How do yall keep your ducklings dry!?

[Cuttlefishherder]

Our little ducklings are having a grand ol' time emptying out their water dish twice a day and soaking their bedding, I know ducklings are messy and if I have to live with cleaning out their bedding daily I'm pretty cool with that, but if there is a way to keep them dry I would love to know, because we hold them all the time and now they are always wet on their little bellies. We cant keep them under the heat lamp any more also because they start panting.

 

[Baralak]

Dry Ducks??!!?? What is that?

 

[missmaryb]

 

[crj]

Quote:
If they are babies the change there waterer to one they can't get in and can't tip over. I used a waterer for chicks, works fine and the babies stay dry.

 

[Luciesbuddys]

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think mine have been dry since there first swim 5 days after they were born

 

[Amiga]

Mine were pretty dry once I figured out how to make a splash catcher.

What has worked best for me (after trial and error and upgrade as they have grown) is:

*A waterer they cannot get in or tip over (chick waterer)
*Plus, a face washer they cannot get in or tip over (plastic tub with snap on lid and a hole cut out just large enough for a head and a half)
*A shallow bucket, about head high, with one section of one side cut down and a ramp or other means to safely enter and exit
*compressed sawdust pellets or towels in the bottom of the shallow bucket to absorb splash (or a perforated platform with a fitted pan underneath that they cannot stick a foot through and break a leg)

The shallow bucket needs to be large enough to hold the drinking water, face wash, and at least half the little bodies that will be using these.

I used towels with the ducklings, and the sawdust pellets with my grown ducks - if you are concerned they might chow down on the sawdust pellets, you might cover them with some smooth, sturdy plastic mesh.

Maintenance is refilling the waterers and replacing sodden towels or sawdust or emptying the pan under the perforated platform.

My platform, by the way, when they were tiny, was a two piece broiler pan with the edges duck taped and a washcloth on top for no-skid.

So enjoy your ducks, they are waterfowl, and their water needs can be managed.

 

[KFaye]

I was at TSC today and got inspired. A rabbit cage plastic base. It is for a large cage and it has about a 2" rim around it. So I have the waterer on bricks in this base, then they have another area next to it that has the horsebedding pellets and on top of that pine shavings. I am hoping this works to keep their bedding dry. At least in theory it does.

 

[Cuttlefishherder]

Thank you guys for all of the ideas. We have currently a chick waterer in a pie dish, this worked when they were smaller but it took all of one day for them to all of a sudden empty out their waterer. We had to separate the chicks from them at that point because they were all wet too!

 

[BradC1080]

There is a post a little ways down the page from aineheartsyou. Her husband came up with a pretty creative solution. Another option is to get a bowl or tupperwear bowl with a lid and cut a hole in it big enough for their little heads. good luck!!!

 

[Anny]

With mine it helped when I put there waterer inside of another small bowl/pan This way the splashing stayed contained in that pan, and left less water on the bedding.