PLEASE HELP!!

[Miss Lydia]

No, they've only been on the pine shavings and in the bathtub. This morning I put towels in their brooder and put their food and water in a 2" deep baking dish. That seems to be containing their mess a lot better and keeping everything dry (so far). They make the biggest mess at night though. Do they really need food/water at night? They usually splash it all out and then go to sleep. When they wake up they start getting demanding about having water. I couldn't find any soft bedding at Orcheln's so I went to TSC. I got this really thin/fine pine shaving. It's really soft and almost like sawdust. It's a million times better than that hard stuff they had. And I got some of the granular sweet PDZ. Would it be ok to put them on that now? I already have all my old towels in the brooder. That caused an argument with my SO this morning. I guess he thought I was using the good towels. Lol. If I really do need to keep them on towels I'll find a way though. Maybe even use old t-shirts or something. I try to get a pic of the new bedding for you.

The only problem I see with the fine shavings and I know what your talking about because i shop at TSC, is they may eat it, if you do put it down place paper towels over the top for about a week so they can't try to eat it. I did this with my ducklings and then I just changed out the paper towels a couple times a day.

 

[rubberduckies]

Hmm. Would that hurt them?

Oh, and it's still ok for them to go swimming, isn't it? I'll dry their feet and add neosporin when they get out.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hmm. Would that hurt them?

Oh, and it's still ok for them to go swimming, isn't it? I'll dry their feet and add neosporin when they get out.

yes let them swim just put enough water so it's at the top of their legs to start with. make sure water is around 85-90 degrees. and put them back under heat lamp quickly to keep them from chilling. eating saw dust will clog them up not something you want to happen to your ducklings.

 

[rubberduckies]

Oh no! Now I'm going to be worried about that.

 

[iluvsedward]

Oh no! Now I'm going to be worried about that.

Just observe them and see if they are interested in it

 

[Amiga]

And yes, the ducklings need food and water all the time till they are several weeks old (I think at eight weeks I took water and food away at night, but only for eight hours at a time).

 

[rubberduckies]

Ok, I let them swim again, applied neosporin (their feet already looked a lot better), and put them in their new bedding. They poked their bills in it and I was starting to worry about them eating it but they just started cleaning themselves and then laid down for a nap. They haven't messed with it since. Yay! The pine shavings are very fine and I sprinkled a little granular PDZ on it. It's amazing! Why didn't I have thus the whole time? The moisture in the poop is being absorbed and there is NO smell. They love it, I love it, everybody's happy. And... I made a waterer out of a 1 gallon ice cream tub. I cut 2 holes on the side (close to the top) and fill it up almost to the holes. (Kept the lid on). It's been in the brooder for about 4 hours and there's hardly any water spilled. Seriously, it's barely a drop. The difference with this bedding and waterer is amazing! I keep checking their feet and they seem to keep getting better now that they're not continually being irritated by rough bedding. Thanks for all the advice! I've been so worried today. But it looks like things are going to be ok now.

 

[Amiga]

Gold star duck parent!!!!!

 

[rubberduckies]

Thank you! Thank you!