Hi all! My ducklings love it with me but the only issue is the brooder. They spill the water everywhere and then it just ultimately fills up the brooder by like half an inch of water. How am I supposed to prevent this? I want them to have water but I want them to have a clean brooder too that is not filled with water!
I've had ducks for 3+ years now, and I've found that there is just no way around the mess! Ducks are really messy. How old are they? And what are you giving them water from? Young ducklings really only need enough water to dip their heads into. I just give mine water from a sort of shallow waterer until I move them to the coop ourside. Then they can make all the muddy messes they want. However I still have to clean their pool and water dishes out often because they poo in the water and somehow manage to get mud and grass in it within minutes.
I have our 3week old ducklings in a frosted Rubbermaid tub long one with food in a clay pot bottom (helps keep moisture down)and sit it near the light. I have a 9year old and am finding her old toys have much promise People suggested a pan with cookie cooler rack on too but the width wouldn't work so I pulled her jenga blocks and cleaned them put them on top of paper towels and a homemade waterer made from a gallon milk jug I cleaned it well took off the lid threw it away! Ducks are very nosey. Get into trouble cut a hole at their neck not where their heads could go under water should they get in (which they do) the wire rack and the paper towels help so much in the tub wetness!! Miracle I put the chickens wood shavings in the other 3/4 of the homemade brooder and they have a blast. We take them out twice a day for monitored swims. Dry them off and spend time with them. So far so good
I raise my ducklings in the bathtub. The water mess drains away. It wasn't my original plan but it worked just fine for us.
We used a cake pan and a wire baking rack for our ducklings. It worked for two and a half weeks. By week 3, their whole brooder was SOAKING WET. So, we moved them outside into our transition pen where they had more room, so they wouldn't always be laying in wet bedding. It worked well for us. We just had to run an extension chord for a heat lamp.
Avoid using anything absorbant and wet down their food so they don't have to wet it themselves in order to swallow it without choking. I use large tubs with deep chanels to catch wet mess and the ducklings have a plastic mat with shelf liner over it to stay high and dry. There is no bedding to stink or grow mold so the tubs are easy to rinse out and scrub with dish soap during swim time in the bathtub. Ducks love water so you need a waterproof brooder that is easy to clean. If you want a dry pet, try a lizard or snake.
