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October 20, 2017

Getting Ready for Your Ducklings and Goslings: Water and Waterer


Welcome back to our series of posts to help you get ready BEFORE your ducklings and goslings arrive!

To read our post on the brooder and bedding, go to Getting Ready for Your Ducklings and Goslings: Brooder and Bedding.


Water

Water is the source of life. Regardless of when they arrive, make sure to get your baby birds to drinking water ASAP.



Dip their beaks in the water then leave them by the water. Make sure they tilt their head back so you know they drank. They will figure it out from there. Ensure they have access to the water at all times.

Waterer
The best way to provide water is to use a chick waterer. A tank sits on the top and slowly lets water into the small trough that circles the bottom. The trough is just big enough for the ducklings to get their tiny bills into it. They will need something bigger as they grow, but this is a good starting point.

Waterer assembled.
Waterer disassembled.
Some people try to use a shallow dish but this has two problems:
1) the ducklings can get in it and get themselves and their pen very wet.
2) there is not much of reserve of water – you will be repeatedly refilling it.
But if you must use a dish, elevate it with blocks of wood so they cannot walk in it.

Shallow dish on a 2 inch high octagonal piece of wood. The screws are there to keep the dish in place so that the ducklings do not knock it off.
You can also find this or similar at your local feed store. We also offer waterers on our website.

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