The ducks got lots of goodies today!
29 July 2016
Some of the donation money arrived in my account today, so I went on a duck related spending spree.
I got some grower pellets, some starter crumbles- something I have been reluctant to feed in the past because of the coccistat medication in it which according to various internet sites, can be toxic to ducklings. However i have spoken to several people with more experience than me at raising ducklings who say they have used it on all their ducklings with no problems, and all of them said they felt it was the best feed for younger ducklings. So I got some of that. However it will not make up the sole diet for any of the birds, due to the medication levels being higher than ducklings need.
Food wise I also got a big ole pile of jellymeat (beef casserole), which I am using a lot of for various nutritional reasons.
I also got some storage containers from the warehouse, I have always been one of those, store it in the bag it came in, kinda gals, but just cos I dont care enough to keep my own food fresh, doesnt mean the ducks don't!
I was planning to stock up on straw and shavings, but the car was too full for much, and the landscape people were out of wood shavings. So I just got straw. And at binn Inn I got some brewers yeast, which is one way to suppliment niacin (essential as chook food and cat food etc does nto contain enough niacin for ducks, without this supplimentation they get leg problems can render them not just lame, but unable to walk at all.)
Anyway I will add the receipts to the gallery, and one here (if the page + my safari browser cooperate). I can only add one photo to an update so the rest of the receipts will be posted to the gallery.
A generous person who follows the facebook page for the ducks donated a pet heat pad and a clamshell pond, so I collected those today. Tonight the youngest ducklings, who are two weeks old, are snuggly and warm on top of the heat pad. And one of my domestic ducks, who as of this afternoon is in 'protective custody' (shes just started to lay and the boy ducks wouldnt leave her alone) is enjoying some alone time, and peace and quiet in the clamshell pool!
Last weekend I was also given a lovely large chicken house with run on wheels, which my favourite duck ("Miss Duck With The Cute Voice") and her ducklings have moved into. They have spent most their time until this move, on runs which were made up of litter, due to the wet marshy ground here. While I did my best to give them some foraging by putting 'turf' I dug up into their run, it is nice to see the wee ducklkngs now able to fossick about on grass. Because the unit has wheels, I can move it about a little every couple of days to give them a fresh area in their run. Its also great because it means I dont have to put litter down for them. And for Maisie and her ducklings, they now have twice the run space in the day as they have taken over the run that MDWTCV was using.
So its been a good week for the ducks. Between your generous donations, and the gifted housing, pool, and heat pad,all of the ducks day to day lives have benefited:
Ducklings: all enjoying the tasty addition of beef casserole to their diet (they LOVE it). All ducklings can now be fed the appropriate mix of starter or grower feed, rather than one or the other, or layer pellets. The youngest ducklings are DEFINATELY warmer on these cold frosty nights thanks to the heat pad. They are all happily cuddled up on it.
Mummy Ducks: more variety in their diet from the selection of pellets I have, plus the extra seeds from Binn Inn which I add to their wheat for variety. also some general improvements to housing carried out using staple gun and screws etc.