New duck Momma!

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Coldbreeze

In the Brooder
Jun 28, 2022
18
44
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Hello all! I have 3 ducklings!

Jayke is the bigger duckling (pekin) and the little ones are white crested (both males)

They have been inside until today when I finally was able to build them a enclosure.

Not the perfect one but it will work for now. We don't have raccoons and if anything I'm more worried about the hawks that sometimes fly over. They have been in their run all day and seem to be happy to finally be outside.

Large dog house will be built and put in the run later today and that will act as their "coop"

I plan on letting them figure out where they wanna poop before I cover that area in it but I left them a nice pile of it in the run. The run itself had fresh green grass for them. Plenty of shade to hide from the sun. We even have a pond which will be accessible to them as they get older and I get to figuring out how to make a ramp for that.


Tips on cleaning out the poop and cutting down on odors? Tips and tricks in general I would love to hear. :)
 

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CoriM

Crowing
Jun 6, 2019
1,415
2,861
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Hi, and welcome! That's a nice grassy space for your ducks. First I would ask, what are you feeding them? Ducklings need a duck-specific food because their bodies need niacin in order to develop proper leg strength. Pekins in particular are prone to issues and deficiencies, so even if feeding a duck food you likely need to add nutritional yeast to it to make sure they get enough niacin. Hopefully all of your ducks are male as the proper ration is like one male to five females....I can't tell from the photo if you have older grown ducks. As for the coop at night, just make sure that it breathes and they get plenty of air, and that the bedding is soft on their feet. They need at least 4 square feet per duck when contained like that. You could invest in bird netting to put over the top of your run to give full protection if birds are your only predators. I live in the woods in WA state and we have all sorts of predators, including birds. My ducks live in a coop that has half inch hardware cloth all the way around and under the ground. I let them out to roam freely when supervised, and have a moveable run that's covered with bird netting that I have out in my yard for when I'm at home. When they are in that "tractor" it gets dirty quick and I usually just hose down the grass each day and rinse the poop into the ground. They tear up the grass pretty quick, so be prepared. In my opinion water to swim in is a necessity for ducks, as it's pretty much their favorite thing to do. I don't know what your pond set-up is, but feel free to post a picture and ask for advice on ramps and stepping stones, or whatever. Best of luck to you!
 
C

Coldbreeze

In the Brooder
Jun 28, 2022
18
44
43
CoriM said:
Hi, and welcome! That's a nice grassy space for your ducks. First I would ask, what are you feeding them? Ducklings need a duck-specific food because their bodies need niacin in order to develop proper leg strength. Pekins in particular are prone to issues and deficiencies, so even if feeding a duck food you likely need to add nutritional yeast to it to make sure they get enough niacin. Hopefully all of your ducks are male as the proper ration is like one male to five females....I can't tell from the photo if you have older grown ducks. As for the coop at night, just make sure that it breathes and they get plenty of air, and that the bedding is soft on their feet. They need at least 4 square feet per duck when contained like that. You could invest in bird netting to put over the top of your run to give full protection if birds are your only predators. I live in the woods in WA state and we have all sorts of predators, including birds. My ducks live in a coop that has half inch hardware cloth all the way around and under the ground. I let them out to roam freely when supervised, and have a moveable run that's covered with bird netting that I have out in my yard for when I'm at home. When they are in that "tractor" it gets dirty quick and I usually just hose down the grass each day and rinse the poop into the ground. They tear up the grass pretty quick, so be prepared. In my opinion water to swim in is a necessity for ducks, as it's pretty much their favorite thing to do. I don't know what your pond set-up is, but feel free to post a picture and ask for advice on ramps and stepping stones, or whatever. Best of luck to you!
Click to expand...
I have been feeding them duck starter feed and letting them swim in my bath for bout half an hour every day. I also let them roam in the backyard every day to explore/forage. Today was the first day I let them out by themselves in their new enclosure since it was built today. You speak of yeast? Is this included with the starter or do I have to buy that separately?

Jayke the older duckling (I'm not sure but if I had to guess at least 3 MAYBE 4 weeks old. I noticed today that his little wings are very bare. I'm not sure if that cause he is entering his ugly duckling stage or if poor nutrition due to my part (in which cause Jayke I am SOOOO sorry 😞)
 
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CoriM

Crowing
Jun 6, 2019
1,415
2,861
288
Did you get all three as newborn ducklings? They definitely look awkward with bare little wings as they grow, so I'm sure it's nothing you did wrong. Some people call it the ugly-duckling phase, but I think they're still so cute. I would just advise you to read through the thread on niacin-deficiency posted on "sticky threads" just because pekins are so prone to it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/
When I had three pekin ducklings I had one who developed splay leg and still needs to have niacin added and one that was a little pigeon-toed. I was able to turn around their conditions for the most part with liquid vitamin B complex, but I wish I had known it was such an issue from the start as it may have saved me trouble. If you notice any weakness in the legs, you'll want to address it right away.
 
C

Coldbreeze

In the Brooder
Jun 28, 2022
18
44
43
So with Jaykes legs, I noticed this when he swims its as if he is sinking ans can't hold up his 1lb body while the Littles ones swim circles around him like "come on big brother, it's like this" and he has his legs splayed and not directly under him moving front and back like the little ones do. I always watch and he never goes under water but absolutely does not "float" on the water so I think you guys are correct.

I know the two little ones were hatched and shipped on 6/21 from Metzer farms. Jayke was the original duck and was a birthday gift to my boyfriend from his best friend. Me having a parrot and knowing how birds are knew we CAN NOT just have 1 duck. So unfortunately I do not know Jake's age. When we got hom he fit perfectly into my palm. Now he is alot bigger and he doubled his size in 48 hours. It was NUTS. We got Jayke on the 18th. He what I assume was maybe just about to hit 2 weeks. I dont heat any quaking from him but sometimes I feel like he's mixing his peeps and his Quacks and I'm like. Huh? You gonna quack for me big boy??

Where do I get this niacin?

Thank you for all the information 🥰
 

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