getting ready for ducklings! :)

[shmooborp]

what do i need. ?

this is what i have. ... ( btw i understand they are messy LOL)

i have a brooder, and i have shavings, and i have a light, but do i need a special waterer? because i have heard they need a deeper drinking bowl then chickens.

can they eat chick starter?

anything else? any suggestions? what worked for you? thanks

just worried

 

[Wildsky]

You can use a chick waterer for a week or so, after that they get too big to get their whole beak in - the water needs to allow them to get the beak in up to the nostrils.

Unmedicated chick starter is ok. Game or waterfowl is better.

I'll look for the link with my brooder pic - I kept the shavings only in a small box area - I changed it every few days, the rest of the brooder had rubber mats, which I changed later to utility mats which I changed out every day (I bought 4 mats, two went in over lapping to cover the floor, next day those went out to be hosed off and dried and the other two went in)

 

[Wildsky]

Here is a thread that will help - I posted pic's of my brooder set up as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=79316

 

[shmooborp]

thanks! where did u get those wire square things that make the walls? do they work well?

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
They're very handy - they're cube storage thingies, I got them years ago at Target - used them for kids toys/clothing etc... but found a better use now!

They normally make up 6 or so "cubes" all connected - looks kinda like a bookshelf of sorts. I think it cost me around $20 for them.

 

[shmooborp]

cool! i have4 a biggggggggg tub .. it looks kinda like a horse trough, its black, and about 5 feet long, 3 feet wide, and about a foot and a half tall.. i hope that works..lol

 

[ChickenToes]

After about 4,000 people warned me about how messy ducklings are, I decided to put them right into the coop. We build a small, fully insulated coop. I rigged up a lamp for heat and when we got our duckies last Wednesday, I put them straight into the coop. And they are doing just fine. They are pretty darn messy with their water, but it's really not bad. I just scoop up the wet shavings around the waterer and put down dry ones.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
Yeah - I built a little secure "run" area for mine, and out they went every day - I had a roasting pan for them to swim in and a box to sleep or hide in - they loved it, after about a week of that I jusst opened up and let them roam with the chickens - they were 3 weeks old, after I saw how well they all got on together - I let them sleep in the shed ajoining the coop, cut a door way but kept wire over it for a while, now its open and they all have the run of the place!

 

[shmooborp]

hmmmmmm ok

so do u suggest i start them outside? i can make a pen for them, with a little house ? what do u think? and i could take them in at night with a heat lamp

 

[Alaskan]

I tried using a wire grate for my ducks with part of the grate covered with paper towels.

One of my ducklings (a week old) got stuck in the grate by the waterer and then drowned herself in the water. Or at least I think that is what happened.

After that I used towels and changed them out 2 to 4 times a day. UCK!

I am REALLY going to try to never have ducks in the house again. (Need more ducks, but am hoping to brood them under a duck or chicken).