After a few days of this they settled into their routine: out to the grazing pen in the morning, back under the deck at night. 6. Thanks for your concern. Proper precautions should be taken at all times the ducklings are outdoors as they are clumsy and not able to move very quickly, so they are easy prey for a variety of predators. unable to stand. Upon reaching sexual maturity, our original male ducks spent their days trying to attack and kill each other for rights to the females. Small grain grit or access to healthy garden soil with grit naturally in it. But it isn’t loud enough to be a nuisance; our next-door neighbors confirmed this week that they didn’t know we had ducks. Ducks do not tolerate stray ducklings close to their own brood, and females kill small strange young they encounter. 9. 4 weeks old Muscovy ducklings for $6 each. -Use mild water, not cold or hot water in their swimming container. Duckling feed (McGeary organic duck feed or organic chick feed modified as detailed above). Don’t let them begin to physically commingle (with human supervision) until they’ve had weeks to acclimate and your ducklings are much larger. I meant TR Feed & Seed, across from Tandem Crepery, NOT Tractor Supply. Every 7 days, you can raise the lamp up a little higher so as to drop the temperature another 5 degrees as follows: Once you hit 75°F, you can keep the brooder lamp at the same height until your ducklings are 6-8 weeks old and ready to move permanently outdoors. This area will need to be 1250 cm 2 /bird (8 birds/m 2 ) by the time the ducklings are 8 weeks old, as they grow quickly. Just keep your ducklings (and you) inside a piece of fencing that keeps your adult ducks out. Female mallard ducklings have only brown feathers. He also serves on the board of the Diversified Agriculture Committee for the South Carolina Farm Bureau. Straight run only. Raising ducks is different than raising chickens, although you can be successful raising ducks and chickens together. Best of luck on Susan’s speedy recovery. Why? They need a dry place and access to water to dip their heads in, blow out their nasal passages and bathe. Require a heat lamp. Ducklings grow incredibly quickly, far faster than chicken chicks. I think I going to have to do the same and try to raise them and release them. The protein content of crumbs is quite high (18-20%) and is too high for birds over 3 weeks. Sold. £10 Each For Sale Muscovy ducklings. Ideally the room comes with plenty of sunlight, tile or vinyl flooring, and a door that can be closed to keep pets or children out and smells in. A few quick notes about duckling greens: Our personal preference for duckling bedding is either: Don’t use cedar, since it contains volatile oils that can cause both you and your ducklings respiratory problems or allergic reactions. I’ve seen 4-week old ducklings become waterlogged and drown in 6-8 inches of water. Properly incubating duck eggs requires a lot of extra work, knowledge, and equipment. They were more than a little nervous their first night in their pen, but with some encouragement (in the form of lettuce) they let us herd them in, and we kept a 25-watt light bulb on all night to keep them calm. If you opt for the brooder lamp, it should be: a. firmly secured to a stable object (example tied with wire to the side of your brooder) AND have the bulb protected by a wire guard (good lamps come with a guard); b. placed far enough away from any flammable objects (bedding, plastic, etc) so that it’s not a fire hazard; c. placed in one corner of the brooder so the ducklings can come underneath it when they’re cold and go elsewhere in their brooder if they get hot. If you plan to be responsible duck parents, thank you and please read on! Unsure of sexes. Fertilized duck eggs last a week before the incubation process must begin, where heat causes the embryonic cells to divide. Heat source – either: a) Brinsea EcoGlow brooder heater (ideal), or b) a brooder lamp/heat lamp with a 125 or 250 watt red bulb. You’ll be proud duckling parents when you see your ducklings becoming increasingly independent, bravely foraging and hunting insects, nibbling plants, etc. Raise your right flipper if you love cute ducklings! They might not be able to get out of the swimming hole on their own when they need to. Ducklings need the extra protein (20% compared to 15% for the adult). All content copyright ©2002–2018 by David Walbert unless otherwise noted. Additional recommended reading. Because niacin is such a critical nutrient and there’s no harm from them getting a bit more than they need, we always supplement when we raise ducklings even if we have a feed formulated specifically for ducklings. Ducklings take 50-60 days to fledge (fly) and become independent. Tractor Supply does not carry Mazuri waterfowl feed. Or, is there a grower feed that you recommend? I live in Greenville also – close to Furman. 54 days ago. Complete with many coyotes and bobcats. They seem to be very good at foraging, some better than others. Good luck, and enjoy them, they are a lot of fun. Also, most male mallards feature a drake feather, which is a curled feather on the tail. Weeks 2-3: Chest, wing, tail, and underbelly feathers begin to come in. You’ve successfully raised ducklings, which is not an easy task! They don’t produce their own oil yet, so they’re not waterproof. He still spends his day with the flock, but he’s separated by fencing in order to improve flock social dynamics and prevent him from mating disinterested females. Baby ducks are nearly impossible to sex before eight weeks of age. Raising ducks: Weeks 4–6 Growth and development. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. This step is extremely important because sustained higher levels of protein can cause leg and wing deformities in addition to causing kidney and liver damage. Food explorer, seed & soil geek, duck evangelist, writer, health nut, and entrepreneur. In fact, we observe noticeable differences in size between the time we put them to bed at night and see them in the morning! Claire . Consequently, they may not be interested in eating or drinking during the first few hours after rescue.They do however, need to be kept dry and warm until they are ready to eat. On our girls, the last feathers to come in are the top of their backs between their wings. Your name. Ducks are not chickens. During your outdoor adventures (see #4 above) with your ducklings, make sure to have as many of those adventures as possible around your existing flock. Read our article How to get your ducks to like you for more tips about how to raise tame ducks. We also write for Edible Upcountry Magazine, so be sure to check out our articles over there as well! Do note that if you have dogs or cats, you need to take every precaution necessary to make sure they can’t get to your ducklings. This can even be noted in ducklings under a week old. Nevertheless, many new duckling parents give their ducklings unmodified “chick feed.” Problem: chick feed is formulated specifically for baby chickens, which have different nutritional needs than ducklings. Pin it. Best wishes! Male mallards have green feathers on their heads that begin to show when they are a few months old. In the wild, ducks lay eggs in the warm months of spring and summer. ii. This encourages your ducklings to grow at a healthy, normal rate vs. the more accelerated rate commonly recommended for broilers & commercial egg layers (as per duck expert, Dave Holderread, in Storay’s Guide To Raising Ducks). Ducklings should not be kept on starter crumb for too long, they are too high in protein. We very nearly lost one of ducklings, Marigold (she prefers to be called “Mawy”), due to drowning in a water dish. We are new ducks parents and want to give our girls the best start possible. Mina – Ugh, sorry. We’d recommend getting three just in case something happens to one duckling. Thank you so much for the wonderful website. Great question, Beanie! Like adult ducks, ducklings LOVE to swim. Thanks again for your advice. The ducks are now six weeks old and have been living outside for two and a half weeks. We always make sure there are fresh, finely chopped garden greens in our duckling water bowls, which they eat with great gusto. Views 43 . Other Ducklings. 4 weeks old Muscovy ducklings for $6 each. Hi Connie! By two weeks old, our ducklings needed more room so we expanded into a larger 3′ x 3′ square. In the back you can see the cinder block they use as a step to climb in and out of the pool. The most important thing is not what to feed ducks, it’s ALWAYS providing clean water with food. Ad ID: 36353987. It’s hard to imagine how painful it would be to go through the process of raising ducklings, only to see them injured or killed by a predator after their outdoor transition. They are approximately 6 weeks old and we have been mixing their feed with rolled oats since week 3. Unfortunately, that mess means you’ll need to plan to do a good bit of cleaning to keep your ducklings dry and healthy as follows: Again, to raise ducklings that don’t get sick, it’s very important that your ducklings have a dry, clean brooder and sanitary conditions so they can stay warm, happy, and illness-free. More informations. 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