♡ Winter concern (NEWBIE) ♡

[IrisJade]

this is my first time raising ducklings and it is currently the start of the year ! Happy new year to everyone. its getting cold and I'm in the UK and the temp is below 10 Celsius My 3 that hatched on the 18th of November are soon to go outside, they are currently 6 weeks old, once they are 8 weeks I'm told they can be outside? they have beautiful feathers everywhere, but a bit of fluff here and there and we have built a nice little outdoor house for them, that I will be putting thick straw in and they can explore outside their house too and I'm just looking on some advice, I'm constantly worried if they are going to be lost without me once permanently outside as they have very much imprinted on me still, Big Question is will they be too cold in their house, should they be always kept inside their little house? for now I have sometimes let them outside, but get worried they will get frostbite or something so I don't let them out for too long.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Hello and happy new year to you too. Yes, eight weeks they can handle the cold. The important thing is their little house needs good ventilation which means windows covered with hardware cloth 1/2 inch hardware cloth. Windows that are high up on the walls of the coop, at least a couple feet above the ducks, 1 foot of opening per bird. Don’t be afraid and cover the windows., without the ventilation, they actually are colder. the deep straw is perfect. I make a layer about a foot of pine flakes first then I put a foot of straw over that I go in every day and pick up the messes off the top and put some fresh straw and I use a cooprefresher, which is a bag of granules made for horse stalls. It does a great job, keeping any ammonia down. I leave the door their coop open during the day they can go outside if they want to or go back in if they’re too cold outside I am in Maryland USA right now daytime and 40s sometimes in the 50s overnight in January and February can go as low as 5°F andi never put a heater of any kind in my duck house is way too dangerous and they do not need it at all.
They also do not need water in their house overnight, keep the water outside of the coop or they will make a splashy soggy, wet mess of the coop which will be a big job to clean every day and cost a lot extra in fresh bedding

 

[Miss Lydia]

this is my first time raising ducklings and it is currently the start of the year ! Happy new year to everyone. its getting cold and I'm in the UK and the temp is below 10 Celsius My 3 that hatched on the 18th of November are soon to go outside, they are currently 6 weeks old, once they are 8 weeks I'm told they can be outside? they have beautiful feathers everywhere, but a bit of fluff here and there and we have built a nice little outdoor house for them, that I will be putting thick straw in and they can explore outside their house too and I'm just looking on some advice, I'm constantly worried if they are going to be lost without me once permanently outside as they have very much imprinted on me still, Big Question is will they be too cold in their house, should they be always kept inside their little house? for now I have sometimes let them outside, but get worried they will get frostbite or something so I don't let them out for too long.

I ordered 4 Indian Runner ducklings in Sept of 2023 and had them inside for 7weeks they were very attached to me so of course I just knew once they went outside with the rest of the flock they would miss me. I had taken them out daily to visit when temps permitted so the adults had seen them and had been around them. Well, I moved them outside to sleep in a large dog kennel at night and they had free range with the flock on half acre fenced during the day, Those ducklings acted like they had always been with the flock and didn't look back once they were outside full time. I think we're the ones who suffer empty nest syndrome not the ducklings. Your little ones will love seeing you but they will be fine outside as long as they are protected from predators and have a secure house to sleep in. Now of course we need some pictures.