New duckling(s)?

[Biologystudent]

Hello All,

I am a high school biology student who is receiving a baby duckling this Wednesday. I am only getting one. I went to the store and bought Purina Start and Grow, a heat lamp, dried mealworms, and I have plenty of old towels and stuffed animals.

I just want to know if

A.) I should ask for another duckling. Do they get lonely? I'm not sure, and everyone seems to have mixed feelings.
B.) I bought the right food. I asked the lady at the store, and she said she has been raising her ducks on it for years.
C.) I need to be with the chick at all times? I was planning on leaving it at home during the school day, because I'm pretty sure high schoolers would traumatize the little guy, but I don't want it to freak out and peep a lot.
D.) Anyone has helpful tips?
E.) How much (in cups) I should put in my little round feeder that has holes in the top. Its store bought, the same as the waterer. I am thinking to just keep it full?

I am mainly concerned about only receiving one duck. There are about 36 other kids in my class who are only receiving one duck also, and I'm just a little worried.

I am going to name it bear, and if I get a second one: Fox.

Haha


Thanks!!
Biology student in Minnesota

 

[desertdarlene]

I'm not an expert on the food, but ducklings do need a companion and two would definitely be better or he'll peep his head off. I'm also not sure about leaving it alone all day. I know if he's by himself, then, no, you shouldn't leave him alone. Perhaps you know someone who can watch him during the day. Someone else might be able to tell you more about what to do if you aren't at home all day.

I'm a bit bothered by them giving everyone a single duck, too. That is strange. Do you or the other kids have other birds? What is the project about?

 

[Kimarie411]

You should definitely get another one. Just 1 will get lonely and they are flock animals.

 

[Biologystudent]

No, none of the other kids have birds. The limit amount of birds was 2.

We are going to be teaching the ducks to do a maze, or to look for patterns to study their intelligence. We do so about 1-2 weeks after we are given them.

AP Bio has been doing this project for a decade now, and I haven't heard of any problems with it. The whole point is to learn about animal intelligence, and then the ducks are given to a hobby farm.

I want to keep my duck because it seems cruel to force it away after bonding. I also want to make sure it is the happiest duck ever.

Thanks for the advice! I will be asking for two now.

 

[Richb353]

Welcome,
Sounds like your heart is in the right place, the rest is incidental. Maybe some of the other students can hand their ducks off to you at the end of the project. Personally, I think a minimum of 4 ducks makes a flock, but then, I have 23 roaming my yard so I am somewhat biased.

I would avoid buying so much stuff from the poultry aisle and just re-use things you may already have. When I received my shipment of 21 ducks this past March, I tried to use things I already had rather than spend money. A 5' kiddie pool served as a brooder. I had a quart waterer, but added a couple of dog water dishes as they got bigger. I used a frisbee to hold their food. Now that all my ducks are grown, I don't even use a "feeder". I just fling their food across the yard with a scoop and let them forage at their leisure.

You could probably leave food out for the duck all the time. Mine will begin to wander off when they are full. I feed mine twice a day and they know it. Most importantly, is the evening meal, about an hour before dark. That way, no matter where they roam during the day, they come back to their pen/coop for dinner. From there I just herd them into their Quack Shack for the night.

Speaking of coops, begin the planning for where you will secure your ducks once the project is over and you bring them home. Expect everything to cost more and consume more time. I don't think my hobby farm will ever be "finished", it's an ongoing process that will likely lead to other ongoing processes. That's what a "hobby" is all about.

It's all worth it in the end!

Good luck,
Rich

 

[desertdarlene]

The only thing I would add is to make sure your brooder/pens are secure not only so no other animals can get it, but so the little ones can't get out.

Please update us when you get your babies and feel free to ask any duckling caring questions. There's also a "sticky" on treats, too.

 

[MinnDuck]

I would get another if you could. Our ducklings go nuts when we take one out of the brooder to rub its belly. They miss him or her and keep peeping til the missing one is returned. They are flock animals from what I can tell. One tip I learned on here is cool whip containers with half moons cut out on the lids for waterers. This is much less messy than store bought waterers. They can dip their heads in but not get into the water and spray it all around. I have three such containers that I keep filled up and rotate into the brooder so they always have fresh water. One other thing, we had duckling have a massive seizure a few nights ago and die the next morning. These are our first ducks or poultry ever so it was tramatic for the kids. No idea what the official cause was but some would suggest it could have been a niacin deficiency. Since then, our ducklings get water laced with poultry vitamins/electrolytes. We do one cool whip container of water with that in it, and then one with plain water, and so on. And all of them had a little dash of apple cider vinegar poured in. The way this product was sold in our farm store was in a small white plastic bag. You mix an ounce of powder into a gallon of water and then pour a small liquid amount of that into your water/waterer. Good luck!

 

[soso143]

I'm not sure only one is a good idea I keep 3 but 2 should be fine, they are very social animals and love lots of love and affection. Ducklings don't tend to do very well alone