Tahai's Duck Journey!

Hi All,

I don't want to create a new thread every time I take pictures of my ducks, so I'm just going to create a thread dedicated to my ducks.

I got my shipment from Holderread's this morning! Better than Christmas . They were running short on Cayugas, so they replaced one with a TSQ WH!

So my order consisted of 3 TSQ WH, 8 WH, and 3 Cayugas!

The day was rushed, so I only go one pic. More will follow this weekend.



My brooder is a very large pond tub my dad had left over from a waterfall project. It's about 2 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter. I'm NOT going to clean it out every day, let alone 2-3 times a day, so I opted for the deep litter method. They will only be in this tub for a couple of weeks before I move them out of the garage and into the duck house. I think the litter I have will last that long.

I started with a 2-3 inch layer of pine shavings (about half a bale from TSC). The second layer is about 2 inches of dry peat moss, to cut down on odor, and to absorb liquid. The top layer is about 2 inches of straw. I'll add more straw as needed. I'm hoping this works for the long haul.

I'm having trouble getting the temp under the heat lamps up to 95. I have 2 lamps going, and the thermometer only reads 85. They don't seem to be cold, though, as they are not hovering under it at all. They just pop under for a few minutes to get warm, then are off and running again.

I do believe that very young ducklings are just about the cutest animals on the planet!

 

Hi Granny Carol.

TSQ stands for Top Show Quality. This is an abbreviation Holderread's uses on their packing material, and I'm guessing that's how it entered the duck raisers' lexicon.

 

Took duckies for their first swim today. Took them about 45 minutes to figure out how to get into the pool, but after that, they were happy as ducks in water

I've also noticed my duckies love it when I sing. They go instantly from "OMG, she's going to eat us!" to "What's that heavenly sound? oh, I'm so sleepy....just gonna close my eyes for a moment....."