Goslings...when is it okay to let them be outdoors all day without my sitting there?

[MammaMayI]

I have a teeny fenced in (and over) yard around a little dog house with hay in it, where they could go to be out of the elements. They are MISERABLE in their rubbermaid bin brooder in the sewing room, and LOVE it when I have time to take them out to graze! I feel like if I had a way to put the brooder lamp outside in the little dog house that they would be just fine...they could go in and warm up. But... they are about 3 weeks old, not feathered out yet, and I worry that they will just be too cold out there alone.

Ideas? Should I drill a little hole in the top of the dog house and run the brooder lamp cord through the hole and let them just BE outside?

Thanks. (oh, there are 3 cotton patch, the fourth is forthcoming in the next few days, there were not enough males in the hatch, so they sent me one male and two females to start, and the second male should have hatched yesterday!)

 

[rainplace]

I've done what you are talking about with ducks and chickens before. You need to make sure that the lamp cannot fall and catch the bedding material on fire. You also need to make sure it's not too hot either. What are your night time temps right now? I've used regular bulbs before if it's not too cold at night.

 

[MammaMayI]

34, on average. Tomorrow 32.

 

[MammaMayI]

I moved them into a stall in the barn, with a heat lamp, for now. Tomorrow I may see if they'd like to spend the day in the grass in the little pen with the dog house in it.

Oh, well. I just checked the weather for tomorrow. Fifty and high winds. Okay, so maybe I'll wait a few days to bring them out in the grass again! Poor little dudes.

At least they have more space in the stall!

 

[sunnydt]

mine are just about 4 weeks and I have them out all day today and I am going to be bringing them in at night till the weather warms up more.