Help little lives at stake!!!!

[Hornetkc5]

So I got a phone call today about some unwanted chicks! I tell the man I want them I go to the house to pick them up and I end up with 4 ducks and 4 week old chicks and 4 four week old chicks! The 4 week old chicks were outside in a deer net pen in the woods with the ducks no water just chick crumbles! I said ohh you have ducks too I been thinking about ducks! The lady say please take them my daughter brought them home and doesn't want them anymore! Question is can the 4 chicks and 4 ducks be together? The ducks are white about the size of a small cat! She says they were 4 weeks old also! She threw them in a bin small bin and they have poop all over them are they too young to wash? What should I use and how should I house them if they are four weeks they look cold? I know nothing but I can hear the hammer and saw going to work in the big garage I have!

Hubby is awesome I told him uhh dear I got you a present to share with the 13 yr old daughter who wanted ducks for her birthday! Someone please give me the basics!

 

[Amiga]

Breathe

You did good!

Ducks and chicks can sometimes share space - but if there is a large size difference, it is safer for the little ones if they are away from the larger ones. But - you can have a brooder with a poultry wire divider down the middle, so you just have to deal with one space, if that works for you.

The ducks can be bathed, in water about 85 degrees F, watched every second. They might get waterlogged if their feathers don't have oil, so you may need to dry them with a clean dry washcloth or hand towel when they are done. Right after bath, they must be in a warm, clean, dry cozy draft-free space so they don't get chilled.

At four weeks I kept my runners at 70 to 75 degrees F.

 

[julie75]

I keep my ducks and chicks together with no problems. The actually miss each other if I try to separate them. Just make sure you have a roost for the chicks because sometimes they like to be away from the ducks- esp. when the ducks get bossy, lol. If you give the ducks some access to water they should go in and wash themselves. If not, I saw somewhere that you can wash them with baby shampoo and then towel dry them real good. They may still need for you to put a heat lamp with them especially if the temp outside is still cold. Good Luck with your new babies.

 

[Amiga]

part 2:

The ducks will splash. I mean, SPLASH, and water management is the biggest issue I have seen for new duckling caretakers. So first, don't let it defeat you!

The chicks will probably get offended at the way ducks slurp and slosh and can't help but get crumbles in the water and water in the crumbles. This is another reason to have them near, but divided, so everybody is happy. Again, the duckies can't help it! They make up for it in other ways - I love those duckies!

There are many posts here, I think gryeyes has one of the best ideas for providing water that ducklings can use to wash their heads (they need, need, need, to be able to get their entire heads into water to prevent eye and sinus infection) without turning the brooder into a swamp or lagoon.

Aside from a face washer, I used chick waterers, but with a splash pan underneath and around. For the quart size, we used a broiler pan with a washcloth under it. I have used stainless steel salad bowls, shallow rubber buckets, anything that can be easily emptied often, that the ducklings can step up onto or reach across for a drink.

Once they are outside when it is warm enough (my princesses don't tolerate nights much below 40F), splash is less of an issue if you lay out their pen well.

Right now my babies sleep indoors, and I use the bottom half of a large dog carrier as their splash catcher. They walk in, drink, bathe, splash, party, and 98% of the water stays in the catcher. I use sawdust pellets to absorb the water. Works GREAT.

 

[Hornetkc5]

Breathing ahhh! Hubby built a huge Brooder lamp is on! Ducks were held in the little tub for about an hour he works fast! Thank god he buy more then we need everytime we build! Ducks don seem as bad as I thought! We put them in a warm brooder with a home made jug water, they just looked at it! So in went the chicken one ontop of a cooler lid work ok so far! I had extra chicken feeders! The camera is a charging can't wait to add pics. They are all white Im wondering what they are?

 

[veronicasmom]

You are a very good person. You will be rewarded. I believe in karma.

 

[Baralak]

Yeah !!!! I'm glad to see you rescued them!! At least they were responsable enough to call someone and not just dump them!! Man one day will be remembered not for their great technological advances, or monuments, but by the way we treat our animals! This shows outlr true nature!