Should I get a duck or two? How can I make this as easy as possible?

[Nifty-Chicken]

well, we did it.... we got two ducklings:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=19921

 

[NiftyChick]

They are SO cute, but SOO messy! It's amazing how quickly they can get everything wet....and they're not even swimming/standing in the water! We tried placing the food/water far apart, then tried placing them really close together...but even then almost all shavings were wet w/in a couple hours.

They're dribbly drinkers/eaters and walk around a lot while dripping I guess!

It seemed for a while that they were choosing to lie in the wet shavings as opposed to dry, but when things get really wet it's obvious they aren't entirely comfortable.....so my question is how can we keep the shavings dry and make sure our ducklings are comfortable w/out having to reline their crate every few hours?

Looking back in these postings, I see that a lot of you have said drainage is important.....I don't think their feet would be comfortable on a wire bottom cage.....so I'm thinking maybe a screen....They would want something softer though so we should top that w/shavings right? Even with the drainage the shavings will stll be wet, won't they, or would the drainage keep them dry enough??

Any thoughts? What have the rest of you done to keep your ducklings dry/happy?

Thank you so much for your help!

NC

 

[cgjsmith]

I don't know anything about ducks, in fact I am looking into getting a couple of call ducks. but I would think if you maybe put the water on gravel or something that would drain it would help. here is also this dringking cup I saw on another post...it was made out of old "potato salad" bowles. I can't find it right now let me look a little bit more...would be funny if it was on this post....
Anyway let me know how it turns out so i can decided if I want to risk my hubby's wrath...
Crystal

Here it is...
http://p072.ezboard.com/fbackyardchickensfrm22.showMessage?topicID=3381.topic

 

[NiftyChick]

Thank you, Crystal. That does seem like a good idea, but we have placed their waterer on a block so it's about at head height and they still manage to dribble all over the place. They use the water to rinse down their food....and walk around the box while doing it!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Very tricky..... with screens or rocks/gravel you gotta worry about the poop getting things all plugged up.

 

[DuckLady]

We have deep pea gravel around and under the waters. It really helps. As far as poop getting built up, just hose it off. We refresh the gravel once or twice a year with a yard or 2, whichever is needed. I love the gravel!

It doesn't matter how you put the waterer, the little slobbs will find a way to make a mess. A duck can find a mud hole in the desert.
Fortunately they are so cute and comical that we forgive a lot of their behavior.

 

[dangerouschicken]

what do you think of ducks having their water areas on concrete? easy to hose off and water absorbant, I would think. I am considering housing them half on a concrete slab and half on a grassy area.

 

[MissPrissy]

And you are getting geese when?

 

[jackiedon]

Nifty Chick,

We clean our duck brooder daily and it stays wet and stinky.

Ours are about 5 weeks and after the freeze tomorrow night they are going out!

jackie

 

[DuckLady]

FYI, this thread is over a year old. I think Nifty and family only have one of the ducks now.