When to move ducks outside?

[mistyt14]

What would be good to clean the tub out with before putting them in? Afraid cleaners, or residue from bath products would hurt them

Deerling try a gallon waterer set in a Rubbermaid container like this one. or what you have on hand similar it will catch a majority of the water. it's very important they have water at all times with their feed or they will choke. The older they get you may have to add two waterers. They need to also have a waterer that's deep enough to dip entire head like a butter container in several times a day at short periods to clean sinus and eyes this will prevent serious infections. Supervised Tub swims would also be great for them.

 

[duckins]

Your right cleaning prods harmful and bath soaps etc a Lysol or Clorox wipe out than rinse with water or a tote or small plastic tub Tsc has some like horse waters for them to bathe in just make sure waters warm and dry them before returning to brooder.

 

[cmoore333]

Know I'm cleaning up after my 14day old ducks at least twice a day so different then the baby chicks, that just moved out to thier coop two weeks ago.. I know have three nursarys (two ducks and one chickens) so my family room smells like a barn yard... ohh well

 

[harlequinhouse]

I only had two ducklings and they weren't smelly at all. I started using pine shavings because that was what was recommended by the feed store, but I quickly found that it was impossible to keep dry, and besides the ducklings would eat it and I was afraid they'd choke. So I switched them to straw. This made it much easier because the straw wasn't absorbent, the water that spilled would run to the bottom and the straw on top stayed nice and dry, the heat lamp made sure of it!

I still changed the bedding completely once a day, gave them clean water constantly (between the poop that they would manage to get in it, and the gunkyness just from food getting in the water, and the amount they spilled because they are ducks and wanted to be in the water... This was my battle), and made sure their food was clean several times a day.

I agree chicks are much less messy. That said, I'm trying to find new ducklings because I think my girls are the bees knees! For all the trouble they are, they give me eggs, and more entertainment then I ever imagined. I wouldn't trade them for the world. Try straw bedding and see if it doesn't help. It might smell like straw, but it isn't overly offensive.

 

[jdywntr]

If ducklings are given something that they can splash water in or out of, they will. Chick waterers aren't really apporpriate after the first week as they are not deep enough for them to rinse their eyes and nostrils in.

Go to the link "raising and caring for ducklings" that is in my signature at the bottom of this post. You will find a section on water with a pic and another link that you can go to for more ideas on good waterers for chicks.

As many have said, a dry environment is EXTREMELY important. Disease and mold becomes a problem in a damp or wet environment.

 

[duckins]

Misty14 they are in a child's playpen with vinyl tablecloth covering the pad easy to wipe and prevent mold on sides I have beach towels tucked under pad and long enough to reach the floor on outside so they can't tug on them plus the towels caught the poop not the mesh sides lol.They got this setup at 2-3 wks they had outgrown their tote.

 

[farmgirl1313]

It all depends, I have ducklings that I just got and we are going to fix up an old rabbit cage and set it up out side in our chicken coop with the other chickens and ducks. As long as there is a safe area to keep them away from the weather and to keep them warm then they could of gone out side when you bought them.

 

[farmgirl1313]

Warm water is all you really need that or use bath cleaners and really rinse well before letting the ducks near.

 

[RedNeckChick1]

I always put my baby ducks outside when they start to feather up

 

[smccuen]

How long do you have to wait to move ducks outside? First time having duckings and I have to say they STINK! I have them in a huge plastic and wire rabbit cage with the light suspended on one end so they have a end to get away from the heat. we have had them almost 3 weeks now, and they were probably at least a week old before we got them. I have been changing their bedding (pine shavings) every other day as the mess they make is horrible. I'd like to put them out in a shed with the light and no drafts here soon.

What age before they don't need a light? My mom is taking them to her house once they are big enough for no light and I can't wait!

Raised my first batch of mallards (well - 5 mallards and a Swedish black) last Spring. They lived in a deep storage bin about 2 ft square on pine shavings I changed at least twice a day. I work a mile away and am fortunate enough to be able to come home for the lunch hour so I'd take them out then and let them play in a little portable fenced area (can buy little pet fences at Petsmart or rig your own with cardboard or something) on a towel for a half hour or so. They'd play longer in the pen at night and on weekends. At about 3 or 4 weeks of age I set a terra cotta bird bath basin on the towel in the pen for them (by then we were using a taller pen with an area of maybe 15 sq feet). They LOVED the bird bath. When they settled down on the towel to rest and dry off I'd gather them up and put them back in the storage bin. We used the heat lamp for maybe 3 weeks - by then they seemed quite sturdy and seemed not to mind at all when I removed it. The house temperature was usually right around 70 or 72 any way. By about 5 weeks they were living outside in a 15 by 15 pen ( 3 foot high chicken wire on posts) on grass. I set up a kiddy pool with bricks as steps into and out of it - meaning a stairway of 3 bricks going in - with a brick on the inside for them to step onto as they went over the top of the pool wall. They LOVED that, too and would swim a while then rest in the grass then swim some more. It was late April in western NC by then and they didn't seem to mind at all sleeping outside in a ready-made coop I got for $100 at TSC. But a few days later they eschewed the coop altogether in favor of sleeping under it or just in a huddle in the grass. When they were fully feathered I moved them to an abandoned swimming pool (basically a cement pond) on our SC property - bullfrogs, dragonflies and all. They loved it. Plan to do the same with the new batch of mallards I got this week - but if the weather is mild (say, in the 50s at night and 70s during the day) they will be moved outside a week or so sooner than the batch last year. I think I was really holding them inside too long and babying them too much. They certainly are messy and keep everything wet - even outdoors - but...they're waterfowl. Chickens are just as messy - the chicks I have now, in the living room along with the ducks but separately housed - I think - are messier than ducklings - virtual poop machines. But they're not into water play. Needless to say - we go through a lot of pine shavings in a month's time - but all that goes into a compost bin outside. It's certainly no worse than raising a puppy. And I'll take the smell of duck poo ANY DAY over chicken poo. Enjoy.