Topic of the Week - Raising and Caring for Ducklings

[pamelajean]

Here is a picture of one of my brooders. 50 gallon stock tank, Brinsea Eco-Glo 50, 32-ounce waterer in a shallow plastic dish.
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Is the yellow roof just that - a roof for them to hide under? Is there another purpose?

 

[casportpony]

Is the yellow roof just that - a roof for them to hide under? Is there another purpose?

It's a brooder plate. I use it instead of a heatlamp.

 

[pamelajean]

It's a brooder plate. I use it instead of a headlamp.

huh, well now I have to google that!

 

[casportpony]

huh, well now I have to google that!

http://www.brinsea.com/p-381-ecoglow-50-chick-brooder.aspx
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heating-plates-and-covers
https://www.sweeterheater.com/overhead-model

 

[casportpony]

There are also people that use heating pads instead of heatlamps:

• https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate.67729/
  
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

 

[pamelajean]

http://www.brinsea.com/p-381-ecoglow-50-chick-brooder.aspx
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heating-plates-and-covers
https://www.sweeterheater.com/overhead-model

I love that these use way less energy than a heat lamp - which is what I used for my ducklings last year. They are not terribly expensive either and I may just have to buy one for this year's ducklings! My mind is blown. They seem better than heat lamps in pretty much every way. Any negatives compared to a heat lamp that I am missing?

 

[casportpony]

Any negatives compared to a heat lamp that I am missing?

Only the cost. Do read the article and thread about heating pads too.

 

[Arya28]

 

[FarmerGirl101]

After raising chickens for decades, I started with Welsh Harlequins last March. The main differences between brooding chicks and ducklings I discovered:

1. Ducklings are incredibly messy with their water. I finally put their waterer in a big plant saucer filled with pea gravel to keep them from soaking the rest of the bedding. Next time I will seriously consider a wire-bottom brooder.

2. Ducklings grow incredibly fast! If you are used to chicks, double or triple the size of the brooder.

3. Ducklings do not need nearly as much heat as chicks.

I fed my ducklings Purina Flock Raiser crumbles (with treats and greens) until about a month before I expected them to start laying, then I switched to standard chicken laying pellets. While still on the Flock Raiser, I increased the amount of greens and other lower protein treats as they got older. They also became very active foragers, so the total protein in their diet decreased from the 20% in the Flock Raiser.

Try getting Muscovies as they are a different species than the mallard based breeds. They aren't a big fan of water.

 

[Emily McMail]

I have been incubating ducks all winter, and have about 50 hatching this month. They are all any mixture of Mallard, Black East Indie, Magpie, Welsh Harlequin or Golden 300. The hatch survival rate has been outstanding since I removed the automatic egg turners and began doing it by hand. What a remarkable difference! I guess the automatic turners aren't quite as much as duck eggs need, which is a tirn from one side to the other about four times daily. Most importantly, I raised the incubator temp to 100.5 and make a point of moving the eggs to another spot in the incubator when I turn them. I spritz them with a water bottle periodically as well. That's it. MAJOR improvement from the automatic method. When the babies have dried and fluffed up, I remove them to a brooder bin with straw or alfalfa hay on the very bottom and shavings on top of that layer. This keeps the bedding a bit drier than all shavings, since the straw allows a little air to get underneath. Then I use a saucer (originally a soggy dish) as a base to place a small plastic waterer in so that the inevitable water spillage remains somewhat contained, and place their feed on the other end so that it stays relatively dry. I have a mesh wire (fencing) covering the top and pallets on top of that to keep curious cats and dogs away. Then I hang a heat lamp with a red bulb above, and viola! Done. I also put the entire bin on top of a pallet so that it does not have contact with the cold concrete barn floor.
For treats, nothing seems to beat finely chopped greens and scrambled eggs. I generally choose spinach, green peas, grass, parsley and scrambled duck eggs.
Quick tip: boiling some sugar water and putting it into an eye dropper is a wonderful way to have a duckling's first calories at the ready. Just squirt a drop or more, whatever you can, into their mouths after their umbilical cord has stopped transferring nutrients (when it shrivels up, even if still attached to the shell) to their body.

Hopefully any of this was helpful! Happy rearing!!!

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Pic by @seachainanmadra​

Spring is around the corner, they say, so duck keepers and enthusiasts will be thinking about ducklings soon. This week I would like to hear you all's thoughts, ideas and practices on the topic of raising and caring for ducklings. Specifically:

- Kitting out and setting up the duckling brooder, temperature for brooding, etc.
- Feeding ducklings - What to feed, treats, etc.
- Watering the ducklings
- Supplements?
- Bathing/swimming
- Raising tame ducks
- Raising ducklings under a momma duck
- Introducing ducklings to older flock mates


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https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive