Remember those adorable little ducklings that arrived in the beginning of November?
The new ducklings, only a few days old
We kept the ducklings in a brooder for a few weeks as it was so cold outside, and they didn’t have any insulating feathers yet. Overall the brooder worked fine, but if you’re considering ducks, be aware that they smell! They love to splash water everywhere, and the wet shavings, combined with their droppings, put off quite an odor. I would change out the shavings completely much more frequently than I ever do with chicks.
Finally the day came where they had made the entire brooder a wet mess in just about a day, and I knew they had to go outside. They weren’t quite fully feathered yet, but they couldn’t stay in the brooder any longer. I moved them out to one of our portable poultry tractors. By covering it with tarps and putting a heat lamp out there, we softened the blow of moving to the cold outdoors.
The ducklings have done quite well since their move outside. Since there are so many of them (26), they were able to huddle together at night and stay warm for those first few cold nights outdoors. They’re almost entirely feathered out now. They are growing so quickly, too! We’re waiting for them to be big enough to hold their own with the chickens before releasing them to be free in the backyard.
For now they are getting used to living outdoors in a protected run where the chickens and ducks can get used to each other.
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