At what age can I allow my ducklings to swim? And protein question.

[Myrkk]

My ducklings are 13 days old now and had the start of a niacin deficiency so have been giving them niacin, nutritional yeast and vitamin booster in their water. Their legs are looking ok now, one is still slightly pigeon toed. I’d like to help them strengthen their legs by swimming them in the bath, warm water. Is this ok at 13days old?

I’ve also been feeding them egg and mealworms on top of their duck crumb and am starting to worry after reading about angel wing being a high protein issue. Should I go back to just crumb?

Thanks for the help. You guys are awesome.

 

[SilverBirds]

Some people disagree on what age to let ducklings start swimming. I let my babies start taking short baths when they are about 5 days old. Never leave them unattended when letting them swim at this age. Watch them for exhaustion and thoroughly dry them off afterwards to prevent chilling.

Have you been giving them grit? If they are given anything other than crumbles, they need grit to help break down the food. If you are giving them treats daily, I would just switch to giving it to them once or twice a week, or not at all.

 

[Myrkk]

Hi, thanks for replying.

Yes, I’ve been giving them some grit two or three times a week. I’m switching on to giving them crumb with a bit of egg to get the niacin in and some nutritional yeast. Occasionally they are getting some mealworms now.

I popped them in the bath today, happily it is a little sloped so there was a shallow end they could stand in and a deeper end they could paddle in. Within a minute of putting them in one was zipping about under water having great fun. I used warm water so they didn’t get too cold and gave them a good dry off afterwards and popped them under the heat plate. They seem non the worse for it, only a little cleaner lol.

 

[Barbours]

My ducklings are 13 days old now and had the start of a niacin deficiency so have been giving them niacin, nutritional yeast and vitamin booster in their water. Their legs are looking ok now, one is still slightly pigeon toed. I’d like to help them strengthen their legs by swimming them in the bath, warm water. Is this ok at 13days old?

I’ve also been feeding them egg and mealworms on top of their duck crumb and am starting to worry after reading about angel wing being a high protein issue. Should I go back to just crumb?

Thanks for the help. You guys are awesome.

I always let mine swim at about 1 week. But watch them and make sure it's shallow. Also mine always liked it when I put one of my hands in with them. So they could take a break if they wanted to

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I start mine at two days old. Shallow, and never for very long. More often is better than for a long time. If you sprinkle a small amount of shredded lettuce or grass on the water it will make them happy.