Julielynn810
Songster
- Sep 20, 2018
- 78
- 135
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Do my ducklings need to be fully feathered before they move outside full time? I'm in Raleigh, NC...its 60s during the day and 40s at night right now.
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Simple rule of thumb: The less time they huddle together under the heat-source the readier they are for the outside.Do my ducklings need to be fully feathered before they move outside full time? I'm in Raleigh, NC...its 60s during the day and 40s at night right now.
If you take them out for 15 min trips in slightly cooler weather, ducks seem to feather out faster. My suggestion would be to give them more play time outdoors, while keeping a close eye on them so they dont get chilled. That way they will get all their feathers faster and can permanently stay outside sooner.
I know they are stinky messy little boogers, but you don't wont to rush it and you end up losing them.
They don't need a heat lamp indoors. At 5 weeks old my Indian Runners had their chicken-house outside with a heat lamp overnight. Most of the time they slept away from the lamp, only in cold nights they huddled under it. But that was July here in WV, mid 80's during the day and 70's during the night, a cold night went down to 60's.Thanks everyone. I've turned the heat lamp off as they never want to be under it anymore.. they always have their legs stretched out and seem comfortable. They're 5 weeks old and it's about 70 degrees in the house. I definitely don't want to rush it, I just don't have a ton of space for them inside and I'm worried about them being cramped together too much. I have 4 of them in the bathtub still. I'm trying to figure out an indoor solution to give them more room, but just not sure what would work. @Cayuga momma @WannaBeHillBilly @bantamluv
Unless you have a spa-type bathtub it will be too small for four very soon. At five weeks they begin to grow really FAST. You ain't seen nothin' yet!Do I need to move them to a bigger area inside or will 4 Welsh Harlequin ducklings be ok in a bathtub brooder until fully feathered?