How much to feed ducklings?????

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We brought four ducklings home today. We bought the appropriate starter food, feeder, and water bottle but the seem to be eating and drinking CONSTANTLY! Do we keep the feeder and water bottle full? It seems to be making quite a mess with the water since we have them in a hay lined box. We're working on alternative plans but a box seems the best for now with the heat light attached and all.

-- Sharon Papps (sharonva1@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002

Answers

Sharon-----we but those kids wadeing pools----& we use papers & then something like old t-shirts right under where we hook the heat lamp to the side of the wadeing pool where they gather to sleep under the lamp----the pool is easy to hose out & clean ----have never tried hay with babies-----

We use a quart fruit jar & turn it upside down for the water ring for them to drink----baby ducks have to be able to scoop up water with their bills---& yes they are messy!!!

We feed our new ducks hard boiled eggs---broken up & oatmeal also along with starter---

We change their papers often & make for sure the material under the heat lamp where they sleep is always dry-----

The wadeing pool gives them more room to be able to go eat & drink & then settle back under the heat lamp when they are through eating---

They will eat alot at first--make for sure they have water at all times---

We also feed baby ducks bread in water /or bread in milk---they love it--

Make for sure there is enough room in what ever you keep them in that they don't get the area where they sleep wet!!!! So keep the food & water far enough away from the heat lamp---to not get the sleep area wet---

Also we give our baby ducks small sand in a container--for grit--- they love it also----

best wishes---

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), March 30, 2002.


Sharon, the plastic wading pool is a great place to get ducklings started. Do not use hay. When wet it develops a mold that is deadly to ducklings. Use pine shavings, old towels, shower mats, whatever. I like pine shavings 'cause they go from the ducks into my flowers. You can put down a cookie sheet(the one with the sides on it)to catch the water when they drip it all over. Line the cookie sheet with a couple of hand towels and change them every day. Also, depending on the breed of ducklings, you may need to place a circle of taller cardboard or whatever around that pool or some will just bounce right over it. Use chick waterers for water, and CHANGE them often. NO chicken feed, nothing with antibiotics in it! Sprinkle sniped greens into their water every day. A wonderful book on raising ducks is "Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks", by Dave Holderread, it is the best one in print today and the cheapest. Have fun with your ducklings. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), March 31, 2002.

I used the Rubbermaid containers as my brooders...they worked so well I bought another one...and what else bought another two ducklings...I love them they are so sweet...for beeding I used cedar shavings...I had some..but you aren't supposed to use them with rabbits so they became duck bedding...when I ran out I just bought pine bedding...its cheaper...another thing I did was at three weeks...right in the middle of a warm spell...I put the ducklings out in a run type pen with my other two pekin hens...they brooded and mothered them really nicely...and now I can't even seperate them...even though it got colder... JASON

-- Jason C. (jk85rabbit@yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.

Ducks are prone to wing deformities if not feed correctly. I found that scrambled eggs are a great addition to the diet. Chick food should not be used. Whole wheat bread is also a good supplement. As stated above NO medicated feed.

-- Paul Moore (boawoman@boastore.com), April 01, 2002.

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