moving ducklings outside

[hfchristy]

I have two ducklings that are a month old. Feathers are coming in nicely, but I think I've heard 8 weeks for fully feathered - is that right?
I'd like to move them out to the duckhouse with the others, but don't know whether it's warm enough at night. We've had a few cool ones lately. They would be in a large cat carrier inside the duck house, so I'm not worried about group dynamics, just the temperature.

Any idea how warm it needs to stay outside for the temp in a draft-free corner of a well-ventilated duck house to be okay?

 

[AvianEgo]

Ducks don't need as much heat as chickens at that Age. Id say 70 degrees would be just fine for them

 

[AvianEgo]

My inlaws put their 4 week old ducklings out in much colder temps and they seemed to do just fine

 

[hfchristy]

They do seem pretty sturdy, and have always seemed happy at cooler temps than the calculations in Storey's duck book say they should.

Anyone have any idea how the temp inside a duck house is going to compare to the outside temp? Some nights recently have been in the 50s. I don't mind bringing them back in the people-house for a night or two here or there, but have no clue how to judge when that's necessary.

 

[RouenDuck]

I have 4 ducklings a little under a month old who stay in the coop during the night and it gets to be in the 40s...But our coop is insulated and has 14 chickens and 5 ducks in it so it probably stays warmer then if it were just the ducklings. I would say your ducklings would be okay if you left them out, but better safe than sorry.

 

[hfchristy]

Are your ducklings just mixed in with the rest of the flock, then? I've been scared to do that. Maybe if I locked the boys up...
There are 5 other ducks out there, so some body heat in the duck house, but if I have the ducklings isolated from the others, they can't snuggle up if they need to keep warm.

 

[RouenDuck]

Yes, they're mixed in with the flock... I slipped them as eggs underneath a broody chicken, but she sleeps on the roost and they sleep on the ground. Our duck are afraid of almost anything, including the ducklings, so they don't fight too much. Every duck is different though. I don't think not being able to snuggle up to the bigger ducks should be too much of a problem. If you want to introduce the ducklings to the flock you could try putting them all in the same pen for a few minutes with you there to make sure nobody gets hurt.