Soon to be duck parent

[duckduckcaboose]

Hi! I'm expecting 4 ducklings from Metzer Farms next week. I've been researching for about a year, but once I clicked the Order Now button the panic set in. I'm frantically trying to remember all that I've learned. I have a brooder box partly set up. I'm still trying to figure out how to set up the heat lamp so that I can raise every week. I bought Scratch and Peck chick starter and would like to ferment it, but I'm not sure if I can leave it out for them to free feed from or the amount to make for free feeding. Any tips or advice would much appreciated! These little girls will be pets and possibly shown at 4H shows.

 

[Jpat]

Hey there! have you brooded birds before? What kind of ducks did you order?


So someone here on BYC saved me so much headache by showing me inline dimmer switches, its so you can turn the lamp heat up or down without moving the lamp, That way you can safely attach it and not worry about it anymore, Just use a cheap thermometer and monitor the temp

And to reduce the chance of a bulb shattering these ceramic bulbs are awesome, Plus they dont make light so they can sleep better

A good plan is to Heat one end of the brooder, so they have space to move in and out of the heat as they wish, if they over heat it can cause dehydration

Some ideas ; I use the tote myself

One other thing is added vitamins and an electrolyte. Assuming those ducklings will be shipped they will suffer shipping stress
Its important to be ready with fluids, Straight gatorate for the first few hours, Then a 50/50 mix, then water is fine.
For vitamins its very common to use a B complex vitamin from the feed store

But a pharmacy verson is available

I hope your brooding goes well, its a very rewarding and fun hobby! Any questions feel free to ask

 

[duckduckcaboose]

Hey there! have you brooded birds before? What kind of ducks did you order?


So someone here on BYC saved me so much headache by showing me inline dimmer switches, its so you can turn the lamp heat up or down without moving the lamp, That way you can safely attach it and not worry about it anymore, Just use a cheap thermometer and monitor the temp
View attachment 2049533

And to reduce the chance of a bulb shattering these ceramic bulbs are awesome, Plus they dont make light so they can sleep betterView attachment 2049534


A good plan is to Heat one end of the brooder, so they have space to move in and out of the heat as they wish, if they over heat it can cause dehydration

Some ideas ; I use the tote myselfView attachment 2049541View attachment 2049542View attachment 2049543View attachment 2049544


One other thing is added vitamins and an electrolyte. Assuming those ducklings will be shipped they will suffer shipping stress
Its important to be ready with fluids, Straight gatorate for the first few hours, Then a 50/50 mix, then water is fine.
For vitamins its very common to use a B complex vitamin from the feed storeView attachment 2049545

But a pharmacy verson is availableView attachment 2049546

I hope your brooding goes well, its a very rewarding and fun hobby! Any questions feel free to ask

Thank you! I bought the ceramic bulb so I'm happy you recommend it as well. I haven't ever owned chickens or ducks before so I'm brand new to all of this.
I have a HUGE tote (43" long), but even it seems to small for keeping live animals in. Maybe, I'll upgrade after a week or two.
I love the dimmer switch idea! I'll definitely look into that and grab some vitamins. I haven't heard of offering gatorade before. How long do you recommend they have the 50/50 mix of gatorade and water before switching to straight water? I ordered 1 Black Swedish, 1 Silver Appleyard, 1 Saxony, and 1 Blue Runner. All females.

 

[Jpat]

Thats an awesome mix!

Well it sort of depends on how they are when you get them, if they are dehydrating bad its good to have it on hand, If they are perfectly fine when you get them they dont realy need an electrolyte, So we can play it by ear

 

[Ratchnick]

Metzer says 1 sqft per duck with minimum 5 sqft for the first 3 weeks. Then 3 sqft per duck minimum 16sqft for the next 4 weeks.

https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-much-space-should-i-have-for-my.html?m=1

 

[DuckyDonna]

After they have outgrown your brooder, which they will very fast, you could make a step-up brooder by using a kiddie swimming pool. Stand up cardboard all around the outside of it so they can't jump out of the pool and that will last you a good while. I used clothespins to connect the pieces of cardboard together.

Using puppy pads is a convenient way for easy cleanup. I put them over pine shavings until they get bigger then I just have them on the shavings. You don't want to put the ducklings on anything slippery to walk on. That could cause leg problems.

Then after they get big enough you could move to a dog fence around the pool. I got mine online from Walmart and it was delivered very quickly. @Runner duck mom is using one too and she really likes it.

 

[Isaac 0]

How exciting! Can't wait to see pictures, @DuckyDonna and @Jpat have given you great advice.

 

[duckduckcaboose]

After they have outgrown your brooder, which they will very fast, you could make a step-up brooder by using a kiddie swimming pool. Stand up cardboard all around the outside of it so they can't jump out of the pool and that will last you a good while. I used clothespins to connect the pieces of cardboard together.

Using puppy pads is a convenient way for easy cleanup. I put them over pine shavings until they get bigger then I just have them on the shavings. You don't want to put the ducklings on anything slippery to walk on. That could cause leg problems.

Then after they get big enough you could move to a dog fence around the pool. I got mine online from Walmart and it was delivered very quickly. @Runner duck mom is using one too and she really likes it.
View attachment 2049641

That's a great tip to clothespin the cardboard together. I'll start searching for kiddie pools now. I've watched a lot of youtube videos and everyone shows tote brooders with like 10-50 ducklings in them, but they rarely show moving them to the next size brooder so I've been at a loss as to what to do. It's cold where I live so they'll be indoors (in my bedroom) for quite awhile I imagine.

 

[DuckyDonna]

That's a great tip to clothespin the cardboard together. I'll start searching for kiddie pools now. I've watched a lot of youtube videos and everyone shows tote brooders with like 10-50 ducklings in them, but they rarely show moving them to the next size brooder so I've been at a loss as to what to do. It's cold where I live so they'll be indoors (in my bedroom) for quite awhile I imagine.

Unfortunately this is a bad time of year to look for the cheap plastic kiddie pools. I usually buy a couple in the summer just for backups.

when they get bigger so they can't fit through the dog fence holes I take down the cardboard and just put up the fence around the pool. I will get better pictures when I hatch this year. I know these are horrible.

 

[duckduckcaboose]

Unfortunately this is a bad time of year to look for the cheap plastic kiddie pools. I usually buy a couple in the summer just for backups. View attachment 2049967
when they get bigger so they can't fit through the dog fence holes I take down the cardboard and just put up the fence around the pool. I will get better pictures when I hatch this year. I know these are horrible.
View attachment 2049968

That looks like an ideal size! Thank you!