Transporting ducklings over a long distance

[the_finch_family]

Hello, I was wondering if any of you have some tips. I ordered a few muscovy ducklings from a man that lives around a 8-9h drive away.
I've driven this distance with very young ducklings before, and it went okay but honestly I was mostly stressing through the entire drive...

What I did last time was I made a diy brooder plate using a reptile heating pad and had their food and water in small containers so if anything spilled, it wouldn't be TOO bad.
The heating pad then plugs into the car charger via USB.

Do any of you have a better way to do this?
Maybe a better heat source that you've used in a car?
And any advice on minimising the smell?

(For anyone asking why I would order ducklings from so far away, Muscovy ducks are extremely uncommon in my country, and there's pretty much just one farmer I know of who has 2 breeding pairs.)

 

[sourland]

That sounds like a workable plan to me. Rather than allowing ad lib access to the feed and water , I'd stop every couple of hours and allow them access to the feed and water. Good luck for a safe/successful trip.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Some use hand and foot Warner packs then set towels over them
When I travel I don’t leave feed and water in the crate
I stop every few hours let them have some and carry on
I use my heat plate and plug it in with the converter I have

 

[the_finch_family]

That sounds like a workable plan to me. Rather than allowing ad lib access to the feed and water , I'd stop every couple of hours and allow them access to the feed and water. Good luck for a safe/successful trip.

Thank you so much! That's a very good point, I think I'll go ahead and do that with the food and water. Maybe every hour or two? What do you think?