Warmth First, and a Brooder That Stays Dry
A young duckling's first week is governed by the same brooder logic as a chick's, with one addition that changes everything: water management. She needs a warm zone she can retreat into and cooler space to move away, and her behaviour tells you the setting, huddled and cheeping sharply means cold, spread to the edges panting means hot, loosely grouped and active means right. Unlike chicks, ducklings work constantly to wet their surroundings, shaking water from their bills and trampling dampness outward, so bedding changes come far more often than a chick keeper expects. Bed her on absorbent, non-slip material and site the water over a drained or mesh area if you can, because a soaked, chilled duckling on a slippery floor combines all three of week one's main dangers at once.
Water Deep Enough to Use, Safe Enough to Leave
Ducklings must be able to submerge their bills and ideally their whole heads to keep nostrils and eyes clean, and a duckling denied that develops sticky, crusted eyes and blocked nostrils within days. The balance in week one is depth for her face without a swimming pool she can climb into, exhaust herself in, and chill or drown, so use a drinker or a shallow dish weighted and ramped so she drinks at the edge rather than bathing in it. Supervised, brief paddling in shallow, warm water can come later in the week for a strong duckling, with a ramp out and a warm brooder to return to, but unsupervised swimming water in week one is a genuine hazard, not enrichment.
Feed for a Waterfowl Baby, Not a Chick
Feed a starter ration formulated for ducklings or waterfowl, because growing ducklings have nutritional needs, particularly around certain vitamins, that a medicated chick ration is not designed to meet, and her growth rate this week is extraordinary. Scatter nothing confusing into the brooder; she needs constant access to the starter and the water side by side, since ducklings wash feed down and will choke dry mouthfuls without drink at hand. Watch that every duckling in a group is actually reaching both, because a smaller or weaker bird in a busy brooder can be shouldered away from the drinker by siblings in a way that only deliberate observation catches in time.
Legs, Flooring, and the Daily Look
Soft, fast-growing legs are a duckling's vulnerability, and the classic week-one injury is a splay from sliding on smooth flooring, newspaper, bare plastic, or wet cardboard all count, so keep her on textured, grippy bedding from the first hour. Pick her up daily, check that legs sit straight under her and toes spread flat, look at eyes and nostrils for the crusting that means her water is not deep enough, and feel that she is gaining the solid, rounded heft a thriving duckling adds daily.
First-Week Trouble Signs
Act the same day for a duckling who is wet and cold and cannot dry out, who lies apart peeping weakly, whose legs splay or twist, who stops eating, or whose eyes seal shut with crusting that warm water and a proper drinker do not clear, and separate a fading duckling somewhere warm and quiet where you can confirm she eats and drinks without competition. Contact a vet familiar with waterfowl if she labours to breathe, tilts or circles, or fails to gain across a couple of days, because ducklings this young have no reserves and problems compound overnight. Note what you changed and when, since brooder problems are usually environmental and the note is how you stop the next duckling meeting the same one.
Duckling Duty Works Best as a Rota
No pet in this guide generates more frequent small jobs than a first-week duckling: water refreshed, bedding swapped, warmth checked, legs looked at, several times a day, every day. Shared across a household without a list, one of those jobs silently drops. When her brooder checks, water changes, and bedding swaps are assigned in KinsLe through Care Teams and ticked off as they happen, a young duck's demanding first week gets the unbroken attention it actually requires.