Saturday, April 21, 2012

It's six AM, frost on the ground and 30 degrees but the ducks don't even care!


The ducks are right about 5 weeks old now and I had them in an insulated coop (about 4X6) now away from the chicks at night  and they did just fine without a heat lamp all night.   I also took their food away and just left them with a little water in a dog bowl (MUCH cleaner then using the reg chick waterer which they spill ALL over).  My plan is to give them NO food OR water through the night.   I was a little worried about putting them outside right after sunrise because it was still only 30 degrees and the frost was still on the ground but they jumped right in the water and were drinking up a storm and didn't seem to mind the cold AT all.  One thing I noticed is that when I look online for 5 week old ducks they all seem to look like they all have their feathers (my pictures look the same) but in reality they are still yellow looking and have only some of their feathers in.  This made me think that maybe others were off on their dates of exactly how old their ducks really were because I was positive I knew how old my ducks were...at least until I seen my own pics with white looking ducks.  Now I can feel better about putting them outdoors on cold mornings and letting them jump in the water.  I still did not give them their pool...waiting another week at least for that.  They were hatched in the incubator and not by mom so it takes longer for them to spread their oils around.If hatched by mom they will have their natural oils right away and can go in the pool from day one.  Hope to be able to see that when my girls start to lay eggs and brood their own chicks! :D  Maybe someday! 

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