Moving ducklings into heat

[MandBducks]

So where I live it frequents 107 plus in the summer. This weekend it was 113. The 'lings are 4 weeks old now and getting large and incredibly messy. It's getting hard for me to manage the mess (although I'm completely willing to for however long I need to). The temps are about 80 at night and 105 or so during the day on average right now. How should I transition the lings to being outside in that heat?

 

[Ravynscroft]

80 at night for 4 week olds sounds fine... yep, the heat during the day will be rough... provide plenty of fresh water, lots of shade, and a small pan (make sure it's shallow enough for them to stand up in and walk out of) for splashing/cooling down in... you can always drop some ice cubes in the pan or even a frozen water bottle... swap it out with a new one as it melts... and even a large flat rock or paving stone next to the pan, those tend to hold cool well if kept in shade and/or slightly buried in the ground...

 

[babychicks7]

oh i like the paving stone idea that can work for all poultry my ducks are getting a new coop going to try the paving stones for them it gets pretty warm here in the summer also!

 

[MandBducks]

Thanks for the tips! I put them out early this morning with a shallow pan of water and a wet pave stone I brought them in when it hit 105. They weren't panting or showing distress, so that's good!

I am going to order some misters for them as well.