Duck university - learning

The following are a few 'odds & ends' photos that are interesting.

Brooder.  The first pictures are the inside of our Brooder - in our case a Rubber Maid tub.  Per directions we found in one of our many Google searches, we lined it with newspaper and then a fitted/framed piece of chicken wire.  Since the chicken wire was framed (corner moulding cut to size with the chicken wire stapled onto it), it stayed just above the newspaper (dry duck feet) and could be easily lifted out to change the newspaper.

Food & Water. I bought a small poultry water bottle and put marbles in it to keep the ducklings from trying to stand in the water trough.  (I'm not sure in hind-sight that that was really necessary, but I had the marbles on hand and it was recommended somewhere...).   I also purchased a small poultry feeder.  It is really just a long tray with a removable top.  The top has holes in it to allow for beaks.  I thought it would also keep the food cleaner, but - no.  The ducklings walked all over it, pooping everywhere as ducks do*.  I just made sure to put in clean food each day.
Food - I purchased duck/duckling food at Fleet Farm initially, but later learned that the local small feed & supply store also carried it.  Big, huge bags - 30 lbs at least.  At the smaller stores you can usually get it in smaller bulk portions, but I didn't know how much to get and it wasn't expensive.  The food was meant for all types of poultry.  I think the bag said "chickens, ducks, quail".  It was essentially a crushed corn with some protein added to it.  Ducklings cannot eat whole corn and they should not be fed food with antibiotics in it - so double check that.

Heat Lamp.  Very important.  We got ours at fleet farm - can't remember the exact price, but it was around $5.  The ducklings will need it for the first week for sure.  Longer if you are keeping them in a cool area.

The Lovey.  The teddy bear in the picture falls into the category of "unnecessary and gross".  We found recommended (online somewhere) that the ducklings would need something to cuddle with and bond to after they hatched.  Sounds good, right?  It became apparent quickly that, although the ducklings did seem to like cuddling with the teddy bear, it was 1) a launching pad for ducks to escape the brooder (see video in previous post) and 2) covered in duck poop*.   After only two days, the teddy bear got the boot.  Now, if you only have one or two ducklings, this may be more important.  But we had nine - they could cuddle together.  It did make for some cute  photos, though!

*Note:  Duckling and ducks are incredibly cute, very fun but SOOOOOO messy.  I keep reading that chickens are much cleaner, so if you've raised chickens, don't assume it is the same with ducks.  They eat and poop, eat and poop, eat and poop.  Constantly.  I had to change the brooder box papers and completely hose the box out every day.  When they moved to a larger pen, and grew, it just became a bigger job.  Some days (before we adopted out a few) it had to be done twice a day.  Invest in a good pair of gloves, be near a hose and scavenge your neighborhood on recycling day for everyone's old newspapers.  We went through what seemed like tons of newspaper.