One single duckling hatched in the coop under a poor Harlequin first time mama during the ice storm. I saw it left on the nest and ignored and cold. So I brought it in to warm up and set up the brooder box. Meanwhile my husband and our eldest cat babysat while I put the brooder together.
He was alone for a week before my Muscovy hatched 16 ducklings. All were brought inside without their mother in the second snow storm. In total 13 survived the first 24 hours indoors in the brooder. The others 2 died outside in the coop from the cold. I thought mama duck could keep her 3 remaining ducklings alive outside but she could not, so I brought the last one indoors. And my daily chore is washing out the brooder box while the ducklings swim in the bathtub. I put in clean bedding, food and water and cedar shavings. And watch them grow up. They have to stay inside until it stays above 50 degrees in the coop.
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