The Backyard Duck Timeline

Ducklings are not chicks. This week-by-week guide shows you exactly how to raise them, from the day they arrive to your first rich, fresh duck eggs.

Ducks need water they can dunk their bills into but mustn't swim in too young, feed made for waterfowl (medicated chicken feed can harm them), and housing built for very wet droppings. The Backyard Duck Timeline walks you through it all, week by week.

• The Prep Countdown: local rules, breeds, a predator-proof duck house and a water setup that won't turn your yard into a swamp
• The brooder weeks: Cornell's duckling temperature schedule, dry bedding, the right waterers, and when first swims are safe
• Feeding ducks right: waterfowl starter, grower and layer, niacin, and why to avoid medicated chicken feed
• Breeds for eggs and the garden: Khaki Campbells, Runners, Welsh Harlequins, Pekins and more
• Duck eggs: why ducks lay before 9 a.m., and how to collect, clean and store eggs safely
• Healthy ducks, healthy family: CDC hygiene, USDA biosecurity against wild-waterfowl diseases, warning signs and who to call
• Ducks in the garden: slug patrol that doesn't flatten your seedlings, and safe use of duck manure
• Troubleshooting, a one-page master timeline and fill-in worksheets

Every number is drawn from Cornell's Duck Research Laboratory, university extension services, the USDA and the CDC, with sources listed.

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed in the book.