Need Help With Wet Bedding

[Cecy]

My ducks' bed is WET! How do you guys keep your little ones dry? It seems mine are always trying to climb into the water bottle and splash all over and their bedding stays wet constantly. They are about a week and a half old and seem to LOVE playing in the water. I realize they need water to swallow their food, but this seems ridiculous. They can empty the water bottle in an hour.

I think I need suggestions for bedding. Right now they are in pine shavings and I am thinking this is a no-no, but I really need to keep things dry and it seems almost impossible.

 

[MamaDuck1]

I cut a plastic container down to about two inches tall and place the waterer inside that. The walls of the container catch most of the water that would otherwise end up in the bedding.

 

[Cecy]

thanks going to try that.

 

[Amy S]

My little ones seem to be getting worse this week with their water mucking. I have a similiar contraption....one of those hard plastic sandwich keepers (the ones with the see-through blue lid). I just sit the waterer, base and all, in it. It isn't as big as I'd like, but it catches a lot.

Also, we change the pine shavings once a day. About half way through a 24 hr. period I take the ducklings out and shuffle around the shavings so they are not matted and soaked. They dry up fairly quickly, and, of course, they start all over again with the water! LOL

 

[Cecy]

My ducks bedding gets so soaked I am afraid to keep them in it and so change it, but really cannot afford to continue changing it that many times a day. So I do thank you for the suggestions and will try putting the waterer in a little deeper container.

 

[slink1211]

We place our waterer in a pie or round cake pan. It catches the extra and they can drink that too. But even with that said they still love to get there cages wet. Ducks love water.

Tracy from Indiana

 

[Amiga]

If my memory worked better, I could tell you exactly who set up a LOVELY watering station recently.

She took a plastic storage box - maybe six inches high, cut open the middle of the lid and replaced it with mesh, sealed the sides of that with duck tape.

She made little steps up to it and placed it in the middle of the brooder. All the splash is kept from the bedding.

I used a two piece broiler pan with a towel on top under the waterers and that worked very well until we went with a three gallon waterer. We had eleven ducklings.

So it's not the bedding, it's the watering station.

Right now for the indoor pen, I use the bottom half of a large plastic dog crate. I put an inch of sawdust pellets in the bottom and set a straight-sided pan of water in it. That works well for adult ducks in a tight spot.

You could get a taller plastic bin and cut down one side, cover the cut edges with duck tape to prevent cuts, put sawdust (very absorbent, those pellets) in the bottom and the waterer in that.

Water management seems to me to be the biggest single hurdle for new duckling caregivers. You can do it! Ducklings cannot help it, they are baby waterfowl!

 

[tweetysvoice]

Aww.. those are sweet words Amiga! I'm the one that created the water station. Here's the link that the OP can see:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

It's still working great! They do tend to go through the water very fast. I have to refill the waterer twice a day and dump out the station once a day, but other than the poppy mess, there hasn't been the smell of the wet shavings!

 

[Amiga]

Oh, tweetysvoice! Wow! Thanks for checking in on this topic!

If I ever brood babies again (I am leaning toward adopting rescues because of the need around here), one of the first components to the new brooder is very likely to be that watering platform.

One might even be able to use an old chafing dish pan (ever seen those at the fancy buffets?).

Some people (like yourself) seem to be able to take a basic concept and make it . . . great.

 

[HayleyCrum]

I cut a plastic container down to about two inches tall and place the waterer inside that. The walls of the container catch most of the water that would otherwise end up in the bedding.

how do they drink the water or get to the water? do they get in the container? im having this problem with my ducks so i was wondering