I have never had ducks before but I would love to have some and they are my son's favorite animal (well one of them has!) I know that they will need access to water (and preferably not my pool but meh) but at what age do they need a pony or some kind of water for them to float or swim in? I really only want one but all my research says no because of how social they are. Would two be ok? And I have a large indoor rabbit run.. with a 6 week old rabbit. If I get baby ducklings can I house them together? Or do I need to keep them under a heat lamp in like a 20g aquarium? Thank you in advance
Welcome to BYC! I would not suggest keeping them with a rabbit and I think a 20 gallon aquarium is too small. Let me see if I can find some links for you.
I think there are some good resources here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ducks-sticky-topics-index.256233/
And here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/other-fowl.25/ @askem, might be able to offer you some advice as well since she's just got her two ducklings this week.
Ducks are easy. Just get duck feed put the baby's in a brooder with some water just like normal chicks except that they are ducks. if that doesn't help you can look up what to do. There is a first time for everything.
Thanks for the tag! If you get two I'd suggest ordering them from somewhere where you know their genders, and get two girls or two boys. If you get babies, a 20 G tank is too small in my opinion. I went to Walmart and got a 100 gallon, tall Storage Bin for $11 which is much cheaper than a fish tank anyway (and from what I understand it is better because the fish tanks get too humid). If you get babies you will also want a heat lamp. I am going to be upgrading my babies into a kiddy pool here in a week or two, where they will stay until they are big enough to get the run of the house. If you have more questions, let me know, I'll answer the ones I know!
Depending on your temps will determine how long they will need heat. Ducklings like it 90-95 degrees F for the first week and heat can be lowered by about 5 degrees each week after. I just turned my ducklings heat off today at 5 weeks of age, but my house is only about 60-65 degrees and outdoors are even cooler. If it's 80 degrees out they can be outdoors without heat much quicker. Ducklings can swim at only a day or two old, however they need supervision and limitations until they are fully feathered and their oil gland is fully developed so they don't get waterlogged and too cold. Around 6-8 weeks they should be able to have more access to swimming water unsupervised without issues. Mine are about half feathered now, and I noticed when they jumped in the pool they didn't seem wet for once so their oil glands must be working well now even though they still have some adult feathers to grow. If only getting two, try to get two of the same sex so you don't have over-breeding issues, the boys are quite amorous.
Get more than one its easy but alot of work... clean up keeping fresh water supervision temps etc... 20gal is way to small keep reading and researching until you feel confident and sure it fits your family
