The Dusk Lock-Up Is The Arrangement Everything Hangs On
Night security comes first because a Khaki Campbell duck is defenceless after dark, and one missed evening with the house unlatched is how a whole flock is lost to a fox. Your sitter must commit to being there at dusk every single night, counting the ducks in, and fastening every bolt, then letting them out at a steady morning hour. Walk the routine together once before you go: which ducks dawdle, where stragglers hide, and how the house door is secured. If a prospective sitter cannot promise dusk seven nights running, they are the wrong sitter, however willing they are at midday.
Drinking Water Deep Enough To Dip A Whole Head
Water arrangements for ducks differ from poultry generally because a Khaki Campbell must be able to plunge her whole head to keep her eyes and nostrils clean, yet a drinking bucket that deep fouls within hours. Show the sitter which buckets are for drinking, where the tap and spare buckets are, and agree they are emptied, scrubbed and refilled daily, twice in hot weather. A swimming tub is a pleasure rather than a necessity for a week; a small one refreshed often beats a large pond left to turn green. Place drinkers on slabs or wire over a pit so the inevitable splashing does not turn the run into a bog.
Layer Feed, Grit And A Steady Hand With Extras
Feed is straightforward but worth writing down because Khaki Campbells in lay need their layer ration available through the day, and a sitter's kind extras can quietly unbalance it. Leave measured feed in a labelled bin, show the sitter the feeder and the grit pot, and ask them to keep treats to the handful of greens the flock already knows. Ducks that go short of feed or water dip in laying and take days to come back, so consistency matters more than generosity. Note where the feed store is and that it must be latched against rats and any visiting dogs each evening.
Collect Eggs Daily And Watch The Laying Picture
Egg collection is a real job with Campbells because a Khaki Campbell in full lay produces an egg most days, and eggs left in the house get trampled, dirtied or discovered as food by the ducks themselves. Ask the sitter to collect each morning when the house is opened, check the corners of the run where ducks sometimes lay instead, and keep a simple count. A sudden drop across the flock, or one duck not laying and sitting hunched and quiet, is worth a message to you the same day. A single soft-shelled egg now and then is a note, not an alarm, but the count is how you spot the difference.
Leave Vet Contacts And One Clear Worry To Report
Closing arrangements cover the duck found off her feet, breathing hard, or with a prolapsed vent after laying, because laying ducks carry laying risks and a sitter who has never kept ducks needs to know what cannot wait. Describe in plain words the signs that mean calling the vet first and you second, and leave both numbers by the feed bin as well as in writing. A duck that stops eating and sits apart from the flock belongs in that call category too. KinsLe's Care Pass holds the sitter's dusk routine, watch-signs and contacts as temporary access that ends when you return.