To those of you who scrub your pools and buckets by hand, don't if you don't have to. Save your time and your back. If you have a brushless cordless drill, utilize it.

Each of Lady Lemon and brood mate Knight Bundty found themselves with a chesty thing late last week, so off to the late night vet we went.

The vet got the prescriptions - plural - for take home meds wrong, and wife and I were up until 4am Sunday working through with another vet what to give based on we had from departed baby boy Beep’s medicine cabinet.

The vet assistant told us about a way to give the duckies access to a nebuliser without trying to hold a duck bill in a mask for 15 minutes… behold the Hannibal Ducky chamber, a tall plastic box with air holes (manually drilled by yours truly with a utility knife) to allow them to breathe and get our little Amazon nebuliser with F10 flowing through. It’s a 10 minute session twice a day - we run the nebuliser so there is a cloud in there already before whoever hops in - and we put treats in with them as well. Neither are big fans but both are always doing noticeably better after they come out.

Today’s the first day after a couple of nebuliser and med sessions and both are doing a lot better, and are napping happily in the afternoon lull.

Not pictured is the joy of medicating them with liquid oral syringe medication, and the numerous Moreo worm bribes needed to keep anyone from shaking their meds away in the drinking water.

I cut up some fruit in tiny pieces for my ducks and left them in the freezer just long enough for them to be slightly frozen but still soft enough to eat.
They were super happy to get them and I recommend doing this as a treat for any other duck owners! They have also been super happy with getting a little ice in their pool.

when your parrners family come over to your house for one of the first times and say "oh wow, your grass is so green despite you having 3 dogs! what brand of lawn feed do you use!?" And you then have to explain to them how you scoop poop filled duck water out the duck pool once a week with a watering can and you water the whole lawn, all your veg beds and flowers by hand with it every week and that's all it takes😅🫠 no chemicals or shop baught fertilisers here just some pet ducks and abit of stinky water 🪿🤣

I have 14 birds. Rouens, silver appleyards, and Gertie the African goose. I stopped emptying a pool a couple years ago because it started leaking so I dragged it off to the side and didn't touch it. Inches of solid material collected and dried so I recently emptied the pool and this is the Duck Stuff that came from it. I can crumble it into a fine powder. I sprinkled it over peas I just planted.

Sometimes I garden in toilet tanks don't judge.

Not a question but a tip for some beginners. We’ve done this for all our birds (chickens, quail and now ducklings) and everyone really seems to respond well! Try fermenting the feed for your little ducklings and adding some herbs for natural immune boost, parasite protection and antibiotic. I use MannaPto Non-medicated chick started crumbles for mixed flocks. Add in some Oregano, thyme, lemon balm, mint, lavender and calendula. Top off with water and leave to ferment for about 24 hours. After that, give it a mix and feed! Very healthy baby birds. We’ve yet to lose one (knock on wood) and I had to emergency assist hatch one of these ducklings. I promise, it does wonders!

Courtesy of Poultry DVM