DUMB duckies???

[redturtle]

i have 6 mallards about 4 weeks old....they were taking up a lot of room in the chick brooder so i knew i would have to move them out pretty soon...the other day i catch them picking on the chixns...they are the same size...so i quickly put up a pen outside...they have a little kiddie pool to swim in and a little dog house w/ pine shavings in the bottom to sleep in/get out of the wind etc.....at night i turn on the heat lamp...the whole thing is covered by a tarp that is bungee-corded to the fence so it wont blow away..........
last night around 10pm i took the dog out for 1 last potty break.....the dumb duckies were in the pool.........and again tonite.....same thing.........its 55 out right now....chilly to me...but the dumb duckies are swimming!!!!!!!
is this normal? should i be worried....they were acting normal tdy....eating/drinking/swimming....lounging in the grass...this is my first time w/ ducks so i dont know if they prefer it cooler or what....they were always huddled w/ the chicks under the heat lamp when they were in the brooder.........
oh......and i know they know to go in the doghouse.......the first day i put them in their pen........they swam for awhile then slept the rest of the day in the doghouse......came out at night to swim...i think their internal clocks are bass ackwards....lol

 

[bock]

Ducks usually preffer to sleep in the water, but if you want just lock them in the dog cage at night.

 

[duckyfromoz]

I have seen my adult ducks swimming during the night in the middle of winter... But with younger ones they may not dry off enough and get too cold during the night. Good to hear you have the lamp on for them- they can warm up again if they do descide to take a dip.

 

[redturtle]

so if they like to sleep on the water...which makes sense...guess they feel safer...should i point the heat lamp that way instead of into the doghouse...or are they smart enuf to get out of the water and go in the doghouse to warm up and dry off?...thnx for the info