When can I move the ducklings outside with the chickens

[duckynewbie]

I have 4 ducks that are 4 weeks old. Eventually we would like to put them in with our chickens. How old & how warm does it have to be for me to do this?

 

[lomine]

It's going to depend on a few things. You're going to want to wait till they are fully feathered before putting them outside so they can regulate their body temps better. You'll also want to acclimate them to the colder outside temps. How long this takes will depend on how warm it is where they are now and how cold it is outside. You'll want to aim for a 5 degree temperature decrease per week until the temps are about the same.

 

[AimToMisbehave]

I waited til 8 weeks to put mine outside, just so I could be sure they wouldn't get too cold. I also started doing meet 'n' greets in an exercise pen with the group that was already outside at the warmest part of the day starting around 6 1/2 weeks, just to make sure when they moved out for real, there wouldn't be any incidents.

Just to double check, are your baby ducks are all female? Sexually mature drakes aren't safe to keep with chickens, as I understand it.

 

[duckynewbie]

So far I don't know the sex of my ducks. I've never been told that drakes can't go in with the chickens. I'll have to look into that further. Thank you

 

[AimToMisbehave]

From what I've read, drakes will try to mate with chickens if they're housed together, but it can be dangerous to the chicken I think due to the configuration of drake genitals?