My duck are 7 weeks old

[amandapekinduck]

Do they still need a heat lamp if they are outside in a coop with hay? The nights are about 40 degrees here at the lowest

 

[PD-Riverman]

Do they still need a heat lamp if they are outside in a coop with hay? The nights are about 40 degrees here at the lowest

NO, they probably did not need any heat after the first week----some say they don't need heat from day 1??

 

[Ducks4us]

Do they still need a heat lamp if they are outside in a coop with hay? The nights are about 40 degrees here at the lowest

Mine have been without heat since week 4 - with temps in the low 30s and 40/ at night.
So yours will be fine.
They need about 85 the first week and it can be dropped down every few days until they start staying far away from the lamp. Which for mine was around 4 weeks.

 

[amandapekinduck]

Im new to this forum and very new to ducks. Im a little intimidated. I have a pond in my back yard with alot of trees overhead and was thinking id get them a round coop just to sleep in and let stay in a femced in area while they are little . Then as they get big let them roam free in the yard and remove the fencing is that okay? And lock them up at night ...

 

[Ducks4us]

Im new to this forum and very new to ducks. Im a little intimidated. I have a pond in my back yard with alot of trees overhead and was thinking id get them a round coop just to sleep in and let stay in a femced in area while they are little . Then as they get big let them roam free in the yard and remove the fencing is that okay? And lock them up at night ...

Yep that sounds like a good plan. Ours are out to roam the yard during the day too and locked up at night in a secure coop.
By 5 weeks old mine had full run of the yard during the day. 7 weeks old they are pretty big already
By 7 weeks old yours should be fully feathered in.
Do you have photos?

 

[PD-Riverman]

Im new to this forum and very new to ducks. Im a little intimidated. I have a pond in my back yard with alot of trees overhead and was thinking id get them a round coop just to sleep in and let stay in a femced in area while they are little . Then as they get big let them roam free in the yard and remove the fencing is that okay? And lock them up at night ...

Don't spend a lot of money in a coop---a lot of them want use it, having them trained to a pen so you can close them up at night is good. I lost most all of the last ones I was keeping----some were disappearing on the water, then they would not go back in the water and started disappearing on the land. Found out there was a Gator in the water----then with a camera and traps I caught a bobcat on the land---but most all of them were gone by then.

 

[amandapekinduck]

 

[Ducks4us]

they look about 4 -5weeks old ...
this is mine at 7 weeks

 

[DwayneNLiz]

@amandapekinduck they look rather spoiled in that picture lol

beware of hay, it molds very quickly and if that happens and they eat it it could kill them
also, when you start letting them out of their coop and free ranging try feeding them at night when you want them to come in, call to them and bring treats, get them used to the routine so that they come to you and are easy to lock up

Good Luck!!

 

[amandapekinduck]

Thank you!