New ducklings in hot garage

[wallawu]

Good afternoon! Not new to the duckling game, but we have 3 ladies coming to us in the morning and this is the first time we've done this in the summer. The first time they were in the house. That's never happening again. The second and third time were in the fall and winter in a shed and garage, so the heat lamp was a necessity while still having space to cool off if they got hot. It's going to be in the low/mid 90's for the foreseeable future here, so the garage is going to be very warm. Is the heat lamp going to be necessary at all? Should we be worried about them getting TOO hot? The lows are in the upper 70s. I could leave a spot in the kiddie pool with no shavings underneath so the cooler garage floor can provide a spot for relief. Any ideas would be great. Thanks!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I would certainly have an eye on the ducklings to observe their behavior. If they start to pant, they are getting too hot and in this case a flat pan with luke-warm water would give them some relief. If they huddle together and complain, they feel cold, but i think that is very unlikely with these temperatures.
Have fun with the new babies and please send us some pictures and/or videos.

 

[sylviethecochin]

It's eighty outside now, and my three one-week olds (bad hatch; too high of humidity) are trooping around outside as happily as they did this morning when it was seventy out. Ducklings are really, really cold-hardy.

 

[DuckyDonna]

where are you? How old are the ducklings? sounds like you might be near or at the same weather as me.

 

[Duckworth]

It sounds like you are going to have to wait and see how they do. I would just check on them regularly so that if their behavior tells you they are too hot or cold, you can make adjustments. Does your garage actually get to 90 degrees inside? Ours has no temperature control, but usually is not quite as hot or cold as our outside high and low temperatures.

You didn’t say how old the ducklings are. If they are still very young and downy, I would be hesitant to give them bathing water unsupervised, since they get easily waterlogged and despite its not being cold, they may not be able to get out of the water and get dry. Three isn’t a lot to huddle with to get warm when wet. Depending on their age, you may want to give them some access to heat overnight, but their behavior should guide you in that.

 

[wallawu]

They hatched and metzer on Monday and got in this morning. We leave the box they come in with them so they can have some coverage from the wide open space. I'm in Arkansas, and as of right now (7:41 am) it's almost 80 degrees. They've been staying around their water dispenser. They have the heating pack from the travel that's still warm. We will keep an eye on them and probably put a heat lamp on the very edge of the pool tonight.

 

[wallawu]

Blue runner, chocolate runner, and golden 300

 

[Duckworth]

They are adorable! Sounds like you have a good plan. Since you are experienced at duck keeping, you will know what to look out for.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just adorable!

 

[wallawu]

They are adorable! Sounds like you have a good plan. Since you are experienced at duck keeping, you will know what to look out for.

It has gotten easier each time, for sure, but the integration part is always a challenge. We're under the gun because they'll be 7 weeks when we go on vacation for a week and would like to have them with the "grown-ups" outside so the folks taking care of them don't have to deal with the giant mess that is ducks in a kiddie pool! I'd have to leave 8 bags of pine shavings behind.