Is it okay to let the ducklings swim.

[HenniPenni]

Cute ducks

Okay so the ones you have seen on the internet with the stripe through their eye is prolly a malard, you DONT have those
*
I would say you have 2 mag pies (the ones with the black dot on their head, we had one but it got eaten then we got one when it was older, it was a drake *sigh* hope you dont have any drakes, they are brats, funny bratsm but brats) and 2 black swedish

they will love swimming more and more as they get older, but watch out for waterlogged duckies, in Valdez the seagulls go in this tray thing where all the fish guts and stuff go, they get stuck and get waterlogged and die i rescued one once, but then I found ANOTHER one and i had a net this time (before these 2 nice guys took a shovel and lifted the gull out) and my (mean) grandma wouldnt let me help it!

I hope they are the magpie. They are so pretty. The chicks I looked at on the internet look very similar to mine. I was just guessing a blue swedish for the other two. Didn't realize there was a black swedish. Thanks for the information. I was hoping I would find a list with pictures like the Henderson's chicken list, but no luck!

We are having another beautiful warm afternoon and the duckies are outside in the grass with their pan of water in the sunshine.

I was reading on here not to feed the ducklings chick feeder. I was alarmed because that is what they have had all week. I went to our local TSC and of course they said chick feeder is all they sell for ducks and have for years. I mentioned the lack of niacin and I got the dumb look. So I went by the drug store and got a niacin capsule. Can anyone tell me how much I should use in their water.

 

[tweetysvoice]

You should use 100mg for every gallon of water. I've been adding it to my duck's water every other time, since I noticed that niacin WAS in the ingrediants list of the chick starter (non-medicated) that i'm using. I don't want to OD them on it and I have no clue how much is in the chick starter. Another way they can get niacin is by eating greens. I've been giving our 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 week old ducks wheat grass and kale and peas chopped up a couple times a day. They go crazy for it!! Be sure to give them access to grit if you feed them greens.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

My Calls were swimming before they had even fluffed out from hatching!

~ Aspen

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

I hope they are the magpie.  They are so pretty.  The chicks I looked at on the internet look very similar to mine.  I was just guessing a blue swedish for the other two.  Didn't realize there was a black swedish.   Thanks for the information.  I was hoping I would find a list with pictures like the Henderson's chicken list, but no luck!  

We are having another beautiful warm afternoon and the duckies are outside in the grass with their pan of water in the sunshine.  

I was reading on here not to feed the ducklings chick feeder.  I was alarmed because that is what they have had all week.  I went to our local TSC and of course they said chick feeder is all they sell for ducks and have for years.  I mentioned the lack of niacin and I got the dumb look.  So I went by the drug store and got a niacin capsule.  Can anyone tell me how much I should use in their water. 

 

Well actually i just looked up duck breeds and that one fit you duck best, the blue swedish were, well, blue, but black ones were black with a dot on their head

Yes maggies (as i call them) are really pretty, and if you have some hope you have a drake and hen! then you can have hundreds of maggies! e

We always fed our ducks chick feed, never had a prob, whats Niacin ? LOL i feel dumb now

 

[Oregon Blues]

Most likely, your ducks are mixed breeds. The ones with the white chest look like Swedish, but if they are from the same hatch as the other 2, they are all mixes.

Just because a duck looks like a breed, doesn't necessarily make it that breed. Having 2 purebred parents of the same breed is what make the duckling the same breed as the parents are.

 

[HenniPenni]

Well actually i just looked up duck breeds and that one fit you duck best, the blue swedish were, well, blue, but black ones were black with a dot on their head
Yes maggies (as i call them) are really pretty, and if you have some hope you have a drake and hen! then you can have hundreds of maggies!

We always fed our ducks chick feed, never had a prob, whats Niacin ? LOL i feel dumb now

So you have raised ducks with never supplementing with niacin? I really don't know anything about it except what has been mentioned here on BYC.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

So you have raised ducks with never supplementing with niacin? I really don't know anything about it except what has been mentioned here on BYC.

Ya, well my mom buys the feed and she has never bought duck feed and I have never heard of Niacin

 

[GosfieldAcres]

Last summer we put our two week old ducklings out to the garden and let them swim in a shallow plastic sled of water. We made sure they could get out on their own and kept an eye on them. It was nice and warm out so they could dry off nicely after. They loved it!

 

[ducklover700]

It sure looks like your babies had fun in the water! it can be confusing about what to give, and what not to give them; I've heard several different versions from different people... there are so many opinions! I let my ducklings swim after we'd only had them about two days (a week old at that point) and they went crazy for the water!

Just wondering, *tweetysvoice* is your baby a Rouen as well in your ID picture?