Questions about Raising Ducklings! Please help!

[Uprising]

Hi there Well, I'm a newbie at hatching and raising ducklings. So I have a few questions. Any answers will be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks! Welp, here they are!:
Can Ducklings be fed Nature Wise CHICK starter grower? (Can't seem to find duck feed anywhere..)
At what age can ducklings go outside?
What humidity should it be when incubating them? And what should it be bumped up to during lockdown?
Last one for now, can ducklings eat from chick feeders and waterers?
That's all.. (For now xD)
Thanks in advance!

 

[gryeyes]

I'll answer the feed question: Yes, you can feed ducklings NatureWise chick starter. However, you must add niacin to their feed. The easiest way to do it (for me) is to sprinkle a tablespoon of Brewer's Yeast powder over their feed every day. I don't measure it any longer as I "eyeball" it.

Brewer's Yeast is found at any natural foods store and many groceries carry it, as well.

 

[Uprising]

Thank you very much! that'll help me a lot.

 

[KYTinpusher]

For incubating duck eggs, you want the humidity to be 45-50% during incubation and 75%+ during lockdown. Also, it helps to give the eggs a short cool down each day (like 10 minutes) and spritz daily with warm water after the cool down period. I know this technique works well in a Brinsea with a fan that heats up and stabilizes pretty quickly. If you are using a still air or other type incubator that takes a while to stabilize, you may want to get advise from those that use the same type of incubator that you have.

They can go outside when they are feathered out, depending on outside temps. They grow VERY quickly compared to chicks and are very messy. I have vowed NEVER to brood ducklings in the house again!

But one tip that might help if you are going to brood indoors - we use shredded paper under a layer of larger wood shavings in the brooder. It really helped to soak up the excess water and keep the smell down. We could generally go 2 days between brooder clean-outs if we needed to. Make sure they have an area that is higher and away from the food and water that will stay dry for them to sleep. You will want to put the heat lamp (if you are using one) on that end.

Once they are in the brooder, make sure they have a container of water deep enough that they can dunk their head into (at least their whole bill) as they need to clean out their nares after eating. To help keep the mess to a minimum, place the deep container of water inside a larger dish to catch the excess. There will be excess as ducks like to play in the water. Try to keep the food a little distance away from the water to keep it dry.

There are lots of helpful threads on BYC that you can study for many more helpful advice while your eggs are incubating. Happy Hatching!

 

[Uprising]

Thanks A LOT

That helped me so much. And the people that live with me would like the brooder idea too

Thanks again

 

[Luminide]

Can Ducklings be fed Nature Wise CHICK starter grower? (Can't seem to find duck feed anywhere..)

They can indeed be fed this, but I need to stress: Be sure the bag says UNMEDICATED somewhere. If the feed is medicated, the ducklings will overdose and become extremely sick, perhaps even die.

 

[Speceider]

They can indeed be fed this, but I need to stress: Be sure the bag says UNMEDICATED somewhere. If the feed is medicated, the ducklings will overdose and become extremely sick, perhaps even die.


That is wrong....if it is amproloium....it is fine for duckling....

Clint

 

[KYTinpusher]

BTW - we used a 100 gal stock tank, the recycled rubber kind, for the brooder. Makes clean-up easier. Just pull out all the solids, dump some hot water (we added some Oxine), scrub it out and use a shop vac to suck up all the dirty water.

 

[Uprising]

Also, it helps to give the eggs a short cool down each day (like 10 minutes) and spritz daily with warm water after the cool down period.

Thanks again!
When cooling, do you just lift the lid and leave it like that for 10 min.? Also, could I use a spray bottle filled with warm water? And should I do it lightly or heavily?