What Breed Should I Get?

[Aunt Angus]

And they can use a paint pan for swimming when little and graduate to the bathtub.

Their duck house is attached to the coop. It is 4' x5 '.with lots of ventilation. It's not done yet, but almost! I'll use chopped hay for that, I imagine. When outside, they'll have a bucket waterer they can get their heads in and they'll share the run and chicken yard. Right now, the run is about 200 sq ft and the chicken yard is about 500 sq ft. They'll have their own area of the run for a bit until everybody is comfortable with each other.

They will have a swimming area that they will be able to access when supervised. It is adjacent to the chicken yard, but not in it because chickens can drown. But theh can swim when the chickens are out foraging.

I think that's everything...

 

[ChickensForEggs2500]

Yes, yes! I think I have!

I'm going to use a big rabbit cage that I'll attach sides to. It'll be FREE and easy to store. I am borrowing 2. Each is 2' x 4' with a plastic base that is 8 in deep. Not perfect, but FREE. I'll start with one and combine them when they outgrow the first one. I like these because I can take the top off and put it out in the chicken pasture on nice days.

I'm going to use a MHP that I have for chicks. It's 1' x 2' so it will be plenty big for 4 ducks at first. I adjust its height using bricks or 2 x 4s. I'm also using the pan with rack set up for food and water. I'll start with puppy pads for the floor and switch to wood shavings later. I'll also start with a chick waterer and switch to a recycled cottage cheese container later. I'll try out a few things for feeders. I have unmedicated chick starter and nutritional yeast. Oh! And Scratch & Peck has added niacin to their feed formulae so I can use that for my flock later. I'll be using layer pellets mixed with the grower. And I'll double check the niacin levels and add yeast as needed.

I'm planning to clean AT LEAST twice daily. I used to clean my chicks daily, which was actually more than needed. I'm sure the duckies will need that and more!

Does that sound doable?

See? I can make decisions!

This sounds great!! What brands of feed are you going to use? When you get your MHP set up can you show pictures? Thanks for the VERY detailed answer!! Giving me lots of ideas for the future...

 

[FernbergFarms]

When my ducklings were small I filled the sink with water and let them play in that just make sure to watch them so they don’t drowned. Oh and also when I hatched ducklings last fall I’d give my ducklings food and they would SCARF their food down to the point they were spitting up and like choking. Make sure you have water all the time. and make sure it’s deep enough for them to fit their whole head in it (or at least up to their eyes) because mine couldn’t fit their whole head in their water for a couple days and I didn’t think it was a big deal then I started to hear them breath like they were having trouble breaking and when I let them swim and put their head in water a ton of like flem and junk just came up like they were throwing it up and it was dripping from their mouth and nose! It was pretty bad. But when they got everything cleaned out their breathing improved a lot.

This was the set up I had for like the first week of them living. (The red feeder I switched for a tiny bowl because I ended up only having 3)my ducklings could jump! Like if I wasn’t around they’d cry and then try to jump out of the kiddie pool and he started jumping when he wasn’t even 24 hrs old lol ! That’s why I switched their brooder so quick.

Ducklings especially little ones do not need that much room. As long as you keep it clean or lay down new shavings everyday. Like this kiddie pool was really big for my 3 ( I was expecting 6 but that didn’t happen) even 6 don’t need that much room. They all just huddle together and sleep a lot so it’s kinda a little waist of space until they get bigger. So after a week of using this kiddie pool I switched to something smaller but it had tall walls:

This is my ducklings parents. But it’s the same tote i used for my little ones from fall. But aren’t their parents so cute! Sorry this is kinda a random post but it’s all stuff I wish I would’ve know before getting my ducklings.

this is my lil babe sleeping in a funny position! And when they’re really little you can keep a little towel down on a part of the brooder and it helps it stay cleaner and my ducklings like to lay on it.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

@Aunt Angus i missed the part where you said where you were going to put the rabbit cages for the ducklings. I just wanted to say not to put them up against a wall unless you cover it somehow. I'd put down a cheap plastic tablecloth under the cages because....splatter. I call my pigs pigs and my ducks the little piggies.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I raised extremely entitled ducks. No conscience in their little ducky brains. My ducks are more like cats than dogs, they might know what I expect and be willing to do it - for a price. That price is mealworms. But because it is the right thing? Hahaha!

I completely blame myself.

I think ducks combine to good attributes of cats and dogs: They are attached to their carefood-givers like dogs, even can be trained to perform little tricks for treats, but they are also as self-reliant as cats, foraging (hunting) for their own food.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@Aunt Angus i missed the part where you said where you were going to put the rabbit cages for the ducklings. I just wanted to say not to put them up against a wall unless you cover it somehow. I'd put down a cheap plastic tablecloth under the cages because....splatter. I call my pigs pigs and my ducks the little piggies.

Good Point!!! - You're raising them inside, so do cover the walls around the brooder with some plastic. A duckling, falling on its back can shoot poop six feet in the air - well at least three feet. And sometimes they violently shake their little heads when they have their bills full of food, preferably when that food leaves hard to remove stains, like tomato or sweet potato.
I still have some orange dots on the walls of my home office from the first sweat potato they destroyed in seconds…

 

[Aunt Angus]

@Aunt Angus i missed the part where you said where you were going to put the rabbit cages for the ducklings. I just wanted to say not to put them up against a wall unless you cover it somehow. I'd put down a cheap plastic tablecloth under the cages because....splatter. I call my pigs pigs and my ducks the little piggies.

Will do! That's also why I wanted a big plastic tote. I may still look for one in the valley. 2' x 4' with a lid would be great.

Don't want to have to chisel crap off the walls!
Ew.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Well, now... I am beginning to talk myself out of getting ducks. I can handle the mess, but I'm not sure my husband can. I'm afraid he'll be angry with me.

I can't believe I'm really stressing out this much. I want to cry - which is crazy because I don't think I've cried in years...

 

[ChickensForEggs2500]

Well, now... I am beginning to talk myself out of getting ducks. I can handle the mess, but I'm not sure my husband can. I'm afraid he'll be angry with me.

I can't believe I'm really stressing out this much. I want to cry - which is crazy because I don't think I've cried in years...

Uh oh. You could try keeping them inside for only a couple weeks, then maybe move them into their coop if you have electricity out there, or the garage if you have one. I'm sorry, hopefully they are worth it and are a lot easier to handle than we thought.

 

[Quatie]

Well, now... I am beginning to talk myself out of getting ducks. I can handle the mess, but I'm not sure my husband can. I'm afraid he'll be angry with me.

I can't believe I'm really stressing out this much. I want to cry - which is crazy because I don't think I've cried in years...

My husband was not super excited about ducks at first. They melted his heart and he absolutely loves them now. Ducks have a way of waddling into people's hearts. They are hard not to love.

Also the mess will not nearly be as bad as mentioned. Hillbilly had several more ducklings than you will have. With 4 it will be far more manageable. I raised 2 and it was an absolute delight. I raised 8 and it was much more messy, but still fun.