When can my duckling sleep outside?

[Sarahf95]

So my duckling is 5 and a half weeks old, his feathers are only just starting to come through but he’s turning white and seems to be fluffing out a lot. he’s been outside everyday for the last week now and only come in to sleep. Last night we brought him in to sleep but he couldn’t get comfy in his inside pen, he’s grown A LOT in the past week so there’s not really much space for him now.

His outside pen has a wooden house in it - walls, roof, and a door so we can shut him in, it’s bedded out with wood shavings but no heat lamp
or heat source and the temp tonight is going to be a low of 8 Celsius (46F) - is he okay to sleep in his outside house or not?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can you post a picture of your duck? And is there only one duck?

 

[noodledog]

I just see "duckling", do you have several or just one? Ducks cannot be alone - you should get a friend for him.

for living outside, I would wait until he is fully feathered (about 8weeks), 46f is way too cold in my opinion for a 5 week old

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe find him something bigger to sleep in.

 

[Sarahf95]

I just see "duckling", do you have several or just one? Ducks cannot be alone - you should get a friend for him.

for living outside, I would wait until he is fully feathered (about 8weeks), 46f is way too cold in my opinion for a 5 week old

Thank you, I’ve brought him in for the night, I’ll carrying on bringing him in on a night for a while longer until he’s feathered. I thought because of his sudden growth spurt he’d be ok but when I went out not long after I posted and decided it just isn’t warm enough for him yet.

Well he was a rescue so he’s on his own (hatched days later than his siblings and was too weak to leave out with his mother) but in a few more weeks (when he can sleep outside) he’s going back to my aunties where his siblings are - will he be okay until then or do I need to start reintroducing him now? Have you got any tips on this?

 

[Sarahf95]

Picture of him here

 

[Miss Lydia]

I wouldn’t put that little one out yet especially in 40’s temps. Surely you can find something bigger for him to sleep in? I would wait till he’s fully feathered if your temps are going to be that cold. What a precious duckling ❤

 

[Margin]

I have approx 6 weeks old Pekin ducklings, partly feathered, and for the time of year they seem to be doing fine outside, with the caveat that it's July in Massachusetts. Our nightly low temps are probably 60 Fahrenheit, and today's high was 90 degrees.

 

[Sarahf95]

I wouldn’t put that little one out yet especially in 40’s temps. Surely you can find something bigger for him to sleep in? I would wait till he’s fully feathered if your temps are going to be that cold. What a precious duckling ❤

Yeah I brought his house from his outside pen in with him last night and he has been much more settled in that. I will probably get my partner to build him something bigger for inside so that we don’t have to carry it back and forth. I just wanted to check he wasn’t going to be able to sleep outside anytime soon before I did x