New duck mother

[Klatimer]

I have 5 week old ducklings, Peking and Cayuga… what do you have to do when transitioning them outside?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Are they your only ducks or will they be going out where there are resident ducks?
At 5 weeks they should be ready to go outside and can even go over night now without food and water inside their coop which will help alot to keep the mess down. Are they going to be in a coop with a run attached? If your only ducks then just start by letting them spend the day out in the run if they have one then come late afternoon put them inside their coop it will be harder on you than them. lol

 

[Klatimer]

Are they your only ducks or will they be going out where there are resident ducks?
At 5 weeks they should be ready to go outside and can even go over night now without food and water inside their coop which will help alot to keep the mess down. Are they going to be in a coop with a run attached? If your only ducks then just start by letting them spend the day out in the run if they have one then come late afternoon put them inside their coop it will be harder on you than them. lol

They are my only ducks, I am very inexperienced. They are my first bunch. We are in the process of making them a coop right now. By this weekend we should be done. I’m hoping this area will be big enough. But I’m always willing to expand! I do agree, the transition will be hard!

 

[Klatimer]

Are they your only ducks or will they be going out where there are resident ducks?
At 5 weeks they should be ready to go outside and can even go over night now without food and water inside their coop which will help alot to keep the mess down. Are they going to be in a coop with a run attached? If your only ducks then just start by letting them spend the day out in the run if they have one then come late afternoon put them inside their coop it will be harder on you than them. lol

Another dumb question but how would I keep them from overheating? Right now I have them in my gym area with fans on the and fresh the water every couple of hours.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Overheating outside in their coop?
if your talking about once you move them out then there must be good ventilation in their coop. Hardware cloth over every opening to make sure they are safe from predators. I do use fans in my coops. I have a plug-in that turns the fans on at 78 and off at 72.

 

[Klatimer]

Over heating outside in their coop?

Yes. The temps outside have been in the 100s. I know closer we get to August and September it’s only going to get worse. Sorry I’m just a nervous Nelly with my babies

 

[Miss Lydia]

I can understand it is important that they have shade to be able to get out of the sun and fresh water during daylight hours. Many on here do put water inside when temps are high like your talking about I don't get temps like you so I can let my flock go without water over night.
Only other thing you can do is keep them inside your gym until fall.
If you have been taking them outside during the day to get them acclimated to temps they should be okay overnight as long as they have windows for fresh air. And if you can set up fans that will help. Hopefully, others will reply and give you info on how they keep their ducks in high temps.

 

[Klatimer]

I can understand it is important that they have shade to be able to get out of the sun and fresh water during daylight hours. Many on here do put water inside when temps are high like your talking about I don't get temps like you so I can let my flock go without water over night.
Only other thing you can do is keep them inside your gym until fall.
If you have been taking them outside during the day to get them acclimated to temps they should be okay overnight as long as they have windows for fresh air. And if you can set up fans that will help. Hopefully, others will reply and give you info on how they keep their ducks in high temps.

Thank you very much you’ve helped a lot.