Needing to separate the 5 ducklings....

[Shadowhills Farm]

The 5 are growing like little weeds!!! Anyways, the rubbermaid box that they're in now is getting too small for all 5. Is it possible to separate them in a group of 3 and 2? I am worried that they will peep their little heads off! Will they adjust or get stressed out?

Thanks

 

[Goat_Walker]

I really would advise against seperating them since they have been with eachother so long and have imprinted on one another all ready.

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

That's what I was thinking, but there's practically no room for them at all in the box....

Might have to go dig something up

 

[Amiga]

I am already trying to figure out how to adjust the living space for my 10 runners, and they haven't even arrived yet!

I have a nice sized brooder that should hold them for a few weeks - it is a 5' long, 18 inch deep, 2 ft wide rubbermaid bin. I made a hardware cloth top, and I have ceramic heat lamps. I have checked and can keep one end of the brooder (or the middle) at 90 degrees, or 80, or 70.

But I know these little crits are going to grow like weeds, and by week four, if not sooner, we will want a little more wing room (is that the equivalent for elbow room?)

I have started thinking that by week four they don't need to be nearly as warm, and they can be moved to my semi-finished unheated basement (with the heat lamps set up so they can get warm when they want to be), with chicken wire around them and shavings underneath, with netting on top since I don't trust the cats just yet (if ever).

One underlying assumption of mine is that, if they start out together, I want to keep them together. A friend is ordering four ducklings to arrive with my ten, and she will be taking them to her home as soon as they arrive, rather than keeping them together for a number of weeks and then separating them. We want them to imprint on her, not me.

Does that make sense to the more experienced duckherds here?

 

[Duck_feeder]

You can build them a pretty low cost home that is large enough for all 5.

The temporary pen we have now for Vinny and Ollie is actually a bookcase we got on clearance at Ikea's as-is section (demo and damaged goods without boxes). We paid only $15 for it. We laid it on it's back, tiled the floor and walls with cheap self-adhesive tiles, and caulked the gaps. That would be plenty for ducklings. We added posts and tarped the sides and top to prevent splashing and flying out of the pen (Ollie can easily fly over a 3 foot wall and the bookshelf was only about 2 feet deep).

I'm sure you can find a cheap bookcase at a store or craig's list if you want to go that route.

My two ducklings are about 7 weeks old now so they are too big for their old brooders. I'm planning on using two large storage containers connected together as their home until we are done building the new pen for all 6 ducks. I'll post pics once I'm done building it tonight.

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

My two ducklings are about 7 weeks old now so they are too big for their old brooders. I'm planning on using two large storage containers connected together as their home until we are done building the new pen for all 6 ducks. I'll post pics once I'm done building it tonight.

Please do! We have another rubbermaid container, I would like to see how you attached yours.​

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

Did you ever get pics???

 

[nettie]

he took the pictures, lol, but hasn't uploaded them yet... It came out neat. He cut holes in the side of two big containers and used some of the extra plastic like a mini ramp between them. He used some of my extra fabric i didn't need (it's called rip-stop, you can get it at a hancock fabrics). He used duct tape to secure it and water proof it. The two 7 week olds in there love it. They are not cramped at all. I'll yell at him tomorrow when he gets up to post those pics for you guys!

 

[Duck_feeder]

Sorry I haven't posted the pics yet - I've been insanely busy the past few days (been sneaking in BYC time during breaks at work. lol. In fact I'm typing this on my phone...)

A bit more details on what I did:

On the long side of each storage bin I cut out a large rectangular hole. I made sure the bottom of the hole was about 2-3 inches above the floor of the bins. The made sure there was about 1-2 inches of space at the top below the rim of the bins to keep it structurally sound.

next step was taping the bins together. I used duct tape (Duck brand, of course

) and used short strips to bind the rims together. I wrapped the tape around both rims.

I used the pieces of plastic I cut out to make a bridge at the bottom of the bins (they slope outward at the top of it isn't flush against each other). I taped the strip of plastic to the rip stop fabric (pretty much picnic table tablecloth) then taped the fabric down to the bins. I used the fabric so that the duct tape would not have any of the sticky portions exposed (more likely to peel off because water would be able to get under it then).

Next I taped strips of the rip stop fabric to cover the gaps on the side of the holes.

I filled the bins with enough saw dust so that the little bridge was the same height as the top of the saw dust. This way they don't need to step up and down to go between sides.

I drilled holes into the lids to allow airflow (that and the lids are just loosely place on top since the duct tape on the rims prevent attaching it correctly). This way I can cover them up at night to make them feel safe.

Food and water are in the same bin but on opposite sides. This has greatly reduce the amount of water mess compared to their old brooders.

Finishing touches are a mirror and some toys to keep them happy and entertained.

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

Awesome! Sounds pretty easy, just gotta see if I can get help LOL