[Kathie]

Hi all,  Our ducklings are 2 weeks old now and have grown so tall, they are Indian Runners.
We are using yoghurt buckets with holes cut about an inch from the bottom for their crumb, one inside coop one outside.  We also have same size bucked without holes for mum, a Lights Sussex hen, to use, lid off of course.
sorry it's so long winded...

We have been replenishing food on a when empty fill up rule, is this wrong?
Also ducklings are now helping themselves to mum's pellets and corn, will this cause any problems for them?

And finally, mum seems really fed up, she is in a coop and run but has been locked away from the rest of the flock for 6 weeks now, are the ducklings too young to take her out.  We have a box we got fish in that we could adapt for them to cwtch up in at night, they seem very independent and are ignoring mum's call for any treats she finds, so any advice would really help us do the right thing.

Thanks in advance
Kathie

[Kathie]

I should have said that we think mum is fed up as she has started to pull small feathers out and has charged at the chicken wire a few times today.

Kathie

[two webbed feet]

Hi Kathie, after 2 weeks or so the ducklings will be fine if they're eating the same as mum as long as it's growers.  I've always found it really hard to stop the ducklings from eating everyone else's food, after all it tastes better off someone else's plate!! 

As for letting them out, I let mine out with Mum after about 2 days (supervised by myself).  If Mum is good at protecting them and stays with them they should be fine.  However, if you have drakes be really careful I've had lots of problems with my drake attacking the new ducklings and have had to build a separate run for them as he wouldn't leave them alone.  I've found with the last 2 lots of ducklings that Mum tends to leave them to get on with their own thing once they get to about 3 or 4 weeks (but I don't know if this is usual). 

If you're not sure, why don't you let them out while you are watching to see what happens.  You can then decide based on whether Mum stays with them and whether any of the other ducks try pecking them.
 

[Kathie]

Thanks for your reply and advice.  Food problem sorted!!

We don't have any other ducks but have 12 hens, some are ex batts and quite old, we also have 2 blackrocks who bully and 2 bantams who feel the need to prove themselves with the 5 12 wk old chicks.  They all free range and we do watch them for hours as this is our life now.

The big problems are:  a) don't trust our cats while ducks are so small and b) we have buzzards and re kites that fly over our place.

Think we should extend their run so they all have more room and maybe let them out for an hour mid day and stay with them armed with water pistol and fishing net.
Thanks again

[Sassy]

When I had chicks I put them in the garden in a covered run to protect from predators. I also put up a couple of parasols for sun and rain protection. Even garden netting across the top to the run if securely fashioned should be fine.