I need duckling advice...

[Samibrainey]

I have two ducklings, approximately 5 weeks old. I really would like to put them outside in a play pin during the day but it's raining, and only about 57°. It's not a downpour but a consistent drizzle, no thunder, not too windy. I have a small pin, a little wading pool, and I figured on providing a little "house" of sorts for them to go into. I'd planed on laying some chicken wire over the top for protection but now I'm considering clear plastic, to also cover then from the rain. My questions: is this a bad idea? What are key rules of thumb pertaining to weather? How worried should I be for them in general? Thanks!

 

[gilbert2]

I appreciate your concern. Ducks are amazingly hardy. Since their feathers do not absorb water, they are effectively waterproof; rain simply beads up and rolls off them. And a temp of 57 degrees is quite temperate. In the snowy winters where I live, my ducks have withstood frigid temps of as low as 12 degrees F. My ducks have stood outside in the rain many times.
Have faith, pilgrim! Good luck.
Gil