# My Ducklings growing up! Now living outside!



## secuono (Jan 15, 2012)

Here are my 9 baby ducklings! Two are female Khaki, 3 are Pekin and the 4 with the brown on their heads are Grimaud Hybrid Pekins.
They use up to 5-6 quarts of water every day, mainly by spilling it, lol. I've changed their setup several times now, last picture is of the newest setup. They are from Metzer Farms & are 7 days old today! 
1st to last picture, showing them at 3 days old when they first arrived up to today. They are PIGS, just oh so messy! Yuk!


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## Ms. Research (Jan 15, 2012)

As much as your baby bunnies made me melt, baby ducks even more.  

Thanks for sharing your ducklings.

Hoping, like your baby bunnies, you let us watch them grow thru pics.  

Wishing you all the luck with them.  

K


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 15, 2012)

Ducks are so dang cute. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you some questions. Are ducks easy to raise? Is duck meat good? Sorry if that question bothers you, not my intention at all. Do they eat a lot? Thank you. Oh and thank you for the pictures. Can't wait to see them when they are older. Oh and what kind are they?


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## Ms. Research (Jan 15, 2012)

fortheloveofgoats said:
			
		

> Ducks are so dang cute. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you some questions. Are ducks easy to raise? Is duck meat good? Sorry if that question bothers you, not my intention at all. Do they eat a lot? Thank you. Oh and thank you for the pictures. Can't wait to see them when they are older. Oh and what kind are they?





> Here are my 9 baby ducklings! Two are female Khaki, 3 are Pekin and the 4 with the brown on their heads are Grimaud Hybrid Pekins.


I've never seen the Grimaud Hybrid Pekins before.  Always saw the lighter ones.  Like the unique coloring of the Grimaud.  

K


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## secuono (Jan 15, 2012)

All of the yellow ducklings are going to be eaten, the 2 brown ones will become pets/layers/breeders. 

They make a massive mess constantly, I am cleaning up after them all day. 2x a day so far and they are only a week old. 

This newest version of the brooder has a catch pan and hardware cloth floor to help dry the ducks, keep them out of the water and keep the rest of the brooder dry. I also have towels on the bottom and then paper towels on top so the poop can be easily removed and the towels will soak any extra water and stay clean so all I do is dry them and reuse.

I use a bottom half of an egg carton and so far, they ear half every 20 or so hours. Depending on the breed, they may eat more or less. Obviously, the amount of food will go up. Last night all 7 ate the whole carton's worth.


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 15, 2012)

Ms. Research said:
			
		

> fortheloveofgoats said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Me and my fast reading.


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 15, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> All of the yellow ducklings are going to be eaten, the 2 brown ones will become pets/layers/breeders.
> 
> They make a massive mess constantly, I am cleaning up after them all day. 2x a day so far and they are only a week old.
> 
> ...


I am sorry for asking a question that you already answered. I promise this time I will read everything slowly. Sounds like you came up with some smart ways to keep things some what clean. When they get older, do you put them outside? Do they need water? When do you butcher? What all do you feed to prepare them for butchering?


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## secuono (Jan 15, 2012)

I'll probably use my 3x6ft wooden hutch with a heat lamp for them once they are bigger, but not fully feathered out yet. My guess is it will be in 2-3 weeks. Like all ducks, they need deep enough water to submerge their whole head, since water is how they clean their nostrils. If you are keeping them longer for laying or pets, I'd give them a clean kiddy pool full so they can bathe and clean their whole bodies. 
I'm feeding a duckling/game bird starter, then grower. Some feed finisher, but I'll probably stick with the cheaper, layer pellets. May even skip the grower and continue the starter, since there's more protein. Not sure if there will be any odd side effects or not for meat birds. No issues last year. 

From the Metzer Farm website. 
Age at slaughter, days	49
Live weight, lbs.	        8.1
Eviscerated weight, lbs.	5.26
Feed conversion	        2.29
Mortality, %	                2.5
Breast fillet, %	                25.5


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 15, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> I'll probably use my 3x6ft wooden hutch with a heat lamp for them once they are bigger, but not fully feathered out yet. My guess is it will be in 2-3 weeks. Like all ducks, they need deep enough water to submerge their whole head, since water is how they clean their nostrils. If you are keeping them longer for laying or pets, I'd give them a clean kiddy pool full so they can bathe and clean their whole bodies.
> I'm feeding a duckling/game bird starter, then grower. Some feed finisher, but I'll probably stick with the cheaper, layer pellets. May even skip the grower and continue the starter, since there's more protein. Not sure if there will be any odd side effects or not for meat birds. No issues last year.
> 
> From the Metzer Farm website.
> ...


Well thank you for answering my questions, it's much appreciated.


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## secuono (Jan 15, 2012)

No problem, as long as I know the answer that is, lol. 

Here is a pic of my last two surviving ducks. The Khaki hen was taken by a fox the next night. 3 days before the fox got my Mallard hen. Back then, the 4 of them ate about 3 cups of feed. Now the two only eat about 1.5-2 cups of pellets a day. They just won't eat more, lol. So adults don't eat much.


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 15, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> No problem, as long as I know the answer that is, lol.
> 
> Here is a pic of my last two surviving ducks. The Khaki hen was taken by a fox the next night. 3 days before the fox got my Mallard hen. Back then, the 4 of them ate about 3 cups of feed. Now the two only eat about 1.5-2 cups of pellets a day. They just won't eat more, lol. So adults don't eat much.
> http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hpho...454164_100000705527207_1070367_41761574_n.jpg


 Well happy that you knew the answers to my questions. Sorry to hear about your loss. I love your picture. Thank you for sharing. :bun You have beautiful birds.


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## secuono (Jan 16, 2012)

Ducklings got their first swim today, a few started diving and just loved it.


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## secuono (Jan 17, 2012)




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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 17, 2012)

I was hoping to see a picture of them swimming, but the picture you have posted is cute too!  Thanks for sharing.


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## secuono (Jan 17, 2012)

Our bathtub doesn't have a stopper, so the only water they can have is a bucket. And the mess they make w/the water is the same as adult ducks! More water on my floor than in the bucket..lol.


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 17, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> Our bathtub doesn't have a stopper, so the only water they can have is a bucket. And the mess they make w/the water is the same as adult ducks! More water on my floor than in the bucket..lol.


 Too cute. I bet that is a lot of fun for you.


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## secuono (Jan 18, 2012)

Gave them a gallon waterer and added pebbles. They went through 4 quarts of water today....most wasted...lol.


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 18, 2012)

That can't be too much fun. I hope to get some pictures of that soon!


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## secuono (Jan 19, 2012)

Gallon water lasts about 20 hours. 
I can sleep and do other things now w/o constantly refilling it!
But the food is now always running out...haha.


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## fortheloveofgoats (Jan 19, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> Gallon water lasts about 20 hours.
> I can sleep and do other things now w/o constantly refilling it!
> But the food is now always running out...haha.


 You should get an automatic feeder.


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## secuono (Jan 20, 2012)

Found a bunch of bugs hibernating in the coop. Larvae of something, look like centipedes but they aren't. Ducks love to eat them one at a time, but a bunch in a dish scares them, lol. Gonna get a video once my camera's battery charges.


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## secuono (Jan 20, 2012)

They found the second floor...more mess for me to clean up...lol. 














http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMdltkhEJnU&feature=youtu.be


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## secuono (Jan 21, 2012)

Eating bugs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uJ__EgTkRQ&feature=youtu.be
Eating eggs. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0DWo528kAM&feature=youtu.be


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## secuono (Jan 22, 2012)

Moved out the ducklings today while it was snowing! Fiance was complaining about the smell, hes a giant baby...
So, they are now in the 3x6ft wooden hutch. I boarded and covered as much of it as possible to keep most of the icy air out. Heat lamp is between the water and food to keep it from freezing, but enough space for the ducks to also use the heat. The two Khaki's are still tiny and I'd rather keep them indoors, but I didn't want issues later on with reintegrating them. 
Pics later in the day!


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## secuono (Jan 22, 2012)




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## secuono (Jan 22, 2012)

http://youtu.be/8-V23Bz77CY


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## secuono (Jan 30, 2012)




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## secuono (Feb 5, 2012)

Duckie breakfast, 8 scrambled eggs, crushed up egg shells for calcium, floating aquarium plants fresh from the tank, a few snails from the tank and adult bird feed pellets.













Kitty tripping hazard. 





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUetmWemFN4


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## secuono (Feb 13, 2012)

They are 37 days old today, will get a picture tomorrow. Hoping to let them out with the adults to give them room to run around a bit.


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## Stacykins (Feb 13, 2012)

I've loved watching your duckies grow! Can't wait to see your latest pictures! 






These are my little fluff balls of ducky goodness that just hatched over the weekend, regular pekins! This picture was taken today, I was snuggling the girls (vent sexed) since the boys are destined to be duck a l'orange. I like starting socialization early, and they are very accepting of gentle handling, as long as they aren't alone!


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## secuono (Feb 14, 2012)

Ran out of daylight today, will let them out tomorrow right after work and take pics. :/


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## secuono (Feb 14, 2012)

Ok, decided to move them into the chicken run for a few days. Will move them in with my two adult ducks once I block off the dividing fence from dog yard to duck yard. My little dog will pull anything laying next to the fence through and kill it. :/
The two adults were very curious and wanted to come say hello so bad! 
Btw, they weighed a ton when I was moving them in the dog crate. They were clean before I moved them...uugh.


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## Stacykins (Feb 15, 2012)

D'aww, they be adorably muddy! I bet they had a blast getting that way!


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## SmallFarmGirl (Feb 15, 2012)

Stacykins said:
			
		

> D'aww, they be adorably muddy! I bet they had a blast getting that way!


I'm sure they did too.


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## secuono (Feb 16, 2012)

Moved them into the big yard w/the adults, but then moved my Khaki drake into the chicken yard. He's got one thing on his mind and it's freaking, stressing and hurting the fatsos, breeding. :/


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## secuono (Feb 21, 2012)

Here are the ducks now, taken yesterday. The adult Pekin is the one laying near the chickens.


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## secuono (Feb 23, 2012)

2 adults from yesterday eating duckweed and other aquarium plants.




Duckies from today.





Added my 2 horses, 2 kitties & 3 sheep for funsies! I let the sheep into the backyard to graze the thicker grass. Chickens weren't sure what they were. They are used to horses, but the giant cotton balls spooked them, lol.


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