Making sure I'm doing this right...

[gladahmae]

I know how to brood chicks. So I'm doing basically the same thing with the 3 KC ducklings I just got with the addition of a wide flat pan of water for them to swim in if they want. I put a brick in the middle to keep it stable and give them something to climb onto if needed. The water is shallow enough they can stand in it if needed.

So heat lamp (how warm for ducklings? I can eyeball it like I do with chicks but I like to know what I'm aiming for), starter feed, water, "pond"....is it that simple?

 

[Virus]

They need the same amount of heat as chicks not as long, and I find the best way is just by watching them and see how they do with the light at different levels. I wouldn't leave the swimming pan in there all the time because they will splash it and get their bedding soaking wet. Ducklings can mange to do this with just a water dish for drinking so a swimming pan would require you to need to change their bedding crazy often. If you take the ducklings outside on warm days for an hour or two you can put out the water pan and let them swim then so it's less of a mess and they don't have to sit in wet bedding all the time. You may want to add brewers yeast to their food because ducklings can get niacin problems very easily. I take the starter food and mix it with water so it's a mush to make it easier for them to eat and put brewers yeast in that. You can also cut greens up very thin and put it in their water for them to eat.

 

[gladahmae]

Water dish is a 1 gallon fountain. This will be sufficient?

 

[Virus]

A ceramic bowl, I feel, is better. Ducklings need water in order to eat, by which they will put food in their mouth and then stick their bill in their water to chew and eat it. which makes the water dirty and needs to be cleaned a lot and it's easier to clean the ceramic bowl than a fountain but it will work.