Wood Stall Pellets For Duck Bedding

[FunnyBunnies12]

My ducklings are making a HUGE mess of their water in spite of any deep dish I have to put the water container in, so I wanted to lay wood stall pellets for horse stalls down and their water container on them to absorb the mess, because wee pads, towels, ect just won't cut it, they drag out any water that they mess and play in and jump out onto the dry area. So, I just wondered and hoped that they won't mess with the pellets and choke. Wow, 2 ducklings keeping up was one thing, but 9 all together in the same cage. WOOO WEEEEEE

 

[katharinad]

I had 11 in one crate and the mess wasn't that bad. What kind of waterer do you use? I had one they only could put their bill in and they were not able to bath in it at all.

 

[FunnyBunnies12]

I pretty much have the same thing, they can't get into it with their bodies just their bills. So I have no idea, it's a 1gal water too.

 

[Olive Hill]

The pellets work well, I've used them. I think the biggest key though is to put the waterer on a tray that contains it's own bedding and put that tray on top of the main bedding. And then mix the pellets throughout both areas of bedding. That way they can happily make a heck of a mess of the tray of bedding under the waterer without soiling up their main bedding too much.

 

[katharinad]

I've used 2 one quart waterers placed into a deep bowl and a cookie tray lined with paper towels underneath that. I did clean this twice per day and it worked well. I had it all in one corner of the crate to keep the rest dry. At this age I would not use any kind of chips or pallets because they are to young and will eat it. It can compact them which can lead to death. I would wait until they are 3 weeks old. You can try a kiddie pool with cardboard around it, so they don't escape. It may be easier to clean. Fact is it will get worse as they grow, so you will have a mess on hand once they are a month old.

 

[FunnyBunnies12]

Yes, I have 2 of those as well and they emptied like crazy within an hour or two and a huge mess. So not only do they make a mess, it's wasting all that Vitamin/Electrolite mix I just put in there. I just have messy faces, that is that! LOL!

 

[bel]

It was geese but I know what you mean about mess, we used a gallon milk jug with a hole cut just big enough the gosling could fit their head inside, it did help.

 

[tia]

How big are they? When mine are little I use a butter tub with a hole cut out of the top just big enough for them to get their head in and out. I put weights in it so they can't tip it over... a couple big marbles will do. Now that mine are bigger I use a rubbermaid tub with two buckets in it. I have cut down one side about half way down for each bucket leaving a center section up. Then put the lid back on the top. They can reach their head in there and get a drink but not too much comes back out. This won't work if they are still pretty little.