when can I let my ducklings swim in a pool?????????

[Taylor]

hi i had a very good hatch today of 19 ducks out of 20 and i was wondering when I can let them get in a pool to swim some???? today they were throwing water on their backs in the brooder. it will be a baby pool and i will put rocks so they can come up and stand on them if they want out for a while.

 

[dot n'dave]

Bump!!!

 

[JROOSTER]

Ducks can get in the water for short swims from day one almost. Just dont leave them unattended. If you have rocks they can climb out on to rest and dry off they can be in the pool area longer.

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
agreed, I usually start at just a few days old putting them in a pool for a few minutes at a time so they can start getting used to it, after a few weeks they should be good to go once they start feathering.

 

[Higins00]

When my father hatched ducks we couldn't put them in the water until they were older. When they are with their mother they get the oils from her but when you hatched them they have no oil and when they go into the water it saturates them instead of rolling off their backs. They get cold and stiffen up and sink. Thats what happened to me one time when I took care of them. I called my dad and he told me to take all the little guys stiff from the cold and rush them in a warm incubator. Within an hour they were back to normal so be careful and keep an eye on them.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm in always-warm sunny south Florida, so I let my ducklings have water to play in right from the start. But I agree that it's probably not a good idea to let them have access to deep water for long unsupervised periods of time. I start them with just a big plastic plant saucer filled with an inch or two of water. They jump in & out of it all day long. And it's warm enough here that they don't take a chill afterwards. As they grow -- and they sure grow quickly! -- I give them larger & deeper pans of water until they can handle the kiddy pool.

Only once did I have duck hen-hatched ducklings. It was so much fun to see the tiny day-old hatchlings swimming in the big pool along with their Mama duck. We called them the Tub Toys.

 

[classroomducks]

our babies were 1-3 days old when we let them swim in the pool...september in texas...just dont leave them out for more than an hour and make sure they have a nice warm dry place to sleep and warm up when they are done...my day old duckling was the one that was diving under the water...