First swim for khaki campbells

[bwoof]

We have 4 khaki campbells that are 8 days (plus a couple maybe) in a large stock tank with wood shavings and pellets for litter. They are getting themselves a bit dirty and i would like to let them have a bath. i saw somewhere online the idea of using a paint roller tray for their first swim. i'm going to put it in the stock tank with them so that they can have access to their brooding light to warm up. i guess i am just wanting to verify they are not too young to let them swim a little - i plan to supervise and make sure they can get out ok and don't stay in too long.

 

[lavenderlakefarm]

They are too young to swim, they could still drown. You need to wait until they feather out around 6 weeks
Edited to add- you could clean them with a damp cloth. They get pretty good on cleaning themselves.

 

[petchickenlover]

I heard you could let them swim for a short amount of time at 1 week, as long as they are supervised...

ETA: this is on the Metzer farm page:
Ducklings and goslings can be introduced to swimming water as early as one week of age but you must be very careful. They must be able to walk in and out of the water very easily. The water should not be too cold and they must be able to find their heat lamp for rewarming without difficulty. As they have no oil on their feathers at this age, they cannot be in the water for long periods or they will become waterlogged and chilled. Do not allow this to happen! But this exposure to water speeds the development of their oil gland and they can probably be swimming freely by five or six weeks of age.

 

[secuono]

Do not put the pool in with them. Take the duckies out to your bathtub or sink, ect. Fill it with warm water, let them swim and clean up. Towel dry them the best you can and place them back into the brooder after 15-20min swim. They don't produce oils yet to keep themselves water tight, the mother adds this for them until they are 6wks I think. Duckies make a massive mess with water, you leave the pool in with them, 10min later all the water will be in the brooder, all the food and bedding will be in the pond and you will have a pasty smelly mess and dirty ducks...

 

[ducksinarow]

I let my baby campbells swim about 3 days old. They only swim about 5 minutes tops. Then I took them out and put them under the heat lamp to dry. They loved it and would play afterwards.