Bought new ducks that are yet to lay

[FoodFreedomNow]

We had a really cold spring. My ducklings were only a week old when I got them, so I had a tough time keeping them warm. I'd bought a heat lamp but I needed to get a second because they couldn't handle the cold.
But I guess at 3 weeks they are almost fully feathered. And with the whole family they'd be able to huddle up.
I do the same for my ducks now, I've a heated water dish that I haul water out too. Unfortunately they still think they should try to swim in it. So once a day I have to put them back in the coop to thaw out. But they have a heated coop inside a barn, so at least they are out of the wind and I don't have to worry about predators.
We're supposed to get back in the pluses next week which will be nice.

Gotcha...right, these guys were almost fully feathered, plus it wasn't all that cold until recently. It would be different with newly-hatched ducklings, and I'd probably be inclined to keep them inside in the brooder until they were older for the reasons you've mentioned.

The wild temperature swings lately make it really tough to get into a routine (and doubtless, for the animas to get acclimated). It's 66 degrees here right now, after snow and wind chill bringing the temperatures below zero just last week. Shorts weather in mid-Jan...

 

[Kartay]

Ugh yes the temperature swings have been terrible. It was -45 with wind chill last night and this morning it's -8 and supposed to drop another 20 degrees. It's been tough on my ducks, even with heat. Short of a heater, you can't really keep a coop warm at those temperatures. And the ducks don't appreciate being "cooped" up. They're all used to having the run of the acreage. But at least in the barn they're out of the worst of it. I don't think they'd be tall enough to get through the snow anyway lol.