Heat Lamp in Summer

[tearose]

Do I need a heat source for a baby duck in the summer??

 

[needlessjunk]

Depends on how hot is where the duckling is kept. They should be at 90* the first week and drop it 5* every week till they are at the same temp during the low for the day.

 

[seashoreduck]

Depends on how hot is where the duckling is kept. They should be at 90* the first week and drop it 5* every week till they are at the same temp during the low for the day.

I've been more successful with 1 degree a day...this means by week 3 the ducks are at 69 vs 75. By the end of week 4 they have been able to handle 61.

Week 5--almost 6-- with my ducks there was a freak snow storm when they were outside. It was 32 and they were livid that I brought them in, although they happily napped in the warm house for a while.

I've found the biggest factor is "are they cold?" there were many times at 2 and 3 weeks when they really seemed to want it to be 90 degrees...however there were many more times at 5 and 6 weeks when come hell or the highway they'd rather freeze their wee little butts off playing in the yard than be near the toasty heat lamp.

The great thing about animals is that they will, for the most part, let you know what they need. Awake and running around-its warm enough. Zonked out near eachother?-warm enough. Awake and in huddled pile-too cold.

 

[tearose]

Well, I put the baby in a small room off my garage that was warmer, and turned on a space heater since I wasn't sure where the heat lamp was and it was so late. It is doing okay. The temps have been 90 plus here lately but will be cooler for a couple days. The would prefer not to use a heat lamp in July. Thank you for your help!

 

[needlessjunk]

Well, I put the baby in a small room off my garage that was warmer, and turned on a space heater since I wasn't sure where the heat lamp was and it was so late. It is doing okay. The temps have been 90 plus here lately but will be cooler for a couple days. The would prefer not to use a heat lamp in July. Thank you for your help!

If it's 90 during the day and that is the temp in the garage then I wouldn't use a lamp. However if it is by itself then it doesn't have another duck to snuggle up to if it gets cold. I would put a stuffed animal in with it and an unbreakable mirror till it has more buddies.

 

[seashoreduck]

In a garage I'd worry about over heating and dehydration. If you can run and get a cheap thermomoter in at a local store it may give you peace of mind. A garage can be like a car and get really hot.

 

[tearose]

Great!! I do have a couple towels in there it goes underneath. Is the mirror for company of a sort?

 

[seashoreduck]

Yep, a mirror gives it something to look at.

Silly as it sounds when I was re-habing a duck he LOVED charlie the unicorn. He would miss me when I was working and cry, so I would put Charlie the unicorn loop and he was all good.

 

[tearose]

 

[tearose]

So sweet!! Yes, my daughter washed it last night because it was muddy, then held it for a couple hours. When she put it down it kept quacking(crying)?