When can ducklings begin having short, supervised swim time?

[CottageChick04]

I recently got 2 ducklings! They are really young... Like just under 3 days old! So they obviously do not have their adult feathers or the oil that they need in order to not sink immediately. I was not planning on letting them swim yet, but for future reference... when is it ok to let baby ducks take 3 minutes or so ( I am not sure how long to let them swim) to swim around in the small bathtub or kiddie pool?

Extra information relating to my question:
It would not be filled very high at all, just high enough for them to enjoy it but not drown or get injured or exhausted from paddling.
They would always be supervised and watched carefully! And they would be dried off well and placed under the heat lamp!

 

[JulieBeth07]

Im a crazy beginner bird mom... warning

I put mine in my bathtub at a couple weeks old. I made sure they had a little platform and a ramp in case they got tired.. and watched them of course. I made sure the water was at the temp they needed at that week. I also kinda dried them off a little and put them directly back where the heat lamp was so they didn't chill.

They loved it! And as they got older they get zoomies and go all over the place. When they graduated to grit and treats I gave them peas to Bob for... (also helps with niacin) they loved bath time!

As they got a little older and were still in the brooder I used this time to clean out their brooder

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

My baby duck was swimming when he was less than 12 hours old :0 I waited of course until he was dry, fluffy and the water was warm and shallow (I think an inch or so for the first few baths) he very quickly got fed up with this and within a day or two after it was 2 or so inches so he could swim and not just pap pap around in water! It was all entirely supervised, he told us when he was done, we helped dry off for a bit (basically just holding and snuggling on a towel for a while! : D) also just FYI my duck was standard sized, bantam ducks I assume are smaller so if you have bantams like calls or east indies make the water appropriate for their size!

 

[gtaus]

I don't know if there is any consensus on this issue. I let my ducklings in the water for supervised swimming about 4 weeks old. By 9 weeks old, they should probably be full feathered out, preening themselves, and can swim without supervision.

My main concern for days old ducklings was trying to keep them warm and dry. Ducklings naturally splash water everywhere and tend to get the brooder wet. I found raising ducklings to be more challenging than chickens in that respect.

 

[CottageChick04]

Im a crazy beginner bird mom... warning

I put mine in my bathtub at a couple weeks old. I made sure they had a little platform and a ramp in case they got tired.. and watched them of course. I made sure the water was at the temp they needed at that week. I also kinda dried them off a little and put them directly back where the heat lamp was so they didn't chill.

They loved it! And as they got older they get zoomies and go all over the place. When they graduated to grit and treats I gave them peas to Bob for... (also helps with niacin) they loved bath time!

As they got a little older and were still in the brooder I used this time to clean out their brooder

Thank you for the reply! They sound super sweet and I appreciate the advice!

 

[JulieBeth07]

My baby duck was swimming when he was less than 12 hours old :0 I waited of course until he was dry, fluffy and the water was warm and shallow (I think an inch or so for the first few baths) he very quickly got fed up with this and within a day or two after it was 2 or so inches so he could swim and not just pap pap around in water! It was all entirely supervised, he told us when he was done, we helped dry off for a bit (basically just holding and snuggling on a towel for a while! : D) also just FYI my duck was standard sized, bantam ducks I assume are smaller so if you have bantams like calls or east indies make the water appropriate for their size!

to add.. mine was a pekin... so large Too

 

[JulieBeth07]

Thank you for the reply! They sound super sweet and I appreciate the advice!

Good luck! They'll love it

 

[CottageChick04]

My baby duck was swimming when he was less than 12 hours old :0 I waited of course until he was dry, fluffy and the water was warm and shallow (I think an inch or so for the first few baths) he very quickly got fed up with this and within a day or two after it was 2 or so inches so he could swim and not just pap pap around in water! It was all entirely supervised, he told us when he was done, we helped dry off for a bit (basically just holding and snuggling on a towel for a while! : D) also just FYI my duck was standard sized, bantam ducks I assume are smaller so if you have bantams like calls or east indies make the water appropriate for their size!

Aww! He sounds adorable! Thank you for the response! I do not have bantam ducks but mine are super small right now! They will obviously get bigger quickly, too! Thank you for the advice!

 

[CottageChick04]

I don't know if there is any consensus on this issue. I let my ducklings in the water for supervised swimming about 4 weeks old. By 9 weeks old, they should probably be full feathered out, preening themselves, and can swim without supervision.

My main concern for days old ducklings was trying to keep them warm and dry. Ducklings naturally splash water everywhere and tend to get the brooder wet. I found raising ducklings to be more challenging than chickens in that respect.

Oh yeah, they sure do splash lots of water everywhere! Keeping them warm and dry is very important for sure! Thank you for the response and advice!