How to keep baby ducks brooder dry??????

[Tuhmu]

I'm going to definitely have to do this, I thought my 5 ducks last year made a big mess....I can about imagine what it's going to be like with 10!

 

[Amiga]

I had fifteen the first week, then eleven when my friend picked her four up.

Ya, buddy!

It took a while to get the water management. For me, things just kept getting better. Steep learning curve.

 

[Tuhmu]

Last year I was counting the days I could kick them outside to their kiddy pool after the first week. What a soggy smelly mess to come home to after work! The way the weather is turning out here, I'm expecting to be able to take off the parka around August......so I better get a handle on the duckie cleanup right away

 

[Amiga]

Our ducklings were in the house for three months

I loved it!!!!

In an absolutely turned my world upside down sort of way…..

I referred to myself as the duckling charwoman.

 

[Vallifarm]

I have gotten the boot tray matts at tractor supply... I put the ducklings and quails waterers on them with a bit of fine flake pine shavings to soak up the spillage. I remove once a day and shake off the soaked flake shavings and put some new flake on it. I rustle up the shavings that were around the waterer (they are really only damp) and the heat lamp will dry them out kind of quickly. And it helps a lot to have them on plastic or super thick coated paint on wood. I have 15 pekins 3 weeks old in a 3x4 foot brooder

 

[Tuhmu]

That's a good idea, I'm going to have to do that this spring. I plan on getting another 10-15 call ducklings this spring, most of mine just vanished over the summer.

I always dread the mess of baby ducks though haha, they're just lucky that they're so cute.

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

We use low plastic storage containers. We cut a hole in the top of the lid and covered the hole with hardware cloth. We sunk the container into the shavings, and put the waterer on top of the screen. All the water that gets splashed around ends up inside of the container, which then gets emptied daily. It solved the problem of the wet shaving nightmare for us!


Look ma! No wet shavings!

 

[Nikki816]

I am getting 5 ducklings next week (we have 1 right now, long story) and this is my plan so far. The food and water is on a wire platform over a plastic pan with pine pellets in it.there is a brace in the middle of the pan to help support the wire. I am hoping that will cut down on the mess. The heat lamp will be attached to the wooden rack (the other leg is outside the pool and holding the heatlamp for the chicks. I am planning on putting a layer of straw over the pine shavings for the first week or two. I tried brooding ducks last year without the water catcher and the mess was horrible.

 

[Amiga]

Wondering if an old thin towel might be less trouble to walk over than straw. I used towels, don't know how straw would be. You can just shake them out and wash them, hang them dry and reuse.

 

[needlessjunk]

I loved using puppy pads since I could throw it away and they absorb a lot. I did that for 3-4 days and then move to shavings.