02/08/2020
DUCKLINGS NEED
WATER.
The most important factor in raising ducks is
water. Water is a must for ducks.
They have to keep their nasal cavities moist.
Water also needs to be near their food, as
they can choke on the food so they need to
have water to wash it down.
Ducks also need a lot to drink each day.
Quite a bit more than chickens.
And that is before they play in it. Ducks
love to play in their water. They make
messes with water. They bathe in their
drinking water. Yes, it should come as no
surprise that ducks like water.
The water for ducklings should be deep
enough that they can submerge their whole
bill in it. If you give ducklings water to swim
in, make sure they can get back out.
Adult ducks also need to submerge their bills
when they eat, and they get the water really
dirty. That’s why we put in a special, easy to
clean waterer . It cut my water cleaning time
way down.
Way in the future, when my momma duck
had a batch of young ones I had a small
dish for the ducklings to bathe in, but I made
sure the large duck water trough had bricks
in it, so if a duckling got in, it could get back
out. (and don’t underestimate how high a
duckling can jump!)
Please be aware. For the first few weeks,
ducklings have not yet begun to produce the
oil that makes them “waterproof” that helps
them float. So even though they love the
water, when they are very young they can
still drown. Drowning is a major cause of
duckling deaths.
