Tips on caring for your new ducklings or goslings
and general raising waterfowl information.

PLEASE NOTE -
I am not a waterfowl expert.
Most of this information is based
on common sense and management practices
I've used raising poultry and other livestock for the last 30 years. 
Any waterfowl information has been gleaned from other waterfowl
breeders and what I have come to learn since 2005 when I started
raising  waterfowl.
My management practices may not be suitable for your
unique situation and environment/climate but most of this
is basic information that anybody can use when starting ducklings or goslings.
It is my desire that all creatures are treated with the love and kindness they deserve.

Heat/Brooding -
For days olds, have their brooding area set up and warmed up
in advance with a safe heat source. 
Make sure the area is large enough so the babies can get out from
underneath the heat source. 
I use both 200 - 250 watt heat lamp bulbs or standard 100 watt light bulbs in
a reflector base depending on how many birds you are brooding and on how
cold the temps are based on whether the birds are being brooded in a warm
house or cold outbuilding.
By providing enough space the babies will position themselves where they
need to be.  Do not over crowd.  This can cause pecking.
Young birds need supplemental heat until they are feathered out.
 
Swimming - Waterfowl babies DO NOT need to swim!
Before they are feathered out do not allow ducklings or goslings
to swim in water they cannot easily get out of on their own. 
They can sink and drown if the water is too deep or if
they get overly tired.
Do not allow them to get chilled or get excessively wet before
they are  feathered out. They can get chilled even in wet grass.
I use large dog crocks to let them splash around in.
They don't have to swim and must have a heat source to dry off
and warm up in at all times.

FRESH WATER is a must and lots of it! 
Fresh, clean water is your cheapest feed!
It is highly recommended that you add poultry vitamin/electrolytes
to the  drinking water for about a week or so after you get your new birds. 
This greatly helps with the stress of shipping. 
Waterfowl babies are very messy and will soil their water fast by
mixing food or dirt into their water. 
Defecating in their water is impossible to prevent so their water quickly
becomes a stinky, bacteria laden mess so changing their drinking water
a minimum of two times daily is recommended. 
It is fine to use a chick fount for waterfowl babies but make sure to also
provide a crock or dish that is deep enough that they can submerge
their entire heads into. 
This is needed to clean out their eyes and nostrils. 
They need to have this provided for them at least once a day.
I do not leave the open water dish in the brooder area since it quickly
gets pooped in and the water gets splashed all over and makes a big,
soupy mess in the brooder.

Bedding -
Do not use newspaper for litter since it is too slippery
and can increase the odds of getting spraddle legs. 
Pine shavings work good and absorb the moisture well. 
Straw can be used as well.  Clean litter daily. 

Feed & Supplements
Starter & Grower Feeds -
Waterfowl babies can be fed non-medicated chick starter
if you cannot find a duck starter.
They should be switched over to a grower formula around 2-3 weeks old.
Some people use game bird starter but this is usually too
high in portein.  Try to find a feed in the 16-18% protein range.
Anything over that can possibly lead to angel wing.
Over feeding and lack of grass and exercise can lead to Angel Wing. 
If your feed dealer doesn't carry waterfowl/duck starter or grower
ask them if they can special order it for you.
Many will be happy to do this for their customers.
Purina and Muzuri are two brands that have waterfowl starter,
grower and breeder formulas.  See what is available in your area.
I use Purina Duck Grower for both my ducklings & goslings.
Sprinkled feed very sparingly with chick size grit a few times a week.
Chick feeds are lacking in Niacin which can lead to leg
problems (lameness/limping/even permanent crippling) in young waterfowl.
You can add Niacin to their diet by sprinkling Brewers or
Nutritional Yeast on their feed.
Also access to grass and bugs helps avoid this problem.
Vitamin Supplements & Electrolytes -
It is not necessary to give your birds vitamin supplements
on a regular basis but during times of stress they are helpful.
Newly shipped day olds or purchased birds of any age especially
need to be given electrolytes as soon as you get them home. 
Day olds suffer from dehydration during shipping and it is vital
they be replenished as quickly as possible. 
Failure to do this can lead to death with shipped day olds.
Mix electrolytes according to the directions on the package
and give it to your birds for at least few days after arrival.
Refrigerate any extra electrolytes and offer it fresh daily. 
Electrolytes are also very important to give to any bird when it is off feed.
As for vitamin supplements these can be offered likewise during times of sickness,
or for stressful times such as for setting hens; if you want to condition you birds prior
to and during the breeding season or if you are showing your birds. 
Any avian supplement will do but I use and recommend Avia Charge 2000
available through Stombergs.  This product is all natural and contains 70+
chelated minerals, 23 vitamins and antioxidants, 22 essential amino acids,
numerous enzymes and natural immunostimulants and body & blood building
nutrients
Cracked Corn or Scratch Grains - 
should be fed sparingly to adults but should not be fed
to young ducklings or goslings in large amounts as as their only feed source.
A lot of people feed cracked or shell corn as a
main diet because it is cheap. This is not recommended.
Corn is a high energy carb, low protein feed which can make waterfowl too fat.
This would be like you eating pancakes 3 times a day, everyday.
Waterfowl tend to store body fat around their reproductive organs so a diet
high in corn or scratch grains can lead to fertility problems plus it isn't a
balanced, complete feed.  Even free range birds that have access to greens
and bugs need more than a diet of mainly cracked corn or scratch grains to
be in good condition especially prior to the breeding season.
On the other hand too much protein or refined carbs can cause angel wing
and leg problems  in waterfowl so it is important to feed a balanced waterfowl
feed if possible.
Limited cracked or whole corn or scratch grains
(a blend of wheat or barley, oats & corn) during the fall and winter
months is beneficial to help produce energy to help keep birds warm 
but it  should never be their main feed.
Soy Based Feeds -
Since the Mad Cow Disease scare most commercial prepared feed
rations are soy based. In addition soy is typically extruded and any
extruded feed product (crumbles or pellets) are in an altered state
and not a healthy and natural form of food to be eaten by humans
or animals.
Also soy contains a precursor to estrogen which has been reported
to cause infertility or unbalanced hormone problems.
For more information on the dangers of soy read "Soy Alert".
http://www.westonaprice.org/
Oatmeal - AKA Steam Rolled Oats & Whole Oats
My geese love whole oats but my ducks don't eat
them as eagerly but will consume small amounts of them. 
See if you can train your ducks to eat them.
I simply don't refill their feeders until the oats are gone.
Most ducklings & goslings will eat steam rolled oats
(uncooked oatmeal) which can be used along with  starter and grower rations.
Oatmeal can be fed in amounts up to 20% of their daily feed ration. 
Sunflower Seeds -
are a good waterfowl food supplement.
Whole seeds can be fed to youngsters when they are big enough to eat them.
Throw a handful into their feed and see if you can get them to eat them.
Grass & Greens - 
are vital to proper growth and development especially if feeding
chick starter.  Geese love & thrive on grass. 
Give your babies (from day 1) chopped greens to nibble on such as
non-chemically treated young, tender grass, lettuce, spinach, dandelion
greens, clover etc. if they do not have access to pasture. 
Provide fresh greens daily or as much as possible.
This also helps to prevent boredom and pecking each other.
Fruits & Vegetables - 
of any kind are loved by most waterfowl, such as...
greens (herbs, lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, kale etc.)
melons (including rind), apples, berries,  fresh corn on the cob
(even left over cobs from dinner to chew on) tomatoes, etc. 
Experiment...see what you can get yours to eat. 
The more fresh produce they consume, the healthier they will be.
Bugs -
ducklings love to forage for bugs and Muscovies are supreme bug
catchers.  Even winged insects are no match for the stealthy Muscovies. 
They have done a great job of keeping our mosquito population in check.
Goslings tend to be more vegetarian and thrive on tender green grass,
but green grass is vital for ducks as well. 
Kelp Meal - 
is an excellent waterfowl supplement.
Feed according to directions.
Oyster Shell & Grit -
Make sure to provide laying hens with free choice oyster shell.
All birds need grit to help grind up their food.
Use chick size grit for hatchlings.

NEW!
Parasites -  info coming soon


Ponds & Lakes -
If they have access to a pond ducks will eat small fish and frogs, 
but remember when allowed on ponds or lakes, small ducklings or
goslings are easy prey/snacks for large turtles and fish like pike and bass.

Predators & Precautions -
Do not allow small children to handle baby birds excessively or unsupervised. 
Protect from pets and predators especially when they are outside. 
Remember no matter how nice your Muscovy drake is, 
they are known to kill and even eat small ducklings. 
Even friendly pet dogs can playfully maul small ducklings or goslings.
When older, if allowed to free range...
make sure to enclose in a predator proof shelter every night!  
Even adult Muscovies (or other ducks) that can fly, including large drakes
can easily be killed by hawks, owls, coons (that can climb up to roosting birds)
fox, coyotes or stray dogs.
Birds that are roosting high up in trees are not safe from coons which are
skillful tree climbers and waterfowl/poultry killers. 
I lost 2 very large Muscovy drakes to predators who were left out over night.
Maybe you will have periods of time that will go by where you don't suffer any
losses but eventually if you don't  provide nightly, predator proof shelter you will
lose birds.
Even birds that can escape to a pond are NOT safe!
I once received an email from a very distraught, heart broken person
who lost 5 beloved pet geese that were killed by the neighbors 2 trained
hunting dogs that swam out on to their pond and killed their geese one night. 
Those geese were their pride and joy and much loved but without proper
protection they put them at risk and eventually they paid the ultimate price.  
Birds can be kept safely outside at night if you use a strand of electric wire
on the top of your pens but this will not protect them from owls. 
Training birds to come in at night -
Ideally teach your goslings or ducklings how to be herded with a bamboo
rod or long stick when they are still small so you can gain control over them.
If your birds have access to a pond you can train them to come to a safe
enclosed pen or coop at night by providing their daily feed there only at night.  
If you do this routinely it will become second nature to them.
I have a customer who trained her birds to come in at
night because she kept losing birds to predators, despite having a pond for them to
escape to. Even her older birds who were use to staying out all night learned to come in. 
With time and training (and it didn't take that long) they all learned come in for
the night. 
Why invest in quality birds if you aren't willing to protect them?

Wing Clipping -

Clip your waterfowl's wings so you will have more control over them.
You only have to clip your birds wings once a year after they molt
and their new feathers come in.
To learn how to clip wings including  how to do the "beauty clip"
visit this website: CLICK HERE


Overcrowding -
Plain and simple, it's animal cruelty!
More often than not, I see people who don't know when to quit buying
or breeding and have way too many birds which are typically kept in filthy,
manure covered pens or stuffed into small cages, usually in some dark barn or shed. 
These people don't appear to have the time or the money to care for so many birds
and the birds usually end up dying off from parasite overload, various diseases
and starvation/dehydration.
Please resist the temptation to keep more birds (or any animal for that matter)
that you cannot properly care for.

Some Misconceptions I've learned about Waterfowl
(in my personal experience)

Geese are mean -
I didn't get geese for many years because of this concern but I've
come to learn that not all geese are mean.  In my research I learned
that Africans and Chinese geese are known to be loud and aggressive
and that Pilgrims, American Buffs and Sebastopols tend to be more
gentle and laid back and apparently in many cases this is true.
While you will find good and bad in any breed my Sebastopols
have been very sweet and gentle when bonded to humans as hatchlings.  
They are highly intelligent, inquisitive, love people and make wonderful pets.
It can be a whole different story if goslings are raised by their parents and not
bonded to humans.  They can be flighty and very fearful of humans. 
I have found some lines of Sebastopols to be more flighty or aloof
even when raised by humans so selectiveness is important.
It should be noted that all ganders no matter the breed can be aggressive
to one degree or another during the breeding season, which can range from
hissing and mock charging to outright attacks and highly aggressive biters.
You should never turn your back on any gander during the
breeding season no matter how docile they are during the off season. 
It is natural for them to be aggressive in order to protect their female
and offspring (such courageous chivalry) and deserve the respect you
would give any breeding male.  
Children should never be allowed to be around breeding ganders unsupervised
by adults. If you don't plan on breeding geese a few of the same sex birds might
be more ideal since gander aggression can last up to 4 - 5 months so that can add
up to one, long headache.

Weeder Geese -
It's debatable that you can use geese as "weeders" since they will not only
eat the weeds in your strawberries patch but they will eat the strawberries too.
In my experience, geese seem to prefer grass over weeds. 
I have read of running geese in orchards with established tree's 
or large crops like mature tobacco or corn and in these situations
their usefulness as weeder probably works.
So geese can apparently be used in some situations like the
fore mentioned but most likely not in your home strawberry or veggie patch.
Beware geese will girdle trees especially if confined with no grass to graze on.

Geese are infertile as yearling's -
While some breeds or individuals may be slower developing
I haven't had any problems with infertile yearling's.

Geese cannot be kept in barns or coops
especially ones with low ceilings -
A long time waterfowl breeder told me this but I have not found
this to be a problem. While I certainly don't think its a good idea to
keep any creature confined all the time, because its not healthy
for them emotionally or physically, to protect my chickens and waterfowl
from predators they are closed into a shed every night. 
They are turned out every morning. 
Given the opportunity, if I left the shed door open,
both my geese and ducks would spend a lot of time loafing inside
so I really don't feel its harmful to them or causes them any stress.
If  I'm a little late putting them in at night and it's almost dark most
the birds will congregate around the barn door waiting to be let in
and when I let them in they march right into their personal stalls. 
Both my geese and ducks successfully set on their eggs in the shed. 
This not only protects them and their eggs from predators but it gives
them some privacy and seclusion from the main flock and would-be
pests which I feel is especially helpful with young, inexperienced hens.
Also some Muscovy drakes will try to breed nesting ducks and disrupt
the nest or break eggs so the setting Muscovy girls appreciate some
protection from the randy drakes. 

Sebastopols are hard to breed -
I have not found this to be the case. 
I've only had Sebastopols since 2005 but my first
breeding season and every consecutive one after that has been a success.
I've never had to clip their feathers around their vent area to make for
easier access.
I have heard that Sebastopol geese are clannish and don't like being around
other breeds of geese and ducks. While I don't  know how true this is
I personally feel its best to keep different species (e.g. chickens, geese/ducks)
separate from each other due to their different feed and housing needs
and especially when they are setting on eggs.
Plus geese can bully ducks and chickens around.
While my geese free range with my Muscovies, they have their own
individual stalls in a large shed when it comes to night time confinement
and when nesting/setting on eggs.
Some common reasons for failure to produce live offspring could be:
lack of proper nutrition, parasite overload, overcrowding or too much
stress in the environment, 
frozen eggs or improper handling or incubating of eggs.
Artificially incubating waterfowl eggs is harder than hatching
out chicken eggs.  With waterfowl expect a 30 - 50% failure rate.

Geese aren't happy unless they have a lot of grass to graze on
and issues with "Naughty Nibbling Geese" -
Ideally no animal should be constantly confined to a small pen or even
a large pen if it's dirt covered without something to occupy their time.
Geese thrive on grass, love to graze and it's vital for their good health, 
never-the-less some people simply don't have acres of grass for grazing or
must keep their birds penned up, but allow them to eat grass as much as possible.
If you don't have any or enough grass buy some green, leafy hay for them to nibble
on or supplement their diet with 100% alfalfa cubes or pellets.
Do not use rabbits pellets since they are too high in salt.

Geese are like little goats that nibble, nibble nibble!  
If you have anything you don't want shredded, keep it out of their reach. 
If you have any young tree's they will need protection. 
I put a hoop of chicken wire around the base of the trunk. 
They leave my large trees, shrubs and most of my flowers
alone but most likely because mine have a lot of grass to keep them occupied.
I use 2 foot tall green, vinyl coated, garden fencing to set boundaries. 
Its easy to set up and step over but it keeps the geese where I want them
and believe me they will go were ever you don't want them to.
Since Sebastopols are flightless the 2 ft. fence keeps them where I want
them but if you have flying waterfowl this may not work, especially if
they are a small breed.  Clipping their wings helps.
If you must confine your geese (or ducks) to a pen provide them with
leafy clover or alfalfa hay to nibble on as well as supplemental greens,
and surplus fruits and vegetables. 
Look for discounted, dated produce at your grocery store.
Geese also like old logs or tree branches to chew on.
Just make sure the species isn't toxic to birds before offering it to them.
Pine branches would not be a good choice due to the sticky pine pitch.

Waterfowl aren't happy unless they have a pond to swim in -
Ideally it would be wonderful to have a pond for your waterfowl but they
do perfectly fine with kiddy wading pools or any safe large container filled
with fresh water daily. 
Lowes & Home Depot carry black, plastic, rectanglar shaped containers
to mix concrete in which are more sturdy than kiddy wading pools
and make nice vessels for waterfowl bathing water.
It's very important to give waterfowl fresh bathing water daily,
especially  during the breeding season since they like to breed in water.
Geese actually prefer fresh water to muddy, dirty water so replacing water
daily is a good routine to get into. 
Muscovies on their other hand will readily breed on land but clean
bathing water is vital to keeping their feathers in good condition,
plus you will have hours of fun watching them play in the water.
Even during the frigid winter months I try to fill their bathing pools at
least 2 - 3 times a week and daily when the weather is nice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recommended Reading -
"Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks" by Dave Holderread.
Many libraries carry this book.
Dave also has a booklet on geese available through his website.
http://holderreadfarm.com/literature_page/literature.htm

For more information -
You will find many helpful waterfowl website links
on the 2nd half of my LINKS page.


Also visit The Feathersite -
For just about any information you need on poultry and waterfowl.
http://www.feathersite.com/ 
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKRaisingDucklings.html

If you have any helpful raising waterfowl tips that you think
should be added to this page please email them to me. Thanks!