New here! Baby ducks!

[peepsandquacks]

Hey, I am new here. I recently adopopted 2 baby ducks from an online breeder, and they arrived wed (my first ever ducks). I will be getting a flock (15) of guinnea hens on the 30th. I am hand raising the ducks as pets. THey are in my living room in a plastic tub and heat lamp. All I can say is WOW they are needy LOL. I am guessing they now know me as 'mama' and do a loud rythmic chirp when there water/food is out, or when they just want attention or be held. Like now, noone is in the living room, and they are doing a freak out.... And when I walk up to the tub they start hopping around and shaking their tails. I am guessing this is normal for ducks to be so needy. I always figured wild birds were more.....wild. LOL.

They are so freaking cute though, so it makes it worth it!

My guinneas will be outside farm birds, as I cant imagin giving personal attention to 15 more birds. They will be brooded in the bird house (in another tub) with a heat lamp!

Anywho! I would just like to say hello, and I hope to stick around for a while and meet other duvk and bird lovers!

I will post some pics of them as soon as figure out how....

 

[peepsandquacks]

Sorry for typos, I have 2 girls climbing on me .

I figured out the pics. Introducing, Donald and Daisy!

Taking a bath last night. They went CRAZY!!!! I never knew ducks ran so fast!!

Donald

In their little brooder (I have a 250w infrared bulb about 3ft above, seems to keep them comfortable)

 

[Emmalion]

get them some paper towels or shavings in there to help keep leg problems down. Newspaper is slippery to babies.

Congrats on the babies and it sounds like they have imprinted on you so enjoy being momma. I plan on doing the same thing with my babies. I want them to be very social with people as I will have some kids coming by to see them and the chickens. I love my little farm. It seems like it took me forever to get here.

 

[peepsandquacks]

The one from the brooder is from the first day and I put some paper towel down on top of the paper shortly after. I read the same thing on here about the leg issues.

I am enjoying being mama. Its a little annoying 3 am when they start freaking out for attention, but other then that its fine. How many birds do you have on your farm? I will only have the ducks and the guinnea hens. We get MAD ticks out here and being next to cow farms we also get flies. I read the guinneas will kill both so they seemed like a good idea!!

 

[Emmalion]

Right now I have 4 grown chickens 9 babies in the brooder 5 duck eggs hatching and 6 more chicks coming next month. I want guinnea hens something fierce but my BF hates them and I am afraid he wont come over if I get them. LOL

 

[azhenhouse]

They sure are cute. Here are just a few threads I have saved for quick reference that might help you out down the road.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=242460

This next thread starts out by talking about Geese, but has some great duck info.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=173562

 

[Emmalion]

For the crying I would add in a nice soft stuffed animal into their brooder. It will give them something to snuggle with.

 

[Lamar Estate]

Hello. Welcome to the world of ducks!

Your babies are adorable! I have 2 baby Mallards that look very similar to yours. They are running around and climbing all over me as I type.

I agree with everyone else: add old towels (make sure there are no loose treads for them to pull on and eat), a stuffed animal, a feather duster, and a mirror. They will need a larger brooder very soon. Plus, you'll want something that collects excess water from their water bowl (to keep things a bit drier and less icky smelling).

Good luck. People on this forum are so helpful and knowledgeable, I don't know what I'd do without them.

Amanda

 

[DuckyGurl]

I agree with everything everybody said! Have FUN with them! They grow quick, so take lots of pics!

 

[peepsandquacks]

Thanks for the welcome everyone! I will read those links in a few min.

I just put a small plate under the water bowl. Hopefully that will help with the mess. I really like the feeders, but noone sells them here :-(. I may order one offline because I cant run and get new water every 3 hrs for the guineas (if not more, because there are more of them).

By the way, these are rouen ducks. I wanted something that wont fly away if they got the urge. Prolly why they look alike .