Hello,
I am a new poultry mommy! We got our first chicks and ducks and geese just a week ago today, and they are all living together in a wooden brooder box in our laundry room.
We now have 2 African geese, 4 fawn & white runner ducks, 6 assorted bantam chicks, and 27 assorted baby chicks.
The birds seem to be getting along pretty well, despite what the people at TSC told me today. The chicks step all over the geese and ducks, and they all cuddle up together to go to sleep. I have to get a picture of the fuzzy pile of babies soon. The bigger goose (I'm hoping we got a boy and a girl, of course) will sometimes come and stand at the end of the box and yell at you when you come in to visit... like he's already on guard... so cute.
My question is about the water... the ducks really make a big mess with the water, so I was thinking of separating them from the chicks and putting them in a big plastic tote so the water spillage won't soak into the box so much. This was my plan UNTIL today, when the remainder of our order of chicks came from the co-op. 12 of our new chicks are just a day old, while the rest are a week old. The people at TSC insist that I have to keep the chicks separated, and I really DON'T want to set up 3 brooders... I will have to move them to the garage sooner than planned.
Has anyone here raised their ducklings and goslings right along with their chicks, and what recommendations do you have? I have them all on "flock-raiser" non-medicated feed right now, but was going to put the ducks and geese in the plastic bin, so I could also start with the medicated feed for the chicks.
I know that ducks will be ducks, but how can I make this a happy home for everyone? (here are some pictures of my babies...)
I am a new poultry mommy! We got our first chicks and ducks and geese just a week ago today, and they are all living together in a wooden brooder box in our laundry room.
We now have 2 African geese, 4 fawn & white runner ducks, 6 assorted bantam chicks, and 27 assorted baby chicks.
The birds seem to be getting along pretty well, despite what the people at TSC told me today. The chicks step all over the geese and ducks, and they all cuddle up together to go to sleep. I have to get a picture of the fuzzy pile of babies soon. The bigger goose (I'm hoping we got a boy and a girl, of course) will sometimes come and stand at the end of the box and yell at you when you come in to visit... like he's already on guard... so cute.
My question is about the water... the ducks really make a big mess with the water, so I was thinking of separating them from the chicks and putting them in a big plastic tote so the water spillage won't soak into the box so much. This was my plan UNTIL today, when the remainder of our order of chicks came from the co-op. 12 of our new chicks are just a day old, while the rest are a week old. The people at TSC insist that I have to keep the chicks separated, and I really DON'T want to set up 3 brooders... I will have to move them to the garage sooner than planned.
Has anyone here raised their ducklings and goslings right along with their chicks, and what recommendations do you have? I have them all on "flock-raiser" non-medicated feed right now, but was going to put the ducks and geese in the plastic bin, so I could also start with the medicated feed for the chicks.
I know that ducks will be ducks, but how can I make this a happy home for everyone? (here are some pictures of my babies...)
