2 questions, I have chickens, guineas, and ducks that I purchased at the same time and I've kept together for the 2 weeks I have had them. Will I always be able to keep them together without problems? Second, chicks and guineas are almost totally feathered and supposedly should be about 4-5 weeks old. My ducks (mallard) are much larger than the chicks and guineas, but the ducks hardly have any feathers. Can they go out in my coop? My coup is a little more sheltered than most, I think. I have a shedrow style barn with added solid wood divisions between each stall. We used mesh fence panels to build a coop in the back of a stall, so they're sheltered on 3 sides and have an overhang well over the top of them. There's a heat lamp in the back. Are they okay to go out there? They are getting so big the smell from the trough is getting too much for the garage!
My ducklings went out at 3 weeks with no problem. I dont know about keeping together,someone else might know the answer
ducks can go outside in an enclosed pen as you describe in weather warm enough. they should be at least in 80 degree temps the first 4 weeks until they feather and can keep their bodies warm. a heat lamp is in order until then. Bill
My ducks went out at 2 weeks with a heat lamp in 25 night time temps. They never went near the heat lamp and did just fine. They huddle together well so I wouldn't worry about temps. Ducks seem pretty tolerant of being cold and wet!
