The Runner babies went out for their first swim and, at first, most of them seemed taken aback at being in water. Ducks not liking water?? Then their instincts kicked in.
We like to use a medium-sized kiddie pool on a grade, so that the ducklings can easily get out of the water if they’re tired; at this age, they’re still downy and can drown. Young ducklings should only swim if supervised or only be given swimming water in a very shallow container that they can easily exit. The water in the pool is only about 3 inches deep at the “deep” end, but they still make the most of it!
Once they figure out that swimming is awesome, they start getting crazy in there. Zoomies! Crashing into other ducklings! Diving! They’d spend the day in there, if allowed.
Alas, the swimming session must come to an end and the babies go back into their brooder (ironically, another kiddie pool, but full of pine pellets and large pine shavings – a practical way to repurpose a leaky pool). After all of that activity, they should be ready for a nap! Hopefully, their dreams are of swimming on sunny days, surrounded by green grass and blue skies…happy dreams.
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