I am a planner. Spontaneity is not my strong suit. It stresses me out. During the winter months I plan out my schedule to include spring cleaning, planting the garden and animal acquisitions. I allow room for change, because you never know what might come up, but I try to stick to my schedule. This year I had planned to add some baby ducks to my flock, as my ducks are getting up there in years and no longer lay eggs. They just hang out in the pasture, enjoying life. I had decided that late spring would be a good time add the ducklings, when the weather was a little warmer and some coop changes had been completed. Well…you know what they say about the best laid plans… Earlier this week I needed to make a trip to the feed store. With this being baby chick season, it is impossible to walk down the aisle of any feed store and not have the opportunity to ogle at the sweet little balls of fluff. As I walked by the tanks filled with little peepers, I noticed the one with the ducklings and a big sign advertising “Ducks, $1.00 with the purchase of feed”. Well, I was already buying feed and $1.00 a duck was a price that was hard to beat. To top it off, these ducklings appeared to be between two and three weeks old, so chances are they were a little hardier than fresh hatches. The situation wasn’t ideal, but a buck a duck was difficult to pass up! So…I went home with five yellow, fluffy, peeping ducklings! I enjoyed watching my daughter-in-law pick them out and I think she did a superb job. My ducklings are adorable!
With the decision made and the birds purchased, home we went. I wasn’t really prepared for baby ducks and didn’t have anything set up specifically for them. I did have a brooder set up for baby chicks and figured that would work for the ducklings for a day or two, just until I could arrange for more suitable housing for the little ones. As it turned out, one night in the chick nursery was all they needed. They next afternoon, they moved into their roomier new digs.
So what does a baby duck nursery look like?
For newly hatched ducklings, putting your babies in a plastic brooder in the house is a good idea. Keep in mind that even at a young age, ducklings are very messy birds. Using a cardboard box for ducks is not the best idea, unless you have access to quite a few of them. Ducklings do need a lot of water, not only to play in, but to help swallow and digest their food. The first couple of weeks, water should be provided in a fount waterer, not an open dish. Baby ducks are kind of clumsy and you don’t want to chance them accidentally drowning. After that time, a shallow feed pan filled with water works well, something heavy enough that it can’t be tipped over easily. Ducklings can be fed non-medicated chick starter, as they do not require the medication that is in the medicated chick feed. They will need a heat lamp to keep them warm. Start with a temperature of around 90 degrees and decrease 5-7 degrees every week until you get to ambient temperature. Watch the ducklings and they will tell you if they are too hot or too cold. If they are panting…too hot. If they are peeping and all huddled together, they are probably too cold.
Since my ducklings are between two and three weeks old, I decided to set up a duckling pen in a plastic shed that was extra housing for free-range chicken’s and goats. I have some hinged pen fencing that I used to cordon off a space about 12 feet square for my five little ducks. It’s a little bigger than they need right now, but ducklings will require additional space as they grow, until they are ready to join the big kids in the pasture. Their space is set up in an area that can be expanded if necessary, but I think this will be good for at least the next few weeks. Keep in mind that ducks do grow faster then baby chicks. Since the nights are still pretty cool, I do have a heat lamp set up. It is secured to the metal fencing with a metal clamp. Always use caution when using a heat lamp, keeping it away from flammable items.
For bedding I am using straw. I don’t put it down so thick that they can’t waddle through it, but thick enough to absorb the waste and water. I turned a cardboard box on its side and put some straw in it so they have a comfy, secure place to snooze. In the mornings, I replace the dirty, wet straw with fresh, dry straw.
By three weeks of age there is not much chance of the ducklings drowning in a shallow pan of water. I am using an aluminum feed pan filled with water. I set the pan on top of a thick layer of sawdust to absorb splashed water. Because they get a lot of food in the water pan as they eat and they also play in it, I generally clean the pan several times a day and refill it with clean water. The ducklings get very excited when I give them a pan of fresh water! [editor’s note; I’ve also heard of people placing a brick or non-led weight in the very bottom of a duck water pan to keep them from tipping.]
As I said earlier, ducklings can begin eating a non-medicated chick starter. It is recommended that ducklings be fed a starter feed which contains 20-22% protein for the first two weeks of life, then reducing the protein content to 16-18%. One way to lower the protein content of a high protein starter feed is to substitute 1/4 of their feed with uncooked raw oats. Ducks also require more niacin than what is in chick starter, so a niacin supplement should be provided to guard against health issues like bowed legs. The easiest supplement is to mix in 1.5 tablespoons of brewer’s yeast to every cup of starter feed. You could also feed your little ones a specially formulated waterfowl starter feed which provides adequate protein and niacin. When ducklings are a couple of weeks old, you can begin to introduce other foods like fruits, vegetables, herbs, grains, and bugs. As you do begin to introduce foods other than the starter feed, it is important to make sure that you provide them with grit, and they do make a chick grit for little ones.
Raising ducklings is a little more labor intensive than raising chickens, but in my opinion it is so worth it. Ducks are a great addition to any farm, and ducklings are about the cutest!
Sources:
https://www.thecapecoop.com/ducklings-101/
http://islandseed.com/poultry/care-and-feeding-of-ducklings/