Heating lamp brooder question.

[Kitomeow]

Oh man I knew I’d become a concerned parent at some point today.
So I just got my first 2 caiyugas today, I’m using a 30gal rubber tub with a book as my only guide.
In the book it menchion’s briefly about “chick” body langue in a brooder (nothing about duckling behavior tho...)
Well my ducklings seem to be content with sleeping near the water source. Could it be my heating lamp is to close? I’m worried these cuties are over heating and may accidentally drown themselves in the water trying to stay cool.
It’s the first night and I’m trying to make sure nothing bad happens.

 

[Texag87]

They need an area out of the heat so they can cool themselves if necessary. I use a pad while brooding but my guess is you have the lamp too close and no way for them to escape the heat. I could be wrong but it also depends on the bulb wattage. You probably should have a strip thermometer to see what the actual temperature is.

 

[BReeder!]

Oh man I knew I’d become a concerned parent at some point today.
So I just got my first 2 caiyugas today, I’m using a 30gal rubber tub with a book as my only guide.
In the book it menchion’s briefly about “chick” body langue in a brooder (nothing about duckling behavior tho...)
Well my ducklings seem to be content with sleeping near the water source. Could it be my heating lamp is to close? I’m worried these cuties are over heating and may accidentally drown themselves in the water trying to stay cool.
It’s the first night and I’m trying to make sure nothing bad happens.

Move the heat lamp to one side. I try to keep food and water in the middle, heat on one end and a hideout (just a small box on it's side) on the other end. Also, do you have a thermometer? A thermometer under the heat source will allow you to better gauge the temperature. I keep my thermometer off-center in the ring of light (hot spot) created by the heat lamp. I like to start at 90F for the first week and then drop 5F weekly by raising the lamp.

 

[gtaus]

Oh man I knew I’d become a concerned parent at some point today.
So I just got my first 2 caiyugas today, I’m using a 30gal rubber tub with a book as my only guide.
In the book it menchion’s briefly about “chick” body langue in a brooder (nothing about duckling behavior tho...)
Well my ducklings seem to be content with sleeping near the water source. Could it be my heating lamp is to close? I’m worried these cuties are over heating and may accidentally drown themselves in the water trying to stay cool.
It’s the first night and I’m trying to make sure nothing bad happens.

It looks like you have a nice little setup for your birds. Like the others have mentioned, I would direct the heat lamp to one side, have the food and water somewhere in the middle, and have the other end of the tub as a place where the ducklings can go to cool off if needed. They will self regulate and find a spot that they need for that moment.

I usually start my chicks off at 95 degrees (not sure about ducklings) under the heat lamp for the first week and drop it by 5 degree each week. You can do this by raising the height of the lamp and/or changing the wattage of the heat lamp. I always put a thermometer under the heat lamp to get a good reading on the temp. Also, with heat lamps, I always have 2 methods of securing the heat lamp so if one method fails, then the second should protect the heat lamp from falling in to the bedding and possibly create a fire hazard. I suspend my heat lamps from chains, but the point is having a backup method in case one fails.

The first few days are always stressful for me. But ducklings are pretty hardy so I hope you have great success.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I start my ducklings off at around 85* and drop 5* each week there after. But it's not rocket science. Just how they are acting in their brooder. But you really need to be looking for a larger container they will grow out of that one super fast.
Congrats on your new ducklings

 

[DuckyDonna]

Do you have a kiddie pool? That's what I use for brooders and works for me plus gives them plenty of room to run around especially since you've only got 2! Stand cardboard or something up around the outside so they can't jump out.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Ditto on the previous posts. The most important thing is to get a thermometer in there to see what the actual temperature is. Best of luck with your wee ones.

 

[Kitomeow]

Thank you everyone for all the tips. A thermometer has been purchased, heating lamp has been moved same for water and feed. And I’ve even gotten them a little box on the cooler side of the brooder.
The brooder is ranging from 95F and cooler side sits around a perfect 80f
And it seems like they are taking it really well.
The heat has been starting to rise where I live and I’m happy I was able to get the heating under control for my duck babies.
In the next few days I’ll be constructing a new brooder to let them get more room to run around.

 

[gtaus]

Thank you everyone for all the tips. A thermometer has been purchased, heating lamp has been moved same for water and feed. And I’ve even gotten them a little box on the cooler side of the brooder.
The brooder is ranging from 95F and cooler side sits around a perfect 80f
And it seems like they are taking it really well.
The heat has been starting to rise where I live and I’m happy I was able to get the heating under control for my duck babies.
In the next few days I’ll be constructing a new brooder to let them get more room to run around.

Sounds like a good plan. Enjoy your ducklings.