So I'm new to this duck thing.....HELP!

[MysticalMom]

Hello All, I'm Candace, New here, and do I have a story to tell.

About a month and a half ago my husband went with his father to take his boat from here in Southern Maryland to Virginia to bring it to the new buyer. They were crossing the Chesapeake Bay and checking all the cubby holes in the boat to make sure they were all empty,when they found 3 eggs in one of them. Being pretty sure they were mallard eggs, my hubby brought them home and placed them in an incubator he just happened to have. (If you know him you know that him having weird things around the garage isn't so unusual) After 27 days of him worrying me to death over these eggs, on June 19th, lo and behold, out hatched 3 baby mallard ducks. I was home alone when they hatched and it was such a cool thing to watch!!! 2 look like your normal mallard and one is all black with a perfect little light yellow ring around his neck. Sooooo cute! We named them Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner ( No worries, we won't really eat them! LOL)

They're doing GREAT!

They're 12 days old now and I can't believe how much they've grown in such a short time! Right now we have them in a 75 gallon aquarium in (and I'm not so happy about this) MY BEDROOM! We have a heat lamp hanging above one end, a waterer thing (that they make a huge mess with and keep me cleaning them out constantly!) and are feeding them baby duck mash with no antibiotics etc etc. (all of our baby duck education came from reading this forum BTW so THANKS!)

In the essence of time since I have dial up internet out here in the boonies.. I have a few questions for now.... and maybe more later....

Anyway.... I was just wondering how long they have to stay in the "brooder" and when I can put them outside. Without a Momma will they be ok by themselves out there? What kind of "pen" and "housing" should they have? ( I'm pretty poor lately so basic is best, although I want them to have everything they should have to be happy and comfortable)

How long do they stay on the baby duck mash? What do I feed them AFTER they're off the mash?

They act like they want to play in the water sooooooo bad. Should I give them a little something besides their waterer to play in? A baking dish full or something? I know they can't swim yet and can chill easy.

I live on 264 very secluded acres with a half finished pond (it was in the works before I knew I'd be hatching baby ducks)but the pond won't be finished for quite some time. Will they be ok with a baby pool or something for awhile? Once I put them outside will they stay here? Or will they fly away? If they will try to fly away, how can I keep them from doing that? I love them already even though they don't seem to love me.

I'm an animal lover and have the zoo to prove it, but this is my first experience with water fowl. I could really use all the advice you guys can give.

Thanks,
~Candace

 

[saddina]

Baby pool is fine.

What kind of temps are you having?

Do you have a shed or bard you can move them to?

 

[patyrdz]

YAY baby ducks! I do believe mallards will fly away! I guess clipping their wings would keep them put. I can't say for sure, because my runner ducks are non flying. Plus they are my first ducks too! I have a baby pool for my geese and ducks and they do fine.
You can let the ducklings swim in the bath tub. I filled mine half way up and let them play.Kinda warmish water. Then dry them really good then pop them back into the hatcher so they can dry! You have to watch them because they will drown if you are not careful! I let mine swim for a little bit, and they would cry when the ha enough. I would not put them out side until they are fully feathered. Good luck and welcome to BYC!!

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

Quote:
After a few weeks I switched mine from starter to grower pellets. When they get to be around 5 or 6 months old I'll switch them to layer pellets.

I hatched ducklings on June 1st and put them outside when they were about a week old (we live in Vermont). For the first few nights I brought them in but after that I put them in a wire cage at night and put a blanket over it, for about another week. Now they're outside in their wire cage every night until we get a duck house built. Ducks are really hardy little creatures. You may want them to be outside during the day for a few days and increase the length of time they spend outside before letting them spend the night outside. Do you have a shed/barn/garage you can keep them in at night?

As for swimming, I let them start in a baking pan a few days after they were outside, maybe 2 weeks old? Then around 3 weeks we introduced them to the kiddie pool and they love it!!

If they are mallards, you'll probably have to clip their wings to keep them from flying away.

Good luck, ducks are sooo worth it!!

oh and

 

[taraann81]

Could you post a pic? Especially of the one you say doesn't look like your typical baby mallard. I've seen a lot of baby mallards and they all look exactly the same so I would love to see a pic.

PLUS we all LOVE to see baby ducklings!

 

[Crayonsmom]

I f you clip one wing that will keep them from flying. My dad had mallards before I was born and he clipped a wing. It was so funny, he went to let them fly off one day so he took down the fence and they all stood around... They were good little homebodies I guess.

 

[MysticalMom]

Thank you everyone! I can't seem to take my eyes off these baby ducks.

I took them outside for awhile this evening and let them play in a dish of water. They had so much fun playing in it and picking and pecking at the grass. The weather was mild and the whole family had a ball watching them. I dried them off real good before I put them back in their home ( they sure didn't like that very much!)

And as a matter of fact I took some pics. I couldn't get any really good ones because every time I got close to their little pen I'd made, they'd huddle up and just peep peep peep. Let me see if I can figure out how to attach them here... I'm not quite sure how to do it but mayyybeee......

Cool! I did it. I think... I hope.... What do y'all think of the black one? Cute huh?

To answer some of the other questions... I'm not sure if you mean the temps outside ( they're between 78 and 85 on most days lately.. where IS summer anyway??? )As for their home, I just raised the heat lamp a little because they didn't stay under it long anymore and it's around 81- 82 degrees on the warm side of the tank. Is that high enough? Too high? They seem to like it better and stay under it better now.

And I DO have a garage, but I'm not sure the hubby would appreciate his Harelys having to share space with ducks. How much of the garage would I need?

Again.... thank you all so much, I think I'm going to like this new hobby.

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

I like to judge more by the babies' behavior than the temp. So if you don't see them huddling/piling for warmth then the are probably warm enough!

If you are home during the day you could let them wander the yard and put them in a dog crate in the garage for the night?

If predators are a real problem, and you need a small enclosure you could search Craiglist for a child's playyard (foldable plastic fencing) and keep them close to the house while you're at home. That would work for a little while until you could build them a proper enclosure...

 

[taraann81]

First of all, I must say they are adorable! Secondly I would post a pic of those babies under the heading what kind am I. The mallard looking ones are obviously.... well mallards. The other one is not. I hope you will post pics as they get bigger so we can see what he turns into.

They sure are cute!

 

[MysticalMom]

They seem very happy and content in their home, that is, until I get near them. I think the temps must be ok.

I do want them to be free ranging around my property and future pond but come to their enclosure to eat etc and sleep for the night. When I give them fresh food and water I already use the call my grandmother used to use to call her ducks and chickens when she fed them, it sounds silly, but it's "Deedle, Deedle Deedle" Just so maybe they'll get used to it. How do you guys "call" your ducks at feeding and night night time? Or do you/ have to? I'm just curious.

While money is always an issue in this house full of teen girls (I have 4 girls ages 11-20)) and I couldn't build them a ducky mansion or anything...I'd like to go ahead and build them a proper enough enclosure as soon as I can. What do I need for a proper enclosure? The same as like a chicken coop and pen?

The black one is NOT a mallard????? Really???? Never having ducks before I just assumed he was the male and the 2 others were female. LOL ( see how much I know?) I will certainly post them under your suggested heading. Wow. Now I'm sooooo intrigued as how to a different kind of duck egg would have been laid in the same place as 2 mallards. I'm curious now. I HAVE to know what kind of duck he or she is.

And of course I'll continue to post pics as they grow. I've got ducks now and you guys are stuck with me now.