OK to stay out?

[mc79]

I have 2 Khaki Campbells (bought at Rural King) and 1 Muscovy (bought from private seller). I have no idea how old they are so I attached a couple of pics for reference. I have their brooder in the basement, and I very rarely see them getting under the heat lamp. Since it's hot here in Tennessee (93 during the day, nighttime lows around 70), I decided to let them outside this morning to mingle with the chickens. They seemed to be loving it. No stressful chirping or anything, very calm and relaxed. It was around 72 degrees when I put them out there, and they still made a point to find shade to lay in. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start leaving them outside during the day. But what is too cold at night for their age? Could I get away with leaving them out permanently or just bring them back to their brooder at night? Ordinarily I wouldn't try to rush things, but I'm a 1st time duck owner (experienced chicken owner) and I can't believe how bad they can make things smell inside. Chickens are nowhere near that messy and stinky.

 

[Jbently28]

I left my in the brooder at night until they were about 6 weeks old. Your KCs only looks to be about 3 weeks old. I don't have any experience with muscovies so perhaps someone else could help with that. But it would definitely be too cold at night for your little KCs since they don't have any feathers yet to help maintain their body temp.

 

[DuckyDonna]

@learycow has muscovies I believe and @casportpony too. I don't know anything about muscovies either. The KC's look too little to be out all night, I don't put mine out until they are fully feathered.

 

[mc79]

As long as it's not raining, I'll be keeping them out during the day (since it's already crazy hot here...already seeing record breaking temps for this time of year) and bring them in to their brooder just before the sun goes down. They're absolutely loving it outside. I was worried about them getting bullied, since I'm integrating them with a well established group of chickens. But to my surprise, the chickens are actually scared of them. I've never seen adult (and dominant in the hierarchy) chickens run away from a little baby before...LOL.

 

[chickens really]

Definitely can be left out as long as at night they have a safe place to sleep.

 

[CindyinSD]

I’ve been hearing about your miserably hot weather. (We otoh have just dug out from under 18” of heavy wet snow.) If you’re running the A/C 24/7 just to keep from losing your minds, I’ll bet the duckies will be absolutely happy in an outdoor coop, shed, etc. They need a close nest-like cubby and bedding where they can snuggle together and stay cozy. OTOH, if nights are comfortable it likely will be a bit chilly for them.

I made my chicks & poults a mother hen heating pad cave. (Be sure to get a heating pad that does NOT automatically turn off or rewire it to exclude the controller if you know how to do that.) They snuggle together and don’t really use it. Ducklings are more vulnerable to cold though. If you have enough room for one, you could also give them a heat lamp provided it’s not getting too cool at night and provided you have a cozy spot to contain the heat for them.

 

[DuckyDonna]

As long as it's not raining, I'll be keeping them out during the day (since it's already crazy hot here...already seeing record breaking temps for this time of year) and bring them in to their brooder just before the sun goes down. They're absolutely loving it outside. I was worried about them getting bullied, since I'm integrating them with a well established group of chickens. But to my surprise, the chickens are actually scared of them. I've never seen adult (and dominant in the hierarchy) chickens run away from a little baby before...LOL.

You are not that far from me so be careful with snakes and your little ones being out all day. I had a 4 week old get killed by a huge king snake last year, squeezed the life right out of my little guy and then tried to eat him. Trust me, you don't want to see that happening!

 

[Timothy Menezes]

My wife will tolerate baby chicks in the house, but will not tolerate ducklings in the house even if I change the bedding constantly. So I put them in a brooder inside a shed with heat lamp on an extension cord. Worked great, and no smell in the house.