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. |
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| 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.
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| 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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