Kiariana
In the Brooder
I wanted to create a timeline of my Muscovy ducklings growing and feathering out, and to share my pictures with everyone 
We got the ducklings May 21st and were told they were a week old. Probably give or take a couple days, I didn't ask the exact date of hatching.
Week 1:
This is the first week we had them. I started out with the brooder in the camper with me like I'd done with the chicks, but quickly decided I wanted them outside. They're messier and smellier than the chicks were, and as a bonus, putting the brooder in the coop would mean the chickens and ducks could adjust to each other!
Of course, that comes with its own set of problems. The chickens are only two weeks older than the ducklings, and they really liked the brooder light- I came out the first night to find them laying on top of the brooder screen in a pile, ready to sleep! I had to whip up a different heating set-up using an old heating pad I had for a snake. I've since read the posts on here about the 'momma heating pad' and I have to say I'm definitely a convert. It's so much nicer than the lamp. Unfortunately this didn't solve my problem of the chickens liking the brooder more than the coop. I found them crammed between the brooder and the enclosure wire the next night. After a couple nights of this, and feeling like the container was a little cramped for the ducklings, I moved the recently-vacated dog crate (The family cat was recovering from a dog attack in it for a few weeks) up beside the coop, covered it with a tarp on three sides (plus the top), and set it up as a brooder. This setup worked much, much better, and I'll be using it again when our new chicks come in at the end of the month.
Week 2:
The second week with the ducklings. I introduced them to the backyard with supervision. I was worried the chickens would try to pick on them, so I introduced them slowly and watched to make sure that didn't happen. It ended up not being a problem, lol. The ducks aren't afraid to nip at the chickens if they invade their space. The ducklings quickly grew a thick layer of insulation on their undersides, which was suuuper soft to the touch. The chickens were fascinated by the brooder and were constantly getting in it when the ducklings were out exploring.
Week 3:
Third week with the ducklings (~4 weeks of age). They had been trying to swim in the rubber dish I gave them to clean them, and though I was concerned about chilling they seem to preen themselves dry just fine and their undersides were quickly developing feathers. I provided them a cheap cat litter box from walmart to swim and clean themselves in and continued to keep an eye on them afterwards, but they did fine and loved the water. It was lots of fun to watch them preen afterwards too. Henry the cockerel supervised. This is also the age I realized they weren't kidding about how sharp their claws are. I took a couple hits from those suckers!
Week 4:
The feathers on their bellies seemed to come in between the blink of an eye. Now that they had those, we upgraded them to a kiddie pool. (Henry, as always, checks to make sure everything's up to code). This is also the time we started free-ranging all the birds instead of just supervising. Doesn't seem to be much of a predator problem here. Fingers crossed that trend continues. The muscovies started surpassing the chickens in size too XD
This is when I moved them out to the coop with the chickens. The transition was pretty seamless.
We got the ducklings May 21st and were told they were a week old. Probably give or take a couple days, I didn't ask the exact date of hatching.
Week 1:
This is the first week we had them. I started out with the brooder in the camper with me like I'd done with the chicks, but quickly decided I wanted them outside. They're messier and smellier than the chicks were, and as a bonus, putting the brooder in the coop would mean the chickens and ducks could adjust to each other!
Of course, that comes with its own set of problems. The chickens are only two weeks older than the ducklings, and they really liked the brooder light- I came out the first night to find them laying on top of the brooder screen in a pile, ready to sleep! I had to whip up a different heating set-up using an old heating pad I had for a snake. I've since read the posts on here about the 'momma heating pad' and I have to say I'm definitely a convert. It's so much nicer than the lamp. Unfortunately this didn't solve my problem of the chickens liking the brooder more than the coop. I found them crammed between the brooder and the enclosure wire the next night. After a couple nights of this, and feeling like the container was a little cramped for the ducklings, I moved the recently-vacated dog crate (The family cat was recovering from a dog attack in it for a few weeks) up beside the coop, covered it with a tarp on three sides (plus the top), and set it up as a brooder. This setup worked much, much better, and I'll be using it again when our new chicks come in at the end of the month.
Week 2:
The second week with the ducklings. I introduced them to the backyard with supervision. I was worried the chickens would try to pick on them, so I introduced them slowly and watched to make sure that didn't happen. It ended up not being a problem, lol. The ducks aren't afraid to nip at the chickens if they invade their space. The ducklings quickly grew a thick layer of insulation on their undersides, which was suuuper soft to the touch. The chickens were fascinated by the brooder and were constantly getting in it when the ducklings were out exploring.
Week 3:
Third week with the ducklings (~4 weeks of age). They had been trying to swim in the rubber dish I gave them to clean them, and though I was concerned about chilling they seem to preen themselves dry just fine and their undersides were quickly developing feathers. I provided them a cheap cat litter box from walmart to swim and clean themselves in and continued to keep an eye on them afterwards, but they did fine and loved the water. It was lots of fun to watch them preen afterwards too. Henry the cockerel supervised. This is also the age I realized they weren't kidding about how sharp their claws are. I took a couple hits from those suckers!
Week 4:
The feathers on their bellies seemed to come in between the blink of an eye. Now that they had those, we upgraded them to a kiddie pool. (Henry, as always, checks to make sure everything's up to code). This is also the time we started free-ranging all the birds instead of just supervising. Doesn't seem to be much of a predator problem here. Fingers crossed that trend continues. The muscovies started surpassing the chickens in size too XD
This is when I moved them out to the coop with the chickens. The transition was pretty seamless.
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, and his feathers aren't even out of those waxy coatings on the pin feathers yet...
. .
