I know you all know this but..

[annie3001]

I know you all know this but....my goodness ducks are so messy........i cant keep up with the mess!!!! I cant wait till they go out to their pen. but not for weeks as mine are only 1 week and another is 2 week old.

at first i tried the paper towel method, but after 3 rolls in just a few days, i went to wood chips (which my chickens use).

a little better but the water these ducklings play in.
i connected another cage their current one, but they arent as interested. i figured it would give them more room to walk about.
i see poop on the sides of the cage.

i can no longer eat in the kitchen with them.

okay, guess i am just ranting. btw: my mother who is a clean nut job, came over yesterday, and just about gagged!!!

at their site. nice real nice. thanks mom.

besides cleaing their brooder cage every minute. they sleep huddled together ,( we only have 4). its so darn cute.
heres a picture of their set up.

and here they are!

 

[Duck Mad]

my method to ducklings/ducks is simple..... Like a storage box clear plastic x 2 .. Made little holes in side, so i can hang the hanging water pots. (so we have the messy box in the day, filled with straw hay sawdust mixture.. at night they have a bath and get dried off, then put into their 2nd box used for sleepy... when they are sleeping the day box gets empited and swilled out, ready for the morning.... no bad smells come from my ducks keeping them that way

hope you manage to work something out...

 

[TLWR]

I did 3 in a large dog kennel. I had a towel on the bottom and then a puppy pad under the water. Then the waterer went in a cake pan on a puppy pad. Then the puppy pad just was always soaked with water.
Then I fenced in an area on the deck and let them run around on the deck during the day and then back in the clean kennel at night. Hose down deck.
I was not going to clean the kennel more than 1x a day and I didn't have to with the way I ended up doing it. But it was warm enough (August in southern AL) here to have them on the deck all day at around 3 weeks. Their kennel was also out there, so I never had to deal with the mess inside.

Somebody recently posted a waterer option that really should help with the excess water in with them. Involved a planter base and the rubber mulch rings. If you can cut down on some of the soggy water mess, the rest shouldn't 'be too bad.

 

[xke4]

Do they have a heat source? Maybe they are huddling because they are cold. It is important to supplement their heat for a few weeks. More info on this can be found by doing a search. I find the large Rubbermaid tubs to be quite useful both to retain heat and contain bedding. Here is a photo of my setup for ducklings.

Heat lamp is securely fastened to a stable structure. In this case, I have the Rubbermaid tub in a powder room and have used a very heavy iron candle holder to suspend the light from. The receiving blanket holds the heat in at one end and the metal cooling rack allows heat to escape.

and here is what it looks like inside. I use puppy pee pads to absorb the mess. These would have been brand new orphaned ducklings that came into the wildlife rehab centre and have not yet figured out a food dish. I find that I have to sprinkle it on the floor of the tub initially and their natural curiousity makes them pick away at the food . I would use a dish soon after this.

 

[annie3001]

thats it......soggy mess. i just dont want them to be cold when their flooring is real wet. i think i am going to move the water bath thingy i have and their main water into the other connected cage, that way... they can walk back into their sleeping quarters and not get that soaked. i figured i would be moving things about, to get a method that works.
i wish i had a deck and the weather was nice, i would def put them out during the day.
i have a back porch, but its just too cold for them to be outside. heck i dont even want to go outside in 40 degree weather. ha.
thanks for the tips. i do remember seeing the thread on the other persons duck invention using a planter pot. ill have to do what i am going to do first, see if that works. thanks again!


andrea-

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
yes i have a heat 250 watt bulb. directly on them. but i think its the cold flooring from being wet, thats making them huddle. gosh, i am a bad mommy.

gonna go move some stuff....brb

 

[secuono]

Ducklings are pigs, not ducks!
Mine live in the garage, I change bath towels everyday. Oh the mess and the smell!
It's not from wet food as some have said, it's from dirty water, poo mixed with wet food and wet ducklings!

 

[Emmalion]

Man to think I have 5 eggs in the bator now.... Thanks for the heads up. I hope it will be warm enough outside so I can put them in the attached garage

 

[The Duck ABC's]

Did I see a swimming pan in the cage? That has to go. They do not need playing water, and you don't want to encourage water playing in their cage either. They do not need swimming water. If you want them to swim take them into your bathtub and watch them while they have fun. Dry them off when they stop playing and put them back under the brooder. After that you still end up cleaning 2-3 times per day, but it is less of a wet mess.

 

[annie3001]

okay, so i moved the water and pan into the other cage. its better for me and them. ha. i saw how much water there is just in the other cage. crazy!!