My wife got me ducklings!!

[Boost Junkie]

I was out and about yesterday and saw a member here in her red CRV and thought about how bad I want ducks. I already have 5 hens (2 australorps, two Ameracuanas and one Silkie) and when I got back home a peeping package arrived. One of the little things was dead, one dying and two were perky and happy.

Anyhoo.. now I have to learn how to care for my early Christmas present. They are eating and drinking and under the lamp so they seem happy although only two are alive today

Any tips for super young ducklings is appreciated!

Jack

 

[beerman]

Don't keep them in your bedroom,will make wife super mad and very messy ehehhehe

 

[gryeyes]

Contrary to popular belief, they CAN eat medicated chick starter, but it is better to feed them "meat bird" feed. Do add some Brewer's yeast every now and then during each week, as ducks need niacin added.

Get a Cool Whip container (empty it on your favorite dessert item) and cut an oval slice out of the lid. Replace the lid and use that for their waterer. Set it in something like a baking sheet with very low rim, after lining the sheet with that rubberized shelf liner stuff. This will help keep water mess down.

 

[Boost Junkie]

I notice that they smell a lot worse than the chicks did last spring. I did butcher the lid from my Pyrex bowl to make the waterer like you suggested.

 

[Bleenie]

The medicated feed will also make them smell worse. I feed all of my baby ducklings 'All Purpose Poultry' from Del's,(it's sort of like their duck feed) since you're in WA too i am sure you can get some, and they sell it in small bags for about $6/ea if you don't have room for a 50#bag.

All of my Muscovy ducklings do awesome on it and grow like weeds! I have also never had a problem develop from lack of nutrition with it and I don't normally give extra vitamins or add brewers yeast. I do like to feed them lettuce, like Romaine and stuff though, they LOVE it.

I use paper towels in my brooder right now, they're just easier to change out and I am having to do that once a day. I use a regular chick waterer but i do like the plastic container idea, looks less messy!

 

[gryeyes]

Ducklings need water deep enough to put their bills in all the way up to their nares (nostrils) to clear them. They LIKE to put their whole heads in! Then they will fling that water all over the place.

Wet bedding and wet feed add to the odors.

Handle them often.

When you first let them play in water, they should be about a week old, not younger. I get a dishpan for their first swims. If you have something larger, get a paint roller tray, so it is a type of ramp for them. No more than a couple of inches of water at first, and make sure it's warm water!

Later, they will love submerging themselves in the water. Even as ducklings just two weeks old. These are my two Cayuga ducklings in an upside down cake cover.

 

[Boost Junkie]

Thanks for the good info; keep it coming please. As I was rushing to get them set up (was heading out the door to the doctor when they were delivered) I sliced Romaine up really thin too so it was like baby grass blades. My house is being painted as I type this so this is all working out great! Paint tray pool!

I'll be looking to see how my chickens react to these little things. I hope they don't hurt them; my wife's Silkie got picked on pretty bad the first few weeks (they are all good now).

 

[awesomefowl]

I wish my parents had gotten me duckies.

 

[katharinad]

Mine get swimming time with day 3. I take them into the bathroom and fill a paint tray with warm water in the bath tub. I sit next to them and watch them the entire time. Swimming time is over once they start to just sit around. I paper towel them dry and put them back into a clean brooder under their lamp. They take on preening almost immediately, even though their gland does not work yet. It is important to give them a warm place so they don't chill, since they do not produce the preen oil yet. They get deeper vessels as they get bigger. Eventually it is just the tub with the shallow end just having enough water for them to stand in. Swimming is in the deeper end.

 

[Muscovies]

I would like to get ducks these Christmas hopefully I will