Topic of the Week - Raising and Caring for Ducklings

[chickens really]

If not caught early enough can they live with it? Isn’t painful/uncomfortable?

No ..Not painful but not pretty and being Domestic Ducks don't fly it's just cosmetic..

 

[chickens really]

Come on other posters...
Get telling your Duckling care information..This is not just Muscovy or Angel wing..
@sumi takes time to get these threads running..

 

[casportpony]

It's more cosmetic than medical wings can be clipped so they don't catch them on things.

X2. I have a 10 year old adopted gander (male goose) that has angel wing and he gets around just fine.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Bookmarked

 

[Conan]

Ah, ducklings - The cutest part of spring.

I am referring to regular ol ducks, not Muscovy ducklings.

I have only raised a couple batches of ducklings and plan on a third this year.
Used a broody hen to hatch them out after collecting them from my birds. Worked like a charm with 100% hatch rate.
Removed the babies as soon as they dried out. Put them in a steel trough with heat lamp on one side. No thermometer. Pine shavings. Kept them in the trough for the first couple weeks, then had to set up something with higher walls.
Second stage brooder was a wooden shipping crate lined with plastic. It was one disgusting mess, even with daily cleanings, that I was happy to have out of my house after a few weeks.
Like many other folks have mentioned, I was NOT prepared for how insanely messy they are nor for how quickly they grow! I set up a play pen with a kiddie pool in my garden area for during the day and they were kept in the brooder at night.
Fed them game bird flock raiser crumble (think it's about 20% protein) until I swapped to a much higher quality feed that a neighbor of mine makes. Gave them lettuce floating in water from the first week on.
I spent a lot of time with them and they were super friendly initially and not fearful at all, but that changed when they were integrated in with the other group.
The temp pen was set up near the fully grown ducks so they could get used to each other. The duckling group was larger than the original so I did not have a lot of concerns with integration and luckily only had minor pecking order issues.
Anyhow, found ducklings to be a real joy to raise. Cutest little birds ever.

Side note as to breed: Almost all are Cayuga, one Cayuga/Runner drake that I kept. I was extremely lucky. Only three drakes out of thirteen ducklings. Re-homed one drake to a neighbor that lost hers to a raccoon and another with a few females to a friend to start her out.

Can't wait to have another group this summer - I will be using bantam hens to hatch them.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Ah, ducklings - The cutest part of spring.

I am referring to regular ol ducks, not Muscovy ducklings.

I have only raised a couple batches of ducklings and plan on a third this year.
Used a broody hen to hatch them out after collecting them from my birds. Worked like a charm with 100% hatch rate.
Removed the babies as soon as they dried out. Put them in a steel trough with heat lamp on one side. No thermometer. Pine shavings. Kept them in the trough for the first couple weeks, then had to set up something with higher walls.
Second stage brooder was a wooden shipping crate lined with plastic. It was one disgusting mess, even with daily cleanings, that I was happy to have out of my house after a few weeks.
Like many other folks have mentioned, I was NOT prepared for how insanely messy they are nor for how quickly they grow! I set up a play pen with a kiddie pool in my garden area for during the day and they were kept in the brooder at night.
Fed them game bird flock raiser crumble (think it's about 20% protein) until I swapped to a much higher quality feed that a neighbor of mine makes. Gave them lettuce floating in water from the first week on.
I spent a lot of time with them and they were super friendly initially and not fearful at all, but that changed when they were integrated in with the other group.
The temp pen was set up near the fully grown ducks so they could get used to each other. The duckling group was larger than the original so I did not have a lot of concerns with integration and luckily only had minor pecking order issues.
Anyhow, found ducklings to be a real joy to raise. Cutest little birds ever.

Side note as to breed: Almost all are Cayuga, one Cayuga/Runner drake that I kept. I was extremely lucky. Only three drakes out of thirteen ducklings. Re-homed one drake to a neighbor that lost hers to a raccoon and another with a few females to a friend to start her out.

Can't wait to have another group this summer - I will be using bantam hens to hatch them.

Do you think it might be a bad idea to let hens hatch them, because the ducklings will be imprinted on a hen? Won't they believe they're chickens later on?

 

[Conan]

Here's a group pic with my favorite boy in front.

 

[Conan]

Do you think it might be a bad idea to let hens hatch them, because the ducklings will be imprinted on a hen? Won't they believe they're chickens later on?

I have never had a problem with it. I take them immediately after hatching. I also have a magpie that was straight up raised by a chicken and she has no problems with being a duck whatsoever.

 

[casportpony]

Do you think it might be a bad idea to let hens hatch them, because the ducklings will be imprinted on a hen? Won't they believe they're chickens later on?

I think it's okay to let chicken hens hatch them as long as there is more than one duckling. If you only have one duckling it might get a little confused, lol.

 

[casportpony]