Moving Ducklings Outside

[duckelio]

Hi,

I’m going to buy ducks next month but I wanted to make sure I had all the research before I start! I have 2 questions that I couldn’t find answered properly-

Firstly, at 6 weeks should I buy a small duck house and let them live outside and during the night. I didn't want to use a heat lamp due the risks and cons and decided on using a heating pad. Will that be okay during the night too? Also I saw a conducted discussion on ig during the night they need water? I was planning on making a drinking fountain outside as well for the night time and then during the day the drinking fountain can be inside, to reduce mess!

My next question is regarding the vitamins. So I wanted to start giving my ducks Niacin and I saw several websites showing how much should be applied to food and water. If I use B-complex mixed in the water is it okay to use brewers yeast in the Feed as well?

Thank you, any tips would be much appreciated

 

[SolarDuck]

While they are young yes they need water overnight, but most people seem to choose to not offer water at night once they are adults because they try to play in the water and make a mess.
Personally I use this for water at night time, it is shallow enough for my ducks to drink without being able to play in it much, and it's plenty for them to wash down their food and take a sip at night.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057LAIC...abc_KMHNAZRVA9H4PDC8Q9FB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

For the niacin, there are a few very helpful threads in the sticky section that have all the information you will need regarding supplementing niacin. If you want something easier that you don't need to add any supplements to, get mazuri waterfowl starter. Mazuri is the highest recommended feed by veteranarians for ducks, and you can order it on chewy.com
https://www.chewy.com/mazuri-starter-waterfowl-food/dp/248787

It will give your Ducklings a fantastic start.

 

[JaeG]

Start by putting them outside during the day for short visits initially on warm days, and longer as they get older. This helps to acclimatise them to the outside world. I think our ducklings were around 3 weeks old when we started to do this.