Raising my new chicks, and adding some ducks to the addition!!

[Chicken7777]

Hi guys, like i wrote in my previous thread i received my new chicks from Ideal this Nov 5th and they are doing great. There are some questions that do come to my mind at the moment though...I have a light bulb in my chickens brooder to keep them warm but i wanted to ask should i continue keeping it on during the night time while us humans are sleeping? I feel like if I keep it on they might not go to sleep and not get sufficient energy. Right now at the moment it is warm in the house and I turned off the light bulb and they are all cudled up sleeping....longer than they ever have but please do tell me what you guys think.
Also I really wanted some pekin ducklings with my order of Ideal but by the time I ordered my chicks there werent any left to order but I really still want some ducklings or ducks in general(even though I did want to start with ducklings) but I saw in craigslist on how there is a person offering Pekin ducks( three to be precise, one male and two females) for sale and was thinking if I should get them. With them I wont have to wait four to five months to see any eggs for consumption, and with them I can get future ducklings right away....just wanted to know what you guys think.

Is it better for me to go ahead and get them or just get ducklings from someone, since i cant order from a hatchery because they either dont have them, or it would be more expensive to get them without a large order?( I was going to get two females and one male so it is pretty funny that its a coincedence that I found someone selling the exact thing I wanted in Craigslist)
And do you think the young ducks will get acustomed to me or be aggresive?
What would be the positives and negatives in your opinions in all this and having ducks in general?
Well I appreciate the help. Thank You Much!

 

[debilorrah]

We kept our light on our 11 week olds until they were fully feathered, and even more so now that it is colder at night. They do need the heat. We have some 5 days olds now and their light is on constantly. We put some rock under the light to hold the heat and they are always up on those things. See my pile of chipmunks thread and you can see it.

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

The chickies will need a light or a heating pad...i'd just put a dish towel over one corner so they had a dark corner to sleep in , or find an old style heating pad that stays on and put it under the brooder with a thermometer on top of it...start on the lowest setting, and see if it's about 80...that should be good...mine learned to snuggle into the shavings if they were cold, get closer to the warmth.

Ducks don't generally get aggresive, that's more of a goose thing, but they might be hard to catch if you didn't hand rear them...that's what i'm finding with the 6mo old trio i bought...my hand raised ducks would come up to me to look for food, these wait for me to toss it to them...i can catch them, but they run away...i already see less nervousness though and i've only had them a few weeks, so they may get to be like the other ones.
Just know that ducks make the bedding much wetter faster, they are messy drinkers and have moist poos, so you'll be cleaning a bit more. Oh but they are so worth it! They are such little clowns

oh and make sure to make a low nest box for the girlies...

 

[Chicken7777]

Well its funny because i turned off the light and they all fell asleep LOL this is the longest they have slept for...just turned on the light and they are now all awake and no sleeping now...just eating. Is it okay if they keep eating in the night time? because i take the food away before i go to sleep so they atleast try to go to sleep and relax..Well thanks!

 

[NightHeronFarm]

Most likely they are huddling up and falling asleep because it is too cold. The cold makes them lethargic and the body goes into shut down to reserve energy and preserve heat. Cold chicks are also more susceptible to getting sick and being weak. You want warm, happy, active chicks!

They don't seem to sleep long when they are very young, mine would often fall asleep standing up for about five minutes and then wake up like someone flipped a switch and they were on to the next thing. If you are concerned about them being too active at night then make sure to use a red heat bulb. There is less visible light and it is easier for them (and you!) to rest. At less than or about a week old they really need to be around 85-90 degrees constantly, day and night.

Enjoy! They grow up too quickly!

 

[cmom]

I left my brooder lamp on 24/7. The first week the brooder is kept at 95 degrees reducing it 5 degrees a week thereafter. When the chicks are about a month old I leave it on at night, have a red heat lamp bulb in the lamp and move them to the nursery coop (no nest boxes). If it is a chilly day I leave the brooder lamp on but always leave a Red light on at night. I find when they are young the light doesn't seem to bother them and go out and check on them quite regularly and find them either snoozing, eating or just checking things out.

 

[bloomnbeauty]

I leave the light on in the brooder 24/7 until they are 4 weeks old then start weaning them off. Decreasing heat an hour at a time over the next couple of weeks. I will increase the time now that winter is here though.
Baby chicks also need food and water 24/7. They eat very little at a time and are growing by leaps and bounds at this time.