MHC

[Quackattack717]

@WannaBeHillBilly

So I got my supplies to make my MHC! My heat pad perfectly covers the top of it. Sooo I need your opinion on what to use on my back & sides? Just duct tape or some kind of wool, felt, flannel?

There was a larger heat pad but it had an automatic shut off so I went with this one. My thought was I could trap the heat in by whatever I use on the back and sides. Let me know what you think!

Thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’ve never made one but @WannaBeHillBilly has. Maybe he can help.size of cage looks good

 

[Miss Lydia]

Look up MHP in the search you’ll find all kinds of info.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

First take the heat-pad out of that felt-sleeve and use the bare plastic. The ducklings would tear the sleeve to shreds and eat it very quickly. Tape the heat pad to the bottom of the basket (ceiling of the cave) outside so that it won't lag down in the center. Then just use duct-tape for the walls. Just carefully tape it from the outside - you want to avoid any wrinkle that a curious duckling bill can latch on to.
They will find spots to latch on-to and start to peel off the tape!
Then glue another round of duct-tape inside of the basket, so that no sticky spot is exposed to duckling fluff.
If you feel that your ducklings may are too far away from the heat source, distribute the shavings at a slope inside of the cave and watch where they sit.
Are you going to raise them inside or outside and how many?

 

[Quackattack717]

First take the heat-pad out of that felt-sleeve and use the bare plastic. The ducklings would tear the sleeve to shreds and eat it very quickly. Tape the heat pad to the bottom of the basket (ceiling of the cave) outside so that it won't lag down in the center. Then just use duct-tape for the walls. Just carefully tape it from the outside - you want to avoid any wrinkle that a curious duckling bill can latch on to.
They will find spots to latch on-to and start to peel off the tape!
Then glue another round of duct-tape inside of the basket, so that no sticky spot is exposed to duckling fluff.
If you feel that your ducklings may are too far away from the heat source, distribute the shavings at a slope inside of the cave and watch where they sit.
Are you going to raise them inside or outside and how many?

Thank you! you’re a life saver.

We’re only getting two ducklings. They’ll be inside of our 2nd building but it doesn’t have heat. So protected from any winds but if it’s getting cold outside it could get cold in the building. They’ll be here next Wednesday and we’re still looking at 65-70 degree days and & low to mid 40’s at night. I just want them to be warm in the cave but also get use to the chiller temps in the rest of their brooder to prepare them to move outside, especially because they’ll be moving outside in the dead of winter!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

You are welcome! We are all addicted to pictures of cute little ducklings here and will do anything to make you raise your duckies successful, so that you can drown us with lot's and lot's of photos and videos.

40's - they will be fine! - Ducklings are so much harder than chicks, for example.
I had my Spring Ducklings out in a garage brooder when they were a bit over 2 weeks old. It was freezing cold outside and the garage wasn't much warmer and yet they thrived!
And i let them loose with the flock at just a bit over a month old in the middle of a heavy snow: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...klings-are-here.1289838/page-96#post-21073702

 

[Quackattack717]

You are welcome! We are all addicted to pictures of cute little ducklings here and will do anything to make you raise your duckies successful, so that you can drown us with lot's and lot's of photos and videos.

40's - they will be fine! - Ducklings are so much harder than chicks, for example.
I had my Spring Ducklings out in a garage brooder when they were a bit over 2 weeks old. It was freezing cold outside and the garage wasn't much warmer and yet they thrived!
And i let them loose with the flock at just a bit over a month old in the middle of a heavy snow: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...klings-are-here.1289838/page-96#post-21073702

I will take lots of pictures & videos for sure. They grow up so fast! I just hope they arrive safely & ALIVE! Very nervous about that as we ordered them from Mezter farms in California & we live in PA! That’s a long trip for new born ducklings! But no where around us sold the breed of duck we wanted and we wanted guaranteed females as we are still anxiously waiting to find out the sex of our current younger ducklings from Tractor Supply! It’s driving me CRAZY! Praying for two girls or a girl & a boy but NOT two males! I’ll cry if they’re both males!

But thank you for your help! I will be constructing my heat cave sometime this week/weekend and have it all ready to go for them on Wednesday!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

How old are your TSC ducklings and what breed are they? - My White Layer girls started to quax (peep, peep, peep, quax!) by the end of their second week! Just listen carefully when they are excited, there may slip a little "quax" out of the bill...

 

[Quackattack717]

How old are your TSC ducklings and what breed are they? - My White Layer girls started to quax (peep, peep, peep, quax!) by the end of their second week! Just listen carefully when they are excited, there may slip a little "quax" out of the bill...

Oh they are noisy! Have been for a few weeks now. They are Rouen ducklings. They were 6 weeks on Saturday. I posted a thread around 4 weeks with pictures asking for help sexing them but most people said they couldn’t tell and to post pictures/videos at 8 weeks! That’s still 2 weeks away! We’re just really hoping at least one is a girl. We have a small flock and I’ve bonded with them, I don’t want to have to get rid of them just because they’re males! Definitely not a fan of getting them unsexed!

I have been trying to get a video of them quacking but whenever I try, they won’t quack. Then when I not ready they quack away! The one is super loud which makes me think it’s a female, but that one had a white ring around it’s neck when it was younger, it’s gone away now but we read the white ring means male. So we’re just all types of confused and anxiously waiting for them to be old enough to tell for sure!

The duck pictured is Shadow. Originally thought it was a boy, then changed our mind to a girl, now we just have no idea! She’s not quite a loud as the other one.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Beautiful Rouen!