant post pic's because I'm too new and it wont let me copy/paste. I'm trying to figure out what kind of ducks I have... Thanks!

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Hey Brad, I believe 10 is the magic number of posts before you can upload pics.

 

[BradC1080]

Thanks Smiles. I just went to the new members FAQ's. I guess theres been a lot of spam. Thats fine. I can wait. I atleast got the pics up on my page so people can see my cute little babies!

 

[featherfinder]

My ducks looked the same as yours when I first got them and they were about 2 1/2 weeks old.

They only have a portioned water dish (kinda like the ones you give dogs that only let a certain amount of water out at a time) It makes cleaning so much easier. And they were to afraid of heat lights so I went to my local pet store and bought and reptile heating pad that didnt get to hot so i could put it under something. They would lay on it all day long if i let them.

Now they just like to swim in my bathtub or the little kid pool i have for them outside.