starting out with ducklings ?

I found a place that will mail me Khaki Campbells (breed i have been looking for) and some geese which is great my only problem is... I would have to.pick them up i. Th 31st which is fine except that i am moving into our new house one the 30th . I geuss my question is what are are the essentials for these lil guys to hold.me.over until i can get them a permanent home set up outside? I know they have to be in a warm area and Ser Jay had told me about the kiddie pool which i really like the idea of, how long do they have to be in the house for? How many ducklings can i have in one kiddie pool i think i justwant to stary off with six to ten ducks and maybe two or four geese can i put them all in the same kiddie pool? Also after they are big enough to.go.outside can the geese and ducks live together or do they have to be sepeeate? Another question i have which might sound really silly , when buying unsexed ducklings do you usually get a little bit of variety? I would love them either way but i wouldbt really like to end up with all drakes. I have read storeys guide to raising ducks a little while ago i am going to go throuvh it again but i do really appreciate any advice people have to offer thank you in.advance.

I would prefer to get them later but the lady said that is the only date i coukd get them

Can they be in a brooder outside? Obviously not a kiddie pool. There is a picture of one in the storeys guide but i am unsure if they can be left at night in a secured brooder? Any tipsand advice appreciated

I wouldn't leave them outside, I think if you can find a corner for them in the house. YOu can make a temp brooder out of a big cardbox if you have to.

Within the next week or two, we consider it quite warm enough for ducklings to brood outdoors as long as they have a good, relatively airtight area where they can stay warm. We have never lost a duckling to cold temperatures but usually do use a brooder lamp unless we're hatching still in July. Ducklings are far tougher than chicks. Your biggest danger is predation. Everything eats ducks! Cats, coyotes, hawks, owls, ravens, dogs, etc. Make sure the little ones can't even reach their heads out of the edges if you're doing outdoor brooding. Other than predation, we generally only lose ducklings if we have to cull for leg problems or sometimes if we give them swimming water too young and they have trouble figuring out how to get back out.

A kiddie pool is plenty of space for such a small number of ducklings and goslings for a couple weeks at least, you'll notice the gunk and the stench when they've outgrown the space. Our ducks, muscovies and goslings all live together without problem except when it sometimes gets a little difficult to manage breeding season.

As for sex, females typically tend to get preferentially killed by temperature spikes in the incubator so unless the person has a precise machine or is skilled, drakes and ganders will sometimes tend to outnumber the hens. Though I seem to get a pretty even ratio and I'm still using crappy half broken hovabators for my ducks.

I hatched out some magpies with a chicken, and then put them in with the adult geese. the geese looked after them like their own, and wouldn't let anything near them.

Now I have them in therapy.

Country Thyme Farm wrote:As for sex, females typically tend to get preferentially killed by temperature spikes in the incubator so unless the person has a precise machine or is skilled, drakes and ganders will sometimes tend to outnumber the hens.

Interesting! Wonder why? The fairer sex being more delicate, I suppose!

Schipperkesue wrote:

Country Thyme Farm wrote:As for sex, females typically tend to get preferentially killed by temperature spikes in the incubator so unless the person has a precise machine or is skilled, drakes and ganders will sometimes tend to outnumber the hens.

Interesting! Wonder why? The fairer sex being more delicate, I suppose!

Chickens are the same. Cockerels are much more hardy to the incubating process and most deaths in shell will be pullets.

My ducklings are brooding outside in my shed under a 250 watt bulb I have no issues this time of the year with brooding outside. I have brooded birds even in febuary outside its not hard to keep them warm aslong as there are no drafts.