Show off your house ducks!

[kukupecpec]

she's such a character and I think she knows when the camera's on her.

Oh my gosh she totally does! It's too funny. I can never REALLY get a candid shot!

I saw the video, kukupecpec.  I totally get it.  It's cool that the cute little harness apparatus stays intact and you just change out the paper or diaper material.  So you can have different colors and patterns of harness diaper set ups for your ducks.  or little bitty ones like Wobbles.  when do you know to change it out?  is noticeably full and smelly like a child's diaper?  and are changings frequent?  I think Amykins said she changes her boy's like 10 or so times a day.  

When ChaCha is inside all day I try to change as soon as she poops - sometimes I hear it, sometimes I smell it, sometimes I see the "action". If it's just a little water I let it sit, but I try to change as often as I can. She usually has only water in the house so she doesn't poop all that much. It can be more work when she's living full time inside.

Well, with the old diapers it was about ten times (every two hours). Now I can get away with every 3-4 hours, which is SO HELPFUL! Speaking of, I can't wait for your new and improved diapeys to arrive, Kuku! They looked so dang cute and tiny in the photo, it'll be wonderful to see Wobbles struttin' his stuff in one

Oh yeah! I can't wait!!! Anyday now!

[COLOR=333333]Hello - I am new to the duck world. I thought ducks would be so cute for my two little girls to raise but the more research I do the more I feel guilty about having them. SO we now have house ducks because I can not bring myself to get rid of them knowing they would probably not survive. We are currently doing diapers while in the house and they are still small enough (barley) to stay in their tote I used for a brooder. I am guessing when I say they are 3-4 weeks old and we think they are Pekins. They are getting their feathers in but are still pretty fluffy and yellow on their heads. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]I have read conflicting reports that it IS okay to take their food and water from them at night, that when they are eventually put outside into a coop they wouldnt have water inside. What age is this okay to do?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Currently they have shavings in their box and I have to clean it at least twice a day. The smell is really awful. I work during the day so they have food and water in their box during the day - which is a mess. In the evenings after work I take them outside and on the weekends take them out too, last night we had a hawk that was very interested in them so I dont know about taking them out much more with out a cage of some kind. I let them have full run of the house for the most part now that they are diapered and they swim twice a day at least.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]I wanted to know how other people keep their ducks in the house, what do you keep them in when they are not diapered? How long do you keep them diapered?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]How do you let them outside, what kind of house do they need - a chicken coop or just a house? How long do you leave them out? Do they sleep in the coop or in the house and what does their bed look like that you let them sleep in?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]I know this is a lot but thanks to anyone who can answer some of my questions! I looked through the posts but there was a lot of information to weed through.[/COLOR]

You definitely don't want to set human raised ducks free in the wild. The actually what happened to ChaCha. She was lucky though, she found some humans and followed them home! They ended up contacting me to take her in because they couldn't keep ducks. She was starved and beaten by the other ducks, add they wouldn't let her in the pond so she contracted bumblefoot living on the cement =(

Most people I know take food and water away at night to help prevent a big wet mess. I think that's really personal preference, but I know there are some risks to both like sour crop.

I can't help you with the smell. I couldn't take it so my babies live outside on the dirt =P

With indoor baby ducks I would keep them in a laundry bin with a fleece on the bottom. They seemed to like it and I can just hose off the fleece and toss it in the wash. For ChaCha, she always wears a diaper inside, even overnight. When she's staying inside she sleeps in a dog crate with a dog bed and a fleece cover to keep it dark for her. She used to sleep on the bed but she lays her egg at about 3am most days and I just can't get up at 3am. When she sleeps outside she is closed in a dog igloo where she is protected. You can diaper a ducky all the time if you are diligent about changing it. Bad things can happen if you leave a dirty diaper on your birdy.

If you have hawks and want to keep them outside unsupervised you will need something completely enclosed. For my chickens I have a chain link run with chain link roof so nothing can get in. If you have digging predators you'll want to dig down into the ground and put fence below the dirt to stop animals digging into your duck area. ChaCha just hangs out outside when I'm not home. I don't have to worry about her getting into anything naughty in the house or fighting with the dog, and she LOVES to dig in the dirt so she doesn't seem to mind all that much (except when I first leave, she freaks out like a little kid at daycare when momma leaves, but then remembers how much fun it is there acc forgets all about it until momma comes back!). Housing is really all dependant on what you want then to do outside and the predators in your area. Gotta keep them safe!

I think I got everything... Lol but keep asking questions! That's what this house duck community is good for!

 

[Amykins]

Awesome advice, hun. When the babies are so little they're gonna poop A LOT, sometimes it seems like they're just made of poops and fluff! But it does lessen with age. The smell doesn't really bother me as I keep Wobbles' dirty pads in a closed-lid trash can, and clean it out often. Although I do admit I tend to go through paper towels like nobody's business...eh, you take some, you lose some.

 

[Amykins]

Also I had a question about punishment. What do you guys do when your house duckies get out of line? My husband has started implementing something he calls "the potato punishment". We hold him in our hands on his back and he scrunches his legs and neck in so he looks like a potato! He can't do anything in that position so he just sits there. It's hilarious.

 

[Julie Birb]

Also I had a question about punishment. What do you guys do when your house duckies get out of line? My husband has started implementing something he calls "the potato punishment". We hold him in our hands on his back and he scrunches his legs and neck in so he looks like a potato! He can't do anything in that position so he just sits there. It's hilarious.

no punishment for baby. Let him be silly. But please photo potato. I bet he's cute.

 

[Amykins]

no punishment for baby. Let him be silly. But please photo potato. I bet he's cute.

He ain't silly, he's vicious! He keeps biting my hubby trying to protect me. Big no-no. But I'll totally get a photo of Wobtato!

 

[Julie Birb]

He ain't silly, he's vicious! He keeps biting my hubby trying to protect me. Big no-no. But I'll totally get a photo of Wobtato!

ogod, that is not silly at all. Wobtato. Do you have to concede to the fact after he's been bad to Hils and then put in potato time out that he's cute?

 

[Kaessa]

It's not that EXACT one but I do have pictures of ChaCha in hers =) rainbow soon to come!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that is so CUTE!

 

[Amykins]

ogod, that is not silly at all. Wobtato. Do you have to concede to the fact after he's been bad to Hils and then put in potato time out that he's cute?

It totally is. Even more so when he bites the hell out of my duvet right afterward in order to take out his frustrations!

 

[kukupecpec]

He ain't silly, he's vicious! He keeps biting my hubby trying to protect me. Big no-no. But I'll totally get a photo of Wobtato!

Wobtato!!! Omg!
That's hilarious.
I just yell. ChaCha knows when she's in trouble, but she usually just goes right back to the naughty behavior as soon as she thinks I'm not looking. I just remove her from the bad situation. But real punishment/training would be awesome!!! I'd love to hear your ideas!

 

[kristi8404]

You definitely don't want to set human raised ducks free in the wild. The actually what happened to ChaCha. She was lucky though, she found some humans and followed them home! They ended up contacting me to take her in because they couldn't keep ducks. She was starved and beaten by the other ducks, add they wouldn't let her in the pond so she contracted bumblefoot living on the cement =(

Most people I know take food and water away at night to help prevent a big wet mess. I think that's really personal preference, but I know there are some risks to both like sour crop.

I can't help you with the smell. I couldn't take it so my babies live outside on the dirt =P

With indoor baby ducks I would keep them in a laundry bin with a fleece on the bottom. They seemed to like it and I can just hose off the fleece and toss it in the wash. For ChaCha, she always wears a diaper inside, even overnight. When she's staying inside she sleeps in a dog crate with a dog bed and a fleece cover to keep it dark for her. She used to sleep on the bed but she lays her egg at about 3am most days and I just can't get up at 3am. When she sleeps outside she is closed in a dog igloo where she is protected. You can diaper a ducky all the time if you are diligent about changing it. Bad things can happen if you leave a dirty diaper on your birdy.

If you have hawks and want to keep them outside unsupervised you will need something completely enclosed. For my chickens I have a chain link run with chain link roof so nothing can get in. If you have digging predators you'll want to dig down into the ground and put fence below the dirt to stop animals digging into your duck area. ChaCha just hangs out outside when I'm not home. I don't have to worry about her getting into anything naughty in the house or fighting with the dog, and she LOVES to dig in the dirt so she doesn't seem to mind all that much (except when I first leave, she freaks out like a little kid at daycare when momma leaves, but then remembers how much fun it is there acc forgets all about it until momma comes back!). Housing is really all dependant on what you want then to do outside and the predators in your area. Gotta keep them safe!

I think I got everything... Lol but keep asking questions! That's what this house duck community is good for!

Thanks! And thanks for the new diapers in the mail today!! I got some fleece and am gonna go that route vs the pine chips! They were out all evening and did well - they weren't so cranky about the diapers now that they have wiggle room. I didn't keep them diapered for bed just because it's so new and they got them all wet with their dinner. We are going to build an outside area this weekend so they can go out during the day. I think next week we will try some over the night diapers to get into the habit. Now if I could just figure out why one duckling has runny nasty poop! Her diapers are terrible to clean up!!