The three little ladies are now in the bathtub. But they need more room, I can tell! And I have to clean the tub out twice a day in order to be able to handle the smell. I don't know if it's making me sick or what. I desperately want to put them outside, but how? It's going to be between 55 and 60 degrees fahrenheit for the next week, with rain. I could build them a shelter, maybe with a lamp inside..... Any ideas? There has got to be some sort of solution to this... Has anyone had to do this?
How old are they? I have had my cayuga and rouen babies outside since they were 4 and 5 weeks old. They have a couple of big plastic totes to sleep in, with holes cut in the lids for them to have shelter. They have a light in one, that has a 75 watt bulb in it. They are doing just fine. Most of our nights have been 30's and 40's, but some have been below freezing. They blew their bulb again yesterday, and are doing just fine without it. But they are 6 and 7 weeks old now.
I move the babies (ducks, turkeys etc) outside into a large rabbit hutch type cage in my polebarn which has two heat lamps. I cover the wire floor with newspapers and straw and during cool weather I wrap the entire cage in a large tarp. They stay warm as a buscuit even when the temps drop.
My babies (all 21 of them!!) had to go out at two and a half weeks - I just couldn't take the stench anymore, and they were also having to be cleaned up after three and four times a day (cause I had so many of them). I put mine into the spare 8x8 chicken coop with a couple of heat lamps on so they could get under the heat if they chose. Usually they just huddle up and pile on each other, and only a few actually hang out under the heat lamp now and then. They are a month old now, and are doing great. I also put a dog house inside the coop, though, so if they went inside to huddle then it would hold their heat in a bit better - maybe half of them use the doghouse, the other half just sleep wherever they drop. I think as long as they have a draft free area and a source of heat to get under if they choose (when it is REALLY cold) they will be fine. Ducks seem to be a lot more cold hardy than chicks.
Sorry, they are three weeks old today. Thank you everyone for your ideas. I'm leaning toward the plastic bin with a heat lamp inside. Going to be interesting with the electrical...
I have a heat lamp inside and the electric bill hasn't gone up. I don't think they use that much electric. The bulb itself generates the heat.
