The adorable 2021 duckling crew
Update: these little cuties are laying eggs as of 1/25.
These little ones arrived via USPS on September 1, as 2 day old ducklings. We have a routine around here. The brooder is set up the day before, including their drinking water, so nothing is cold when they arrive. We use a brooder plate for the most part, although at times the heat lamp comes out. When they arrive, we check each one out, dip their beak in the water so they know where it is, and put them into the brooder, under the brooder plate. Food is laid out everywhere, so they come out from under the brooder plate pretty quickly and learn what food is.
Somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks old, depending on the night time temperature, ducklings are big enough to go out on pasture. For this little group, the night time temp dropped into the 50’s right when they hit 3 weeks. We also had a few that were lagging in growth. The slow growing ones went into a separate area for a week so they could eat without competition, before they all went back together when they went on pasture at 4 weeks old.
Ducks are so messy. They poke holes in the ground, fling water everywhere, and poop more than any creature you’ve ever seen. We move the duck yard regularly so that any one area doesn’t become overwhelmed with the mess.
These ducklings will stay in the tractor, and be moved daily, inside the duck yard, until they reach approximately the same size as the other ducks- usually about 8-10 weeks, at which point they’ll be allowed out for limited amounts of time to begin integrating slowly with the grown ducks and geese. This way, they’ll be getting to know each other safely through the tractor walls while the ducklings are still young.
Every batch of ducklings and chicks is different, and this batch is more cautious than others we’ve had, which makes taking photos more difficult. They really don’t want any of us too close. Eventually, they’ll connect the dots that when the people arrive, food happens.
The video below is their first day on pasture. They’re a bit confused and very cautious. In the brooder, their world had a ceiling and walls. This world is much bigger, brighter, and has lots of grass.