What The Duck Skin Care

Raising ducks can be a joy and a challenge. Information technology can also be very rewarding as ducks can be 1 of the most versatile and useful animals on a homestead, notwithstanding big your homestead happens to exist.

Likewise providing eggs, there are and then many other ways ducks help on your homestead. From the bug patrol to the cuteness factor of ducklings. Only there are a few things you lot need to know before you lot bring home those bundles of fluff.

Duckling Care.

How do you take care of baby ducklings? What practice they demand? What do they eat, Can you keep just one? How practise you keep them warm? How warm do they demand to be?

In that location is a lot to learn about what ducklings need.

These are just a few of the questions you will be asking when y'all get-go bring home those adorable little quackers.

baby duckling. yellow duckling on grass. Raising Ducks

First written May v, 2015 – Updated March 3, 2022

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure if yous accept questions.
Thank you for supporting this site with purchases made through links in this mail. Here's My Amazon Link

If you accept institute a infant duck abandoned, Read this first.

Bank check Town Ordinances Earlier Raising Ducks.

Can y'all go on ducks in your backyard?

Earlier you bring that parcel of fluff abode and become attached and before y'all offset buying the stuff you need to proceed your ducklings condom and happy, check the law. There are unfortunately a lot of towns, counties, and cities that do not allow keeping chickens and ducks.

Information technology is just terrible to fall in love with your new flock, just to discover out y'all will have to discover them a new home.

Why Practise You Want To Heighten Ducks?

Do yous want ducks for the long hall? Please retrieve about this earlier you get them.

The worst reason in the world to get ducks is because you see how cute they are in the store at Easter time. (trust me, that stage passes very apace)

Getting whatever animal should not exist an impulse purchase. Think it through and make sure it is a delivery you want to make. Here are a couple of articles to assist you make that decision. Then read on. We volition go y'all ready for your new friends.

Related: 10 Reasons NOT To Raise Ducks.

Related: x Reasons TO Enhance Ducks.

Do You Have The Fourth dimension?

Keeping any creature takes time. Time to feed and water it, time to clean up later on them. Make sure before you bring them home you will have that fourth dimension to take intendance of them. Remember also, it'southward not as easy to find a duck sitter so you can continue vacation as it is to discover one for your dog or cat. And this is not a short time delivery. Ducks generally live vii – 15 years or more.

Related: How And Where To Buy Infant Ducks.

Basic Duckling Care

But and so again, when you have ducks dropped in your lap you are in for a crash grade nearly how to take care of your little bundles of fluff. Information technology's been several years since that happened to me, but that experience and all the years since allows me to assistance you get started with your ducklings.

Ducklings are so cute ! But information technology is kind of like bringing home your kickoff baby. "Now what do I exercise?" That's where I was several years agone.

A friend of my daughters called her upward one Saturday morn frantic. A female parent duck had been hit past a car in front end of her house, and huddled in front of her garage were 8 brand new ducklings.

They tried to find a refuge that would have them, to no avail. So the next thing I knew my daughter was calling me to ask "Mom, can I go along them?" (Yes she actually said that)

And so my daughter brought them home to raise. When you bring domicile a infant like that, you lot have to learn a lot actually fast . And and so the adventure began. Then, in case this happens to you, (or you exercise it on purpose) I've written this so you lot volition know what to do.

Duckling Care – What Do Ducklings Need?

I of the biggest mistakes people make when getting ducks is non having their "ducks in a row" earlier they bring their ducklings home.

Yous want to have their housing, feeders, waterers, food, and everything else you need Before y'all bring home your ducks.

Related: A Well Designed Duck Coop To Make Your Life Easier.

Duckling Care – Ducklings Need Water.

The most of import factor in raising ducks is h2o. Water is a must for ducks.

They have to keep their nasal cavities moist. Water also needs to be near their food, as they can choke on the nutrient and then they demand to accept h2o to launder it down.

Related: How To Get Clean Water For My Ducks.

Ducks also demand a lot to drink each solar day. Quite a bit more than chickens.

And that is before they play in information technology. Ducks love to play in their water. They make messes with water. They breast-stroke in their drinking water. Yes, information technology should come as no surprise that ducks like water.

The water for ducklings should be deep enough that they can submerge their whole bill in it. Only make sure if y'all requite ducklings water to swim in, they tin become back out.

Adult ducks also need to submerge their bills when they eat, and they get the water actually dirty. That's why we put in a special, like shooting fish in a barrel to clean waterer. Information technology cutting my water cleaning time style downwardly.

Mode in the future, when my momma duck had a batch of young ones I had a small-scale dish for the ducklings to bathe in, only I made certain the large duck water trough had bricks in it, so if a duckling got in, it could go dorsum out. (and don't underestimate how high a duckling can jump!)

Please be aware. For the first few weeks, ducklings have non yet begun to produce the oil that makes them "waterproof" that helps them float. And so even though they love the water, when they are very immature they tin still drown. Drowning is a major cause of duckling deaths.

Related: Practice Ducks Need A Pond?

24-hour interval Erstwhile Ducks!

What Should Y'all Feed Ducklings?

Getting food for your ducklings is pretty piece of cake. They tin can eat when outset hatched. They should be provided starter waterfowl feed or, if you lot demand information technology fast and your feed store doesn't bear it, (and most of them don't) y'all tin feed them starter chick feed, with a couple of caveats.

First – Make sure it is NOT MEDICATED. Chickens get a respiratory disease that ducks do not get. So ducks don't need the medication they put in chick feed. Ducklings as well eat more chicks, then they tin can get as well much medicine and overdose.

Second – Ducklings need more niacin than chickens so they can grow strong bones, So you will need to supplement the chick feed. You lot can purchase Brewer's Yeast to add together to their food and that will exercise the flim-flam. Information technology's also good to introduce them to vegetables correct away. Pocket-size amounts of chopped up greens and herbs floating in a saucer of water is both nutritious and fun for the ducklings. They are more likely to eat a varied nutrition later in life if introduced to information technology when they are younger.

Related: What To Feed Ducklings.

Related: What To Feed Ducks In Your Backyard.

Temperature is also very of import.

Female parent ducks will naturally keep their ducklings warm, but if yous don't have a mother duck then you need to brand certain your ducks are warm enough.

How do you lot exercise that? You can put a rut lamp or a rut plate at one stop of the brooder. That style if they are common cold they can get nether the heat, and if they go besides warm they can motion to the other cease and get away from it.

A rut plate may be more than expensive and non as readily available (you might have to order it online), simply it is much safer. Oestrus lamps accept been known to catch things on fire.

Ducklings need to be started from the first solar day at 90°F for the kickoff week and the temperature should exist decreased past almost 1 caste a day after that until they are acclimated to the outside dark air temperature and are fully feathered out.

When I got those first ducklings, I was told I needed a heat lamp. When I saw them huddled at the far finish of the brooder I took a thermometer and measured the temperature nether the lamp and it was 120°F (48.eight° C)!!

I wasn't told to check the temperature. So don't take the instruction that you "need a heat lamp" at face value. If the ducklings are huddled under the warmer information technology might not be warm enough and if they can't get far plenty abroad from it. Information technology may exist too warm. Employ a thermometer and check to be certain.

Related: 30 Souvenir Ideas For Duck Lovers

Related: Setting Up A Brooder Box For Babe Ducks.

Raising Baby Ducklings – More Needs

Brand sure what they are continuing on is not slippery. A slick surface is much easier to clean but it can be very detrimental to your ducklings. If their flooring is slippery it will hurt their delicate growing bodies. They can become a status called splay leg and will need to be treated for this. But avoid that altogether past making certain they have a non-skid surface to stand on.

Towels that can be washed or pine shavings work fine. (don't utilise cedar shavings) Paper towels would probably work well besides, just you will demand to use a lot of them.

Ducks, like all fowl, are messy and dirty. Their bedding will need at to the lowest degree daily cleaning. They poop everywhere. (even in their water dish) and they spread the water, from any source, all over! Don't expect a squeamish nifty duckling. They may exist clean birds (bathe themselves) but they are messy! In fact, this is the number ane complaint most people have about raising ducks.

If you don't have a momma duck, put a washable stuffed fauna in the brooder with the ducklings so they accept something to caress upwards with. They volition be so much more secure.

Ducks Need Company

Ducks are social creatures. In the wild there is safety in numbers, they don't like to be lone. If you lot buy ducks, make sure you get at to the lowest degree iii. They will be and then much happier.

I got to be known every bit the 'duck rescuer'. When someone establish an abandoned ducking, they brought it to me.

Once a single duckling was plant in a parking lot. They searched around for the mother or any sibling and none were found. So here I was with one lone duckling. The lilliputian guy cried non-end. When my daughter said he was singing a solo, the proper noun stuck and he became "Solo". which evolved into "Han Solo". (yep, we're that family).

I knew my little vocaliser needed a buddy then the side by side solar day we went down to the feed shop and among the chicks was the last duckling they had. When nosotros put her in with Solo, he calmed right down. All was correct with the world because he had a buddy.

She became "Chewbacca" or "Chewy" for short. Information technology's many years afterwards and Chewy is all the same laying eggs for the states today.

How To Handle Ducks.

When approaching a duck, try not to hunt them. Chasing is going to stress them out and will likely make them skittish effectually yous. Lowering yourself downwardly to their level and offering a little chip of nutrient will encourage your duck to want to come up to you.

If you can't get them to come up to you, gently corral the duck into a corner before y'all attempt to choice them upwardly. When you are almost enough, you can place one hand on each side of their body, keeping their wings confronting them. You lot can and then lift them towards you and then that ane side is held firmly against your body.

Never grab them past the foot or leg. This is a duck's weak spot, and a leg can easily exist broken.

Related: Deep Litter Duck And Craven Run.

Ducks Need Shelter

The Coop – When Information technology's time to take them out of the brooder you will have to provide your ducks with shelter. Even though ducks like water, they do need shelter from the pelting and wind. They need a make clean and dry place to bed downward. No one, not even a duck, wants to be wet and cold all the time.

Related: 10 Necessities To A Perfect Duck Business firm.

Plan on, at the very minimum, 3 sq ft per bird in the coop. PLUS they need a spacious run if they are non complimentary-ranged. It needs to be secure and clean. Consider a deep litter for the floor of the coop. That is the all-time option I have found.

Your coop needs to be well ventilated, equally moisture build-up, ammonia from their waste matter, and dust, all tin can cause problems for your birds. Even when information technology is cold they need fresh air.

Where there are ducks (or chickens for that matter) there will be flies. The deep litter method helps a lot. But if that is not enough, consider using wing predators. They are tiny, non-stinging wasps that kill wing larva. They are the best thing I have found for controlling flies in my coops and yards.

Related: How To Get Rid Of Flies In Your Craven Coop, Naturally!

There are a few things about a duck coop that needs to be different from a chicken coop. A duck doesn't roost. They will bed down on the flooring. Ducks also nest (lay eggs) on the floor so the fancy nesting boxes are not necessary and probably likewise small anyway. Here is an option I found that my ducks liked and helped keep the duck eggs a footling cleaner.

The ramp to most chicken coops is often too steep for those big feet. If you already accept an elevated coop, do your ducks a favor and extend the ramp so the ducks don't struggle to get in at night. Better yet, build a coop at ground level.

Duckling Care – Are your Ducks Safe?

Security – This is something that is often overlooked. But retrieve almost this for a minute. EVERYTHING loves to swallow ducks and chickens. So you have to do your due diligence to make certain your babies are secure.

I thought my commencement ducks were secure merely I really underestimated a hungry predator. It taught me a valuable lesson that I promise you don't take to go through.

An automatic coop door is not essential, merely it volition let yous slumber in on Sat morning time and withal keep your ducks condom at night. That'due south really something to consider. My daughter got i for Christmas this last year. She was Then excited for that very reason.

Related: Preparing For Predators On The Homestead.

Raising Ducks – What Is Molting?

If you come out 1 morning and in that location are feathers all over, but you do a headcount and all your precious flock is nevertheless in that location, then the culprit is molting.

What is molting? After a whole year, a duck'south feathers volition have taken a real beating. In order for them to keep them warm through the winter, they need to go new ones. Then in the autumn, a duck will lose their feathers and grow new ones. This process is called molting. It helps to feed them a higher protein diet during this time because it takes a lot out of a duck to make all those new feathers.

Related: What Is Molting And What Can You Exercise To Help Your Birds?

What To Feed Your Adult Birds?

Ducks are a hardy bird and more often than not stay very healthy, only good nutrition helps them stay that mode.

If you desire healthy birds and healthy eggs, then you desire to feed them right. But what can they eat? With the exception of needing extra niacin (brewers yeast) and non giving them medicated feed, they can eat the same equally you would feed chickens.

Related: What To Feed Ducks In Your Lawn

Raising Ducks For Eggs.

One of the best reasons to raise ducks is for those yummy, good for yous eggs. Ducks lay a lot of them every yr. Some breeds volition even surpass chickens in the number of eggs they lay. Choosing the right breed volition ensure you get the most production. Proficient care and diet volition increase the number too.

You can likewise allow your ducks hatch new ducklings, to increase your flock, sell for profit, or for meat. Having ducklings running around your pen is such a fun thing to practise.

Related: Duck Eggs Vs Chicken Eggs. Why Duck Eggs Are Ameliorate.

Why Enhance Ducks?

So why would you choose to heighten ducks?

These amazing creatures don't need acres of land. They can be raised in your ain backyard.
Many are non every bit loud every bit chickens and can produce every bit many if not more eggs.
If you already have chickens, ducks (especially the females) can coexist quite well with them.
They can also be a good source of meat.
Ducks are hardier than chickens and tin have less than ideal weather much better than chickens.
You lot are very unlikely to lose a duck to disease and they take very picayune trouble with mites and parasites.
Ducks are much less likely to go frostbite in the wintertime and can absurd themselves off in a pond in the summer. In fact, my sister-in-law used to break the ice on their pond during the winter so her ducks could have a swim. (burr) But they loved it.
But where ducks really shine is in issues patrol. It has been said that if you have a snail or slug trouble in your garden, what you really take is a lack of ducks.

They are also smashing at ridding a chiliad or garden of Japanese beetles and grubs of all kinds. At the end of the gardening season, allow your ducks wander through your garden and clean upwards all the spent plants and bugs and you lot will have a caput starting time on your pest command for the next growing season.

Related: Control Bugs In Your Garden. Naturally!

Concluding Thoughts On Raising Ducklings.

Raising ducks is an experience I wouldn't have traded for anything in the world. I've had joys and sorrows and lots of delicious eggs. I hope your experience is as wonderful as mine has been.

Want to larn more well-nigh raising ducks? Here are my favorites.

Duck Eggs Daily

Storey'southward Guide To Raising Ducks

And The Essentials.

Waterproof Boots

Don't forget the Brewers Yeast

Did you like this postal service? So, I'd beloved it if you lot'd share it!

Desire some more top posts? Check out this list of Readers Favorites.

Happy Backyard Homesteading!

I believe everyone tin can grow at least role of their own food! Let me show you how.

Save

Salve