Caring for Newly Hatched & Young Poultry

*Please note that these are our opinions and experiences, and not intended to be professional or medical advice in any way.

Heat

At a day old, ducklings & goslings will need the hot spot in the brooder to be about 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit. Each week, the temperature should be reduced by about 5 until it gets to be about 70 degrees, or whatever the ambient temperature is. Until the ducklings have feathers, they should be kept above 50 degrees.

To reach these temps, we first tried an infrared heating plate similar to this one, but the ducklings & goslings weren’t as interested in it as the chicks were, so we switched to this heat lamp – it is much more sturdy than the dinged up hardware store clamp lamps that pose a fire risk. True story, one of our tortoises almost burned down Jess’ old house with one of those!

Water

Being waterfowl, most ducklings & goslings LOVE water, but they should be prevented from soaking themselves for the first couple weeks. Until their feathers start to grow in, they should have a dish that is only deep enough for them to cover their legs and/or bills. Once they have feathers, they’ll start preening and waterproofing themselves with oil from the glands above the base of their tails. At that point, they’ll be safe for swimming! If you have a mother/nurse duck or goose to raise ducklings & goslings, she will groom them with her oil so that they’re able to swim sooner.

Food

Gosling, duck, or general waterfowl starter is the obvious choice of food, but if you can’t find it or if you also happen to be brooding chicks and don’t want to buy multiple products, NON-MEDICATED chick starter will be fine as long as extra niacin is added. Medicated chick starter can kill waterfowl. We use organic, soy-free (sometimes corn free) feed from either Cashton Farm Supply or New Country Organics.

• Until they’re 3 weeks old, we feed 20-22% protein starter (with 2% brewer’s yeast added for niacin if using chick starter).
• From 3-16 weeks, feed 15-16% protein grower (with 2% brewer’s yeast if using chick grower).
• From 16 weeks onward, if you only have laying birds, you can feed 15-16% protein layer (with 2% brewer’s yeast if using chicken layer). If you’ve got a drake or mixed ages, it’s best to stick to grower or find an all-flock feed. The added calcium in layer feed can be dangerous to non-layers. For our flock, we stick with grower and then leave out a couple bowls of oyster shell that our layers pick at as needed.

The important thing is that ducklings & goslings receive the right amount of protein at different phases of growth. Too little, and they might be stunted. Too much, and they might develop angel wing from growing too fast.

The absolute best thing you can do to help ducklings & goslings grow well is to get them outside eating grass & bugs ASAP. Bring them some while they’re babies (and make sure to give them grit so that they can digest properly), and gradually increase their time outside until they’re out there as much as possible.

If ducks or geese are locked inside for any reason and given treats, it’s very important that they are also offered grit so that they can digest properly.

*Please note that these are our opinions and experiences, and not intended to be professional or medical advice in any way.