Messy ducklings!!

[Medic324]

Hey all,
Long time viewer, first time poster here. I have been keeping chickens for awhile (both hens and broilers) and recently decided to dabble in ducks because I have a very large pond for them and we enjoy duck eggs. I am currently brooding 15 ducklings, 13 white layers and a mated pair of Mallards in my chick brooder. The issue I am having is that they are so incredibly messy it is becoming a challenge to keep the brooder clean. I mean these buggers make Cornish Cross seem like clean birds! 70% of their feed and water ends up on the floor which creates huge headaches in a Wisconsin winter. Does anybody have any tips or tricks to modify or build special feeders and waterers to help keep the mess and wasted food to a minimum? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Amiga]

Welcome!

As you now know, ducks are waterfowl, and have a very special relationship with water

Here are some links to help you. Once you get the water management handled, it's 80% joy again, based on my experiences.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/679433/water-water-everywhere/10

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/858161/feed-water-solution-for-brooder#post_12901321

http://frankiemakes.blogspot.ca/2012/06/watering-solution-for-ducks.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/259876/do-your-ducks-have-water-at-night/10#post_13568197

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

Please keep us posted. I raised eleven Runners. Learned quite a bit from that, and learned even more from fellow Duck Forum members.

 

[patolocoeggs]

Hi, yes, ducklings are extremely messy. Make sure their water is in a drown proof container and raise it up high enough so they cant walk through it. Most of the water mess is from their little feet walking on the edge of the water bowl. I use a landscape brick to raise mine up just enough so they can still reach it at a young age. Also, keep their water on opposite side of brooder than their food. This will cut down on a lot of the mess of the food getting wet. Plus they get lots of exercise walking back and forth. Another tip, I use puppy pee pads for the bedding. They hold lots of water!

 

[needlessjunk]

I finally took a pic of my setup. Maybe this will help you. I have their water inside of a rabbit littler pan with pine pellets to absorb to water that gets splashed out and their food is outside of that in the 1 gal vinegar container.

 

[Amiga]

I did not know about rabbit litter pans! Brilliant!

 

[needlessjunk]

I did not know about rabbit litter pans!  Brilliant!

Thanks, it was on freecycle and has worked out prefect.

 

[Medic324]

Awesome! I will give some of these a try! Thanks for the help!