Hi everyone! I'm Glenda's daughter - Heather. She's letting me use
her computer to ask some questions about the 12 ducklings I'm getting
in about a week! :)
I've read that I can't use Cedar bedding or wire for my brooder......can I use pine bedding??.......or will they try to eat that?
I had more questions than this one....but for some reason they've left me! lol Thanks for your help!
Heather
Duckling Care
Heather, I think Larlienda is using pine bedding for her ducklings. Might want to check with her.
I ordered 3 pekins for a friend when I ordered some chicks and learned a few things FAST, don't feed them chick starter, the antibotics(?) build up in thier systems and they die in about week from it (grains store told me that) and when you first get them if they were shipped give them water for 15 minutes, take it away for 15 minutes, do this for an hour or hour and a half so they don't water logged.
In the beginning I found using the rubbermaid drawer liner or a generic like it worked well. Absorbent and non slip and you can pull it out and wash it to use again. Layering a thick paper towel works well too. Just be prepared ducks are very very messy and require a lot of changing of the bedding.
After 10 days I start using pine shavings. Then I dump the soil wet pine shavings on my compost pile !!!
Make sure if they are being shipped you are careful about the water access as they can water log themselves by trying to drink too much and will die. LoraK is right the 15 minutes on and 15 off works out great. If the ducklings are not being shipped (meaning they have not been denied water for a period of time) you can ignore that water rule I have found with the ones I hatched.
Make sure the water container is deep enough they can swish out their nostrils, if not it can lead to infection. That is why ducks are so messy, they fling water everywhere!!! I found after mine got a little taller if I took a gallon jug and cut a hole in it they did a lot of their "flinging" inside the container and it helped cut back on how fast things got wet in their big rubbermaid tub.
Try to put the light on the end opposite the water.... hot bulb doesn't like having water splashed on it...lol.
I feed mine a plain (NON-MEDICATED) chick started with some old fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats) added to it after about a week. I also found they love to have greens added to their water, again I never tried it until they were atleast a week old. Dandelion leaves are a favorite but lettuce will do.
If I had more than 4 I would use one of those big plastic kiddie pools with cardboard wrapped around the sides as a barrier. It will be easy to hose out in the yard and give them lots of space so they don't pick on each other.
~Julie =0)