# Bedding for duckling brooder



## Rechellef (Oct 5, 2010)

I am wondering what the best option for a duckling brooder would be. With my last hatch I found myself cleaning out the brooder almost every day because it became so wet and disgusting so quickly. I was using a layer of newspaper covered with shavings. There has got to be something that stays drier for more than 24 hours and doesn't get so gross so easily.

Thanks!


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## Wildfire_Jewel (Nov 5, 2006)

I gave up on brooding them indoors - the stinck is incredible from the sour food and poop mix - YUCK

I looog time ago I saw someone post their call duckling brooders. They were wire floors with a dropped in water pan. There was a covered back area where the heat lamp went that held shavings. Since the water and food were away from the bedding things stayed alot dryer. They really looked like a very long rabbit hutch just with a cut out and frame so the water pan dropped down. I think she also had drains in the pans.


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## Dusky Beauty (Jan 4, 2012)

The wire floor brooder is the only way to keep it clean. 
I use pine shavings because they smell better. The smaller the brooder box, the faster it gets disgusting, so brood in as big a box as you have room for. 

To get through an entire day, Holderread's book says you can pour clean bedding on top of the dirty. 
Biggest thing is probably keeping the water in something they can't splash around in and spill all over the shavings. 

Also, pop for the best starter you can get. Better quality food is "absorbed more". Junk food passes through more. Cruddy food = more poop. My cleanest box ever was the batch of ducklings I raised on gerber baby food my baby had outgrown.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Wildfire_Jewel said:


> I gave up on brooding them indoors - the stinck is incredible from the sour food and poop mix - YUCK
> 
> I looog time ago I saw someone post their call duckling brooders. They were wire floors with a dropped in water pan. There was a covered back area where the heat lamp went that held shavings. Since the water and food were away from the bedding things stayed alot dryer. They really looked like a very long rabbit hutch just with a cut out and frame so the water pan dropped down. I think she also had drains in the pans.



I know a woman that has those too & they work great. I would love to build one but too many other jobs around here this spring.

I use straw or hay but I still have to clean it every 24 to 48 hours. I agree the bigger the space the better & try & keep food & water at opposite end of where the light is.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I use pine STRAW, the baled pine needles.
They dry quickly and do not hold water at all.
Poop dries quickly and falls through to the bottom.
You can lift the needles and 'sweep' under them.

Also, having a time of day when you take the 'little darlings' out for a swim in a bigger water source etc.. cuts down on the constant splashing around.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

I did it in my bathtub and used a paint tray for the water and used a towel for the rest of the area. Twice a day I would pull out the towel and shake it out outside and leave it outside until I had a pile. Then I would wash them in detergent and bleach. I would spray down the tub with water and then add a fresh clean towel. 
Worked great for me and it never stank in the bathroom. I only had 2 ducklings though.


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## Wildfire_Jewel (Nov 5, 2006)

I found the link to the brooder housing I was referring to in my earlier post.

Call Duck Housing - Faith Valley Waterfowl

This is on my list of projects for this year 

I would just add a heat lamp to the sheltered area and let them loose  I do not coddle any ducklings (besides the Calls we used to have) - mine go out at day one and with only 100 to 150 watt bulb as well. I also take the light away sooner than most. As soon as they are too big to fit under a mama duck, I shut the light off (unless we wind up with bitter cold temps)


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Wildfire Jewel that is exactly what I've seen before too. I would put the light on the end with the wood box. The Wet Brooder is even nice, just hang the light over one end & make sure it's in a garage or barn out of the cold.
This time of year I would still probably throw a tarp over either one even in a barn or garage to hold in the heat.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

My babies go out at 2-3 days into an insulated 9' by 11' shed with straw on the floor and a 150 W lamp. I do confine them for a few days up close to the heat lamp. I put their waterer into an old bread pan to catch spills and their food well away from the water. If I have a broody, she goes in the shed with the ducklings. I do usually have a dozen or more ducklings at a time though. Once they seem big enough, maybe a week old in decent weather, I open the door and they have access to outside. Then they mostly ignore the heat lamp and sleep in the straw in a pile and seem perfectly happy. If there is bad weather I put them inside. I move the water out as soon as I can though.


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## mitchell3006 (Apr 1, 2010)

I use a kiddie pool with sand on the floor to brood if I don't put them on raised wire. Either way they are OUT of the house now. Indoor brooding is too much trouble. I don't give ducklings a pan they can get into until they feather out and can oil their own feathers. Without mom to oil them they get water-logged easily.


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