CountryGalTN
Chirping
*I think* my 5 pekin ducklings are 2 weeks old. The guy at TSC couldn't give me the exact age when I bought them. I've had them 1 week. (I will put their pic in this post). It's my first time raising ducks. I've raised chickens before.
They are in an xxl (really long) Rubbermaid tote with a heat lamp above it. It stays 80 to 85 degrees in their container, with one end being around 75 degrees so they can move to that end if they get too hot. ( I have a heat gun....they love to chase the red laser dot. LOL!)
These little peeps LOVE to party around the water dispenser.
The older they get, the more they do it. Which makes sense, I mean, they ARE ducks.They have a water riot when I re-fill the container. They dabble, they drink, they sling it, they love it. Then they are soaked and they have saturated their bedding.
I moved up to a bigger, gallon size water dispenser because they kept emptying the little one they had within an hour. So in went the bigger size and within half the day their bedding was SOAKED through to the bottom, they were wet......again.....and couldn't get dry....and I was changing bedding.... again.
I let them out in my bathroom to play in a small pan of water twice a day. I put puppy pads and towels down. They are supervised, of course. They LOVE it.
So, I started putting puppy pads under a small layer of wood chips last night. I thought that would solve everything.
Nope.
Woke up at 5 am to the "something is wrong" PEEP PEEP PEEPs!!! Water = gone. Bedding = soaked. Puppy pads = soggy. Ducks = guilty looks.
Changed bedding. Changed water. Ducks=happy and playing in water, again. Drinking a lot. Duck mommy = tired. LOL!!!
After 10 mins, I tried to shoo them away. I took up the water and food while I got ready for work for about an hour.
Put a new puppy pad on top, sat water back on it, and the little party peeps came back over to play. Told daughter to change bedding when she gets up. Told husband to please figure something out.
Do you HANG your water dispenser from something??? Do your ducks drink like a fish and party like college kids at a rave? Do you put the dispenser in another pan or something to contain the spillage?
I am changing bedding 2 or 3 times a day and constantly fixing their water.
