The rescued duckling is growing fast. Along with his food, water, and stuffed animal, I put a smaller square pyrex baking dish. I filled it about 3/4 of the way with water. When it was smaller, it worked fine. Now that the duckling is bigger, within 10 minutes, of cleaning out the brooder, and replacing the dish, it splashes water everywhere, making a total mess, and soaking everything.
Night before last, I put tepid water in the kitchen sink. It was deep enough, if it pulled it's legs up, it could swim, but shallow enough it could still touch bottom. The duckling had a ball. In about 5 minutes, the water had cooled, and the ducking seemed a bit tired. I dried it off, put it in it's brooder. He preened, and warmed up under the heat lamp.
Last night, I partially filled our bathtub with lukewarm water. The duckling had a blast. He was more waterproof than the night before (maybe all that preening?). Our bathtub is gently angled, so one end is more shallow than the other end. That makes it so the duckling can swim to the shallow end, and stand up if it gets tired, but go to the deeper end to swim, and dive. It went about 10 minutes, then seemed ready to get out.
It's a good thing I have a huge bathroom. The entire family, except Dh who was at work, had to watch the duckling's first swim. Everyone cheered it on. We took turns petting it, while it was swimming, and having it follow our hands around the bathtub. Of course the grandbaby wanted to get in, and take a bath with it. To heck with a rubber ducky, right?
I dried it off, and put it back in it's brooder. Again, it warmed itself up under the lamp while preening, then went to snuggle with it's stuffed animal.
I took the pyrex dish out of the brooder. Now, it's still getting exercise, play, and cleaning itself, but there's not nearly the mess in the brooder.
