Nervous About Ducklings First Swim

[DuckDuckSook]

Hello friends!
So, I've had my little ducklings for a week now and I think they were only a few days old when I got them. I'm interested in giving them some swimming time to help them strengthen their legs and have a little fun. I am going to put them in our bathtub. However, I'm so nervous about it. Our house is only at 66 degrees so I don't want them to be too cold. I would use warm water and I know they need to be dried off well after the swim. What can I do to make sure they don't get chilled? What is the best way to dry them off? Should I wait until they are a little older and the weather/house temp. gets warmer? Thanks so much!

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Back when we hatched ducks for a friend we had Henry's first bath when he was less than 24 hours old, and despite it being 1/2 inch or less of water in the sink he had a BLAST!

To combat the temperature, do you have a portable heater? Perhaps you could set up a small space heater in the bathroom to warm it up in there before bath time, and keep it toasty in there until they're dried? We used mostly towels to dry them off but when bigger we used the blow drier to help too!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I start mine off in an inch or two of water when they are a day old. I would not use the bathtub the first time since they are not producing oil and will get really wet. I also would caution against the blow dryer. There was a lady on this site whose ducklings lost toes because of a blow dryer that was too hot. Just use a pie plate or something similar, for the first day. After the swim gently towel dry and put them back under their heat lamp or however you are keeping them warm. The next day, they can go in a little deeper water, for a little longer or more than once in the day. By the third day they should be ready for the bathtub. Btw, they really like a little lettuce or other greens in the water!
These were some of my ducklings, a couple years ago. They were only a few days old but had been going in water since their second day.

 

[LT71689]

mine wanted to do big diving zoomies by day 3 and would splash each other out of the smaller dishes I was using (hoping they'd just want to paddle and wade a bit, but no) and I was terrified they'd launch themselves out of the sink, so I put them in a warm tub with just a few inches of water and turned a heavy baking dish upside down for them to stand on when they wanted a break from swimming. We only did it for like 10 minutes at a time. Afterwards I towelled them off as best I could and then made another dry towel nest and held them in my lap under the heat lamp from their brooder, continuing to rub them a bit with the towel until they were dry. I tried the blow dryer once but even on low it freaked them out too much. They went back into the brooder with their heat lamp after

 

[3bird]

We make sure to have a towel and a heat lamp on hand.

 

[CoriM]

We make sure to have a towel and a heat lamp on hand.

So adorable!!

 

[CoriM]

mine wanted to do big diving zoomies by day 3 and would splash each other out of the smaller dishes I was using (hoping they'd just want to paddle and wade a bit, but no) and I was terrified they'd launch themselves out of the sink, so I put them in a warm tub with just a few inches of water and turned a heavy baking dish upside down for them to stand on when they wanted a break from swimming. We only did it for like 10 minutes at a time. Afterwards I towelled them off as best I could and then made another dry towel nest and held them in my lap under the heat lamp from their brooder, continuing to rub them a bit with the towel until they were dry. I tried the blow dryer once but even on low it freaked them out too much. They went back into the brooder with their heat lamp after

I started out with my ducklings in a pie pan on a towel. When they progressed to the bathtub I also put an "island" in the bathtub for my ducks.

 

[getaclue]

I waited until mine was about 2 weeks old, then put lukewarm water in the bathtub. Make it shallow enough, so they can stand, if they get tired, and deep enough they can pull their legs up, and swim. I only let them swim about 15 minutes the first few times, increasing the time by 5 minutes every few days. You'll get used to the signs, and know when to take them out. I dried them off, and returned them to their brooder, so they could warm up.

 

[MountainWoman73]

When I had ducklings we let them swim in the bathtub when they were a couple days old. I used tepid water and dried them with a hand towel before putting them back under their heat lamp. They're going to be so excited!