New Duckling Owner

[Sfraker]

Our first ducklings will be arriving on Tuesday! I have a brroder set up in a spare bedroom with a gravity waterer, small feeder dish, and heat lamp.

Outside I have a coop and fenced in a 12' x 12' area with netting over the top (we have red shouldered hawks on our property)

I bought a bag of organic starter duck food. And have read a couple books on duck raising.

I'm so excited and nervous! My husband and I have both wanted ducks for many years. We are finally in the country in a place where we can have them. We ordered 6 female Welsh Harlequins. We are looking for eggs and simply to have some pets.

I hope we are prepared! I love this forum and have been reading many of the threads. I believe that I will need to find a better plan for watering after reading some of them.

Thanks for listening, if you have any words of advice or experience with this breed I'd love to hear it.

 

[JessyGii]

Sounds like your very prepared. ducks are so fun you will enjoy them, they are EXTREMLY messy and smelly as ducklings, and will have the brooder trashed by the end of everyday sometimes you have to clean the whole thing out 3 times a day because they splash the water and their poop is very wet and gooey. but if you handle them allot they become great pets, my ducks walk with a harness and a leash and I take them to the park and in the summer time we go to the lake beach and they swim with us and all the people and the people love them. ducks are also very enjoyable to watch play outside in their pools, you are just going to love them!

 

[Going Quackers]

I think you've got your ducks in a row..

(sorry simply could not resist) This sticky will likely either confirm your info or add a bit to it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

IMO you learn as you go, nothing and i mean nothing replaces being in the trenches(in other worlds real word experience) ... besides a bunch of us are always here on BYC to help. Update with pics, love seeing new ones!

 

[foothillsco]

Good luck.

I'm about 2 weeks ahead of you in learning curve. It has been fun so far.

I pitched the gravity feeder yesterday because the ducks splashed all the water out of it. I replaced it with Miracle Whip container with a hold cut in the lid big enough for a head to dip in and drink. So far, it took them only an entire day to saturate all the bedding.

I also have given them cut pieces of spinich and smushed grapes.

At two weeks, I gave them a swim in the bathtub and I realized that the smell is partially the bedding but the ducks smelled pretty bad too. They loved the swim and so did my daughter.

Good luck with everything.

 

[foothillsco]

And unpleasant FYI, I ordered 4 ducks, and my sister ordered 22 ducks/chickens. Only 2 (2 of my 4 ducks) out of 24 survived the trip. They were delivered in -20 weather. Yesterday, the replacement ones showed up and all were alive except one of my ducks. The temp was 52.

I think it would have been horrifying for a small child who is a suburbia kid. My 14-year old niece, who lives on a farm, opened them and found them both times. I guess farm kids are a little more used to death among animals.

 

[Finny]

Our first ducklings will be arriving on Tuesday!  I have a brroder set up in a spare bedroom with a gravity waterer, small feeder dish, and heat lamp.

Outside I have a coop and fenced in a 12' x 12' area with netting over the top (we have red shouldered hawks on our property)

I bought a bag of organic starter duck food.  And have read a couple books on duck raising.

I'm so excited and nervous!  My husband and I have both wanted ducks for many years.  We are finally in the country in a place where we can have them.  We ordered 6 female Welsh Harlequins.  We are looking for eggs and simply to have some pets.

I hope we are prepared!  I love this forum and have been reading many of the threads.  I believe that I will need to find a better plan for watering after reading some of them. 

Thanks for listening, if you have any words of advice or experience with this breed I'd love to hear it.

You are going to love ducks! I would not give up mine for anything! I suggest you get them a waterer that is deep enough so they can dunk their whole heads in if you have not already. I learned this the hard way. The first time I raised ducks they started sneezing non-stop and had liquid coming out of their nostrils. I was very freaked out until someone on this forum told me to try a deeper waterer and that cleared everything right up.

There are many knowledgable people on this forum and if I was not for them, raising ducks would have been 10 times harder.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[Sfraker]

Foothillsco It was your thread about the waterer that made me realize I may need to change plans. Guess I'll just have to buy some cool whip and eat it so I can have a waterer.

I can't wait to post pictures! I'll keep everyone updated and will be asking a ton of questions.

 

[foothillsco]

Guess I'll just have to buy some cool whip and eat it so I can have a waterer.

This made me laugh. Who buys that stuff anymore? Well, most of my neighbors are over 70 and I just had that feeling my next door neighbor would have a bunch of them in a cupboard. I was right.

 

[Sfraker]

They are here! Six healthy girls made it from the west coast to the east coast.
I was worried about them. The are settling into their brooder, munching drinking and exploring. I will post pictures later today.

 

[Amiga]

They are here! Six healthy girls made it from the west coast to the east coast.
I was worried about them. The are settling into their brooder, munching drinking and exploring. I will post pictures later today.