when to put ducks outside full time

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
In their adult enclosure. Mine are out there right now playing in their pool. I have a 10'X6' enclosure with a roof, and they LOVE it out there. If you're wondering where I put them as to outside, they are right next to my house, right outside my window.

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/ducklingsstandingaround.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/Roof.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/frontveiw3.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/sideveiw.jpg

Awesome set up. How old are the ducklings in the pic? They are too cute. So, they don't get out of the openings in the fence? What are the colorful straps that you have within the fence and why do you have that there? It looks great! Does that prevent them from getting out of the chain link kennel? At what age would you think that ducklings could be put in something like that?

 

[2txmedics]

I put them last night in the run...inside there makeshift coop I made....I posted pics above and the parrot cage sits on the ground, dirt....and I added shavings....and they had a muddy mess!!! I dont have a coop made for them yet....DH has been working ALOT...just did 3 double shifts in a row, so...48hrs, home example monday morning, sleep home monday night, another double home wednesday, home that night, next day double, then went to school ....be home today later, and home tonight and then a 24hrs shift....we are medics.

so no time for building coops....and I cant build a thing, so I put a cage out for them to secure them in the run at night.

 

[DuckLover179]

Quote:
In their adult enclosure. Mine are out there right now playing in their pool. I have a 10'X6' enclosure with a roof, and they LOVE it out there. If you're wondering where I put them as to outside, they are right next to my house, right outside my window.

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/ducklingsstandingaround.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/Roof.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/frontveiw3.jpg
http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab211/juliejamjam/sideveiw.jpg

Awesome set up. How old are the ducklings in the pic? They are too cute. So, they don't get out of the openings in the fence? What are the colorful straps that you have within the fence and why do you have that there? It looks great! Does that prevent them from getting out of the chain link kennel? At what age would you think that ducklings could be put in something like that?

I recently added some welded wire around the openings, so they won't stick their heads through and have one of the dogs eat them (The wire isn't in the pic, though). They were 3 1/2 weeks there, now they are 5 1/2 weeks, and have almost all their feathers. Before I had the wire around it they never tried to get out/stick their heads out, but they were too fat to get fully out even if they tried. The straps I bought at home depot, it keeps the dratfs out, and before I bought the wire it helped keep the dogs out. They are used for regualr fences for privacy. I think with a heat lamp, and a place to get away from the weather (Like a dog house) they could go out at 2 weeks. Mine went out at about 4 weeks, because I'm over protective, but now I know I could have let them out earlier.

I also use stall mats from the feed store as their bedding, because they are just too easy to wash off!

I'll be posting more pics of Waddles & Puddles soon, so you can see how their feathers are coming in!

Edited: For typos!

 

[AnaD]

Quote:
Mine free range all day when it is sunny. At night I put them in their temporary home by the house.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I have six ten-day-old ducklings outside now. They're in a nice big 5' diameter steel stock tank with lots o' pine shavings, and a cardboard box with heat lamp through the top and ventilation doors on all four sides, and 3/4 covered with plywood. (Our temps have ranged from 30s at night and 70s in the day.)

 

[Suzie]

I can only say what I was advised by the breeder - he told me that buzzards and birds of prey will attack any birds that are less than 8 weeks old ( that does include goslings ) as they are not fully feathered and therefore not protected and certainly not weatherproof....

Ducks - much the same... as long as you are aware of the risks it is down to common sense... just be aware that predators are looking for any opportunity to attack and they will do given the chance....!

Wishing you the best!

 

[Jan Croot]

6 week old Moskovy; 50-60 degrees during the day
I just open the door; They wonder in and out, from the toasty brooder room to the sunny door, to the yard, play in paint pan of water.

They pretty much stopped sleeping anywhere near the heat lamp at about four weeks.

If in the sun and out of the wind, they are pretty tough, feathers or no.

 

[corriemartin]

I'm happy to see this thread resurrected, because I am a first time duck owner and am wondering the same thing. Mine are only 1 week old, though, and they STINK! I've been changing the pad that the water and food are on three or four times a day, and replacing wet shavings with dry ones, and switching out the towel over the MHP, and still the whole house smells like duck, even with the doors closed. At least they're not making dust like the chicks did for the past couple months.

But I know I need to wait for the weather to warm up a little bit more. I'm planning an enclosure on the front porch, with a heating pad and a heat lamp, and lots of wood shavings, and a separate water/food area that hopefully won't get the rest of the area all wet, and a tarp over the top to keep heat in.

When I first got the ducklings, they all went under the heating pad the first night, but since then, only two or three go under periodically, and the rest hang out on top, or even just next to it. So I figure that in a few days when the nighttime temps are in the 60s (which is what the house is), then they'll be okay on the porch.