Late ducks.

[kiltedgunman]

Hey guys and gals I live in Wisconsin and have picked up some ducks mixed flock, Cayuga, Runner, Layer and Swedish Blue. Noe I picked them up late summer so they are totally not some spring chickens. My question is can they handle being outside? They are about 2 months old now getting some real feathers on them and I have them in the garage (i may have to burn it down to get the smell out now) with a space heater. Night temps are getting to the 40s (that's 40f for our friends across the pond) can they handle that at this age?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hey guys and gals I live in Wisconsin and have picked up some ducks mixed flock, Cayuga, Runner, Layer and Swedish Blue. Noe I picked them up late summer so they are totally not some spring chickens. My question is can they handle being outside? They are about 2 months old now getting some real feathers on them and I have them in the garage (i may have to burn it down to get the smell out now) with a space heater. Night temps are getting to the 40s (that's 40f for our friends across the pond) can they handle that at this age?

@kiltedgunman Welcome to BYC. They actually need to be completely feathered in which shouldn't be too much longer. But until they have all their adult feather over their down they can't regulate their body temps well.On nice warm days you can take them out to get them use to different temps as long as they are out of wind rain and snow. and have a way to get out of sun if hot.

Smell should eventually leave once birds are out of doors. with lots of oder removing products and open windows and doors. lol

be sure to post lots of pics we love pics..

 

[dotknott]

You picked them up as ducklings in the late summer? If so, I'd avoid moving them out until they have their plumage, but if you've got a mild day they can go outside for a little while to get used to being outside.

Just a heads up when they move outside they will go through a little bit of a mentality change. They will be SUPER afraid of everything almost overnight. It's not you, it's duck nature. Give them some time (and some peas) and they will mellow out. It can be very discouraging to have this happen and not know to expect it.

 

[lomine]

I agree with the above posts that they shouldn't go out till fully feathered since it is getting cold now. Taking them out during the day is a great idea.

I would suggest you start slowly turning down the heat, if you aren't already, so that the inside temperature is close to the outside temperature. You need to get them acclimated and exposing them to cooler temperatures with also encourage feather growth. It's important that even when they are fully feather they don't go from one extreme temperature to another.

 

[dotknott]

^ that is a great suggestion!

 

[kiltedgunman]

Ok, well thank you all so far this seems like i am rite on the cusp than most if not all of them seem to be feathered or real close to full feather. I will keep the heat off and get them used to the cold. i will post some pics this weekend, we are having a daddy duck day out side fixing up the coop a little and getting the garden duck friendly. I cant wait this group contains my first Runner and i have wanted one for so long! so pumped to let her jog around a little.


Thanks again.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok, well thank you all so far this seems like i am rite on the cusp than most if not all of them seem to be feathered or real close to full feather. I will keep the heat off and get them used to the cold. i will post some pics this weekend, we are having a daddy duck day out side fixing up the coop a little and getting the garden duck friendly. I cant wait this group contains my first Runner and i have wanted one for so long! so pumped to let her jog around a little.


Thanks again.

@kiltedgunman look forward to pics..

 

[kiltedgunman]

So first off thank you everyone for your advice. How ever sadly i have no pics to post as some thing has broken into my coop and run and killed all 4 of my girls, leaving me sadly duck less for the winter. so any good ideas on coops and keeping out duck murderers could be handy. i live in Wisconsin and am now planing a full rebuild on my coop and run areas this spring.

Thanks again.

 

[lomine]

Oh no, I'm so sorry.

Before I built my coop/run I read up on what predators were in my area and what I needed to keep them out. For me the big ones were foxes, raccoons, and stray dogs (I live in a residential neighborhood.) I think two of the biggest things I took away from the research is don't use chicken wire and cover even the smallest holes. My entire run in covered in hardware cloth (expensive but effective) and the extra pieces were used to cover holes and gaps in the roof line and such. The Coop & Run forum under the Raising Backyard Chickens section is a good resource for coop and run info. Good luck in your rebuild.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So first off thank you everyone for your advice. How ever sadly i have no pics to post as some thing has broken into my coop and run and killed all 4 of my girls, leaving me sadly duck less for the winter. so any good ideas on coops and keeping out duck murderers could be handy. i live in Wisconsin and am now planing a full rebuild on my coop and run areas this spring.

Thanks again.

Oh gosh how awful.. I am so sorry keeping poultry can be heartbreaking when this happens. I like lomine advise. Hardware cloth is our only deterrent from predators. Lots of excellent info here on BYC so over winter arm yourself with the best and also maybe think about putting out a game camera so you can see what your up against.Most preds come back if they find an easy target.

Did the pred just kill them and leave them or did they take them with out a trace? also how did they get in dig, climb or through the fences[gate] Do you have roaming dogs, coyotes raccoons, Mink, weasels? There is also a Predator/Pest thread here on BYC

So sorry for your loss