Outside Brooder for Muscovy

[aghiowa]

Hi all! I've had chickens for 2 years, but have recently delved into the world of ducks by getting a Muscovy duckling. So far it's been living in a Rubbermaid tub in my bathroom, but that's not going to last forever.

I tried setting up a nice outdoor brooder area, but the little gal looks so tiny and vulnerable out there, and peeps constantly, so I brought her back inside for now.

Is this a decent setup? (See pic below) What age do you generally move your ducklings outside? Was it too cold? (The air temp is currently about 83 F.) I know it's not ideal having only one duckling, but chickens are barely legal in my city, so, I don't want to push my duck luck.

What other advice can you give me about caring for my duckling?



Thanks,
Angela

 

[Kevin565]

You have a nice start but it needs to be predator proofed, Right now really any predator could get to her.

 

[ReDave]

We moved our Muscovys outside a couple of weeks ago. Heat lamp on at night on some cooler nights. They seem fine. We have a 6ft high circle cage around a very similar setup to yours.

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[ReDave]

Also, My wife was adamant about not getting just one duckling. I'm not sure if ducks are more social than other poultry, but I've watched ours groom each other more than I've noticed our chicken or turkeys. And at night, almost since we got them, they sleep all neck overlapped, kinda cute.

 

[Going Quackers]

You have a nice start but it needs to be predator proofed, Right now really any predator could get to her.

I agree, that is literally a sitting duck. As well it does need a companion...

 

[HEChicken]

You absolutely need a companion for her. The neat thing about Muscovies is they aren't noisy like other ducks so you can have 2-3 and probably slip under the radar pretty well.

I got six about four weeks ago and it is stunning how fast they grow. They are almost like cornish cross the way they stack on the weight and size. I only had them inside for about two weeks and then out they went. They are pretty hardy and never seemed to have any issues. Of course they did have each other to snuggle up to and stay warm. I brooded them with a dozen guinea keets, and there was only one night after they went outside, where it dropped down to about 50. The keets were huddled and looked miserable so I put a heat lamp in the outside brooder for them. They immediately went to sit under it. The muscovies stayed at the cooler end of the brooder, so clearly weren't bothered by the low temp.