Something under the brooder...

[nettie]

since you are in texas, you might have a harder time finding the wood pellets. I couldn't find stove pellets anywhere when i lived in Alabama... I id find horse stall pellets, which are the same thing, from a feed store but had to pay a little more for them.

 

[classroomducks]

They cant get to whats under the brooder...Heres a pic of it...

Under the brooder is a 5 or 6 inch space that i have the pull out catch. Its almost like a drawer...I think I will try the wood stove pellets... Hopefully this will work... and as far as other living arrangements...this is all i got til christmas...these guys are in my classroom and I live an apartment. So this has to work. lol.

 

[Soccer Mom]

I prefer Stall-Dri to wood pellets and you can certainly find that at TSC in Ft. Worth. (waving hi from just to the south of you)!

 

[classroomducks]

So you were right nettie...no one had a clue what i was talking about when i asked for wood stove pellets. And I didnt have time to go to a feed store. So i went to walmart and got 3 32 oz gerbil/guinea pig waterbottles and some puppy pee pads. They figured out the bottles right away. I stuck around a while to make sure they figured them out while eating food. They had no problem so i went home for the nigt. I come back the bottles are half empty the food is almost gone like usual. But they are awfully noisy this morning...i dont think they like the fact they cant play in the water. TOUGH! lol They always get water to play with in the afternoon so they will just have to wait til then. The water mess has been cut down substantially. And what does drip out, the puppy pads seem to be working ot absorb. Thanks for all the ideas. Hopoefully this will do the trick.

 

[Luvducks]

Good idea for your school situation. I bought the Sham Wow towels when mine were babies. They did work for me. You can put dry ones down and rinse out the wet ones
and reuse. I just read your post and the pellets we are talking about are used in a Pellet stove for heat. I did not think you would have a need for those in Texas.

The water bottles are okay for temporary use but ducks do need to be able to put the whole nostril in water to keep them clean. As long as you give them access to water every afternoon they should be fine. Someone with more experience will have to weigh in.

Good luck. Post some updated pictures when you have time.

 

[geosheets]

I would be afraid that they couldn't get enough water from the water bottles to swallow and for sure they can't clean their nostrils. What about extending the legs of your brooder and getting a deeper catch pan. As long as you clean it every day I don't see a need for any absorbents in it since the ducks are not in contact with it.