Getting ducks this week. HELP!!!

[SINGLE MOM]

My daughter is getting 4 ducklings this week. I want to take care of them correctly. I need to know how long to keep them under a heat lamp? Also I have game bird starter. That is what I was told to feed the last ones that we lost. It is upper 20% protien. do I need to switch to a grower & if so at what age? Any help would be great. Thank you very much for all you help in advance.

 

[MDC]

The 20% should be fine initially, after a few weeks you might want to find a feed with lower protein or cut it with wheat or another grain to reduce the protein. I lent my book out so I don't know what the recommended age is for reducing the protein but SGTRD would provide a recommendation. I actually start with a gamebird starter and switch to a custom ration throughout the brooding stage.

A heat lamp is needed as long as the birds need it. I don't ever use a set number of weeks or put a heat lamp so that it reads exactly 95 degrees for exactly one week, etc. I change the wattage of the bulb as needed, and I keep it on them as long as they need to have it. Even after, sometimes, as the light at night attracts bugs so they get a buffet each night!

Your ducklings will tell you whether they're too hot or too cold or if they're content. The best gauge is their body language. If they're huddled together in a pile - they're too cold. If they're spread out and panting - too hot. If they run around and play & eat/drink and are relatively quiet & spend some time napping peacefully, they're content. Unhappy babies get loud! I've had ducklings/goslings that were 2 weeks old that were perfectly content without a light during some really chilly rainstorms. They were able to get out of the rain & get dry and they were perfectly fine even though I made sure to check on them a lot. Had they told me they were cold, the light would have been turned back on.

 

[headred]

I started with the game starter and then at about 2 months I mix the starter with some scratch grain. Mostly for variety and tone down the high protein a bit. Once they went outside I had a heat lamp for them, but they mostly chose not to sleep under it. I think they huddle enough that that keeps them warm.

I keep a website diary of sorts. Scroll to the beginning under duck tab to see the ducks from the get go if you need some ideas. Also, put their waterer up on a brick or something to get it off the floor of where you keep them. It will keep things much drier and not so messy. Good luck and have fun! This is a great website to learn everything you need to know and lots of experienced duck owners and lovers!