Raising Ducks

Ducks make fun pets and are excellent layers. Some duck breeds can lay more eggs than chickens do! Ducks are very hardy and need only a simple shelter from extreme weather to be comfortable and happy. To start your ducklings out right you will need the following supplies:

  • Brooder
  • Bedding
  • Feeder or bowl
  • Waterer
  • Heat lamp and bulb
  • Proper starter feed for ducklings
  • Niacin (brewer’s yeast)
  • Grit

BROODER:

Set the brooder up before you bring your ducklings home and warm it up using the heat lamp: 90° for the first week , lowering the temperature 5° a week until it reaches room temperature. Place the heat lamp to one end of the brooder so ducklings can get away from it if they are too warm.

A brooder can be anything from a large plastic tote to a kiddie swimming pool. Good choices for bedding are straw, shavings or even old towels. Ducklings are VERY messy, so the brooder should be cleaned out at least once a day or whenever the bedding becomes too soiled. It helps to put a layer of newspapers under the bedding to soak up some of the water and droppings. When the bedding needs to be changed you can simply roll up the newspapers with the mess inside it and discard. Newspapers can get slick when wet so be sure to put about an inch of bedding on top of them.

FEED:

Ducklings can use a chick feeder for the first couple weeks but will out grow it quickly. A bowl or feed pan is also a good choice. Feed should be available 24/7 for the first couple weeks and should NOT be medicated, an all flock starter feed of 18-20% is a good choice. Ducklings eat much more than chicks and will be poisoned if fed a medicated feed.

At two weeks the ducklings should be transitioned to a 15-18% grower feed. If ducklings are fed the higher protein food too long they can get angel wing. Angel wing is a condition where the wings grow up at a strange angle and do not lay flat on the ducks back and unfortunately it is permanent.

Ducklings grow VERY fast and need extra niacin to help their bodies grow strong. If they don’t have enough niacin they can become lame, have bowed or weak legs and swollen joints. An easy way to avoid these problems is to sprinkle Brewer’s Yeast on their food. If these problems appear in a duckling niacin can cure them if it’s provided as soon as the problem is noticed. Ducklings also need grit to help them digest their feed. Grit is tiny rocks that they store in their gizzard. The grit acts like teeth to grind up the food so they can digest it. Ducklings should not be fed feeds that are in mash (powdered) form.

0-2 weeks - The Essex Co-Op carries these 18-20% starter feeds:

  • Mazuri Waterfowl Starter
  • Blue Seal Multiflock Starter/Grower Crumbles
  • Poulin Starter Crumbles
  • Nutrena Natures Smart Organic Starter/Grower Crumbles
  • Poulin Gamebird Starter/Grower

3 weeks to the first egg – The Essex Co-Op carries these 15-18% grower feeds:

  • Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance
  • Blue Seal Organic Grower Crumbles
  • Blue Seal Grow & Show
  • Poulin Organic 17% Poultry Grower
  • Poulin Organic Broiler/Grower

Adult ducks - The Essex Co-Op carries these 17-18% layer feeds

  • Poulin Egg Plus Crumblets
  • Blue Seal Multiflock Breeder
  • Mazuri Waterfowl Breeder

WATERER:

As soon as you place your ducklings in the brooder take each one and dip its bill into the water. They’ll be thirsty from their trip home and will need to be shown where the water is.

Ducks dunk their bills to clear their nostrils (nares) and eyes so they need a deeper waterer than baby chicks. Water MUST be available to them whenever they are eating or they might choke. When they are very small a good waterer choice is to take a cleaned out milk jug and cut circular holes in the sides that are about even in height with their shoulders and only big enough for their head and necks to fit in. This way they can dunk their faces into the water to drink and clear their nose but they cannot swim. This will also help to keep the bedding in the brooder from getting too wet and soiled since they won’t be able to play in the water. A new milk jug waterer can be made easily as they grow larger. When they are all grown up a bucket is a good choice for a waterer.

SWIMMING:

Ducklings LOVE to swim! A duckling raised by its mother will have its feathers oiled by mom using her oil gland which is located near her tail. This makes the duckling water proof. Your ducklings own gland doesn’t produce oil yet and so if you allow them to swim they will need to be DRIED OFF and warmed back up by the brooder lamp. They can also become water logged and drown so do not let them swim unattended.