Will a 100w bulb be enough?

[tharrell]

It's been really nice out all day so I have my 3.5 week old ducklings outside. I would REALLY like for them to stay outside with them being so big and messy and I have a 100w bulb in the coop. The part where the bulb is is made from plywood, and it is a pretty small area, about 2' x 4'. There is about 6 inches of pine shavings on the floor. There is a small hole as the opening into the run. I have a thermometer in there and it reads 76 now. Do you think it will stay warm enough in there for them? It is supposed to get down to about 40 or so tonight. Oh, also there are 5 of them. Will it help having someone to cuddle up with? Thanks for any tips or advice. I will bring them in if I have to!

 

[Judy]

I've never raised ducks so this is just a bump

 

[silkiechicken]

Don't know about ducklings, but I've used just a single 100W bulb on day old chicks outside when nights were in the mid 30's in a similar sized coop. All I know is that ducks don't need to be as warm as chickens...as for the temps, not sure.

 

[shelleyd2008]

A 100w bulb on 3.5 week old ducklings should be more than enough. I put mine outside at 3-4 weeks old with a rubbermaid tote to sleep in and a 75w bulb for 'heat'. They did just fine. They were totally feathered in like 2 days, when they weren't getting feathers hardly at all inside!

ETA: It was still getting into the 30's and 40's at least at night when I moved mine out. Where they were at inside was a constant 75-80 degrees, and they were always hot.

 

[eggchel]

I put mine in a stock tank with a 150 watt bulb and they were fine. I hung the bulb fairly low at one end so that they could move away from it if they wanted.

 

[ticks]

T raised my ducklings without a light (no problems)! They lived in the garage by 4-5 weeks, yours *should* be good with a 10 watt light bulb

 

[Brickman House]

A 100 watt bulb should be more than fine.

I've discovered that my ducklings REALLY need much less heat than my chicks, and the heat significantly delays their feathering out.

I keep a heat lamp on them for 2-3 weeks, raising it each week, and then that's about it. They do feather out some during that period, but I notice that as soon as I take the heat away, they about explode in feathers.

We put our Pekins out with no heat at 4 weeks, and they did great. They were fully feathered within a week, and playing in their pond in weather that kept me huddled in a sweatshirt. I have a 6 week old house duck who's under no heat and doing great, and week old ducklings in the brooder who will be under heat for a couple more weeks. Then they'll all go out to the duck yard with no heat, and I honestly don't expect problems for any of them.