How to keep feedings seperate?

elly21 said:

They are not fully feathered yet. They should be by 9 weeks old, right? The whitelayers are the calmest and friendliest of all the ducks. They are so sweet, hence the name sweet Emily's I suppose. lol I just can't tell them apart. The Ancona's are easy to tell apart and one of the runners has a darker patch on it's butt.

We are going to put plastic up over the whole pen to help block the wind. But here are some pictures of our setup.

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For sure by 9 weeks that is a nice setup and putting up plastic will help alot to keep out the wind. They are very pretty Your lil Runners may have to huddle next to your while layers to stay warm be like snuggling under a down comforter.

Miss Lydia said:

For sure by 9 weeks that is a nice setup and putting up plastic will help alot to keep out the wind. They are very pretty Your lil Runners may have to huddle next to your while layers to stay warm be like snuggling under a down comforter.

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Yes, I heard the Indian Runners were not as cold hardy as some of the other breeds. If they all go into the coop they should be ok. Do you think I should lock them all in the coop at night when the temperature drops more? The pen is predator proof. We have the hard wire all the way around, and it's buried into the ground at least 6 inches. Along the bottom 3 feet we have the 1" chicken wire so the ducks can't stick their heads out. The top is covered by our deck. I have not been locking the Ancona's in the coop at night. Sometimes I'll go check on them in the middle of the night and their in the pool. lol

elly21 said:

Yes, I heard the Indian Runners were not as cold hardy as some of the other breeds. If they all go into the coop they should be ok. Do you think I should lock them all in the coop at night when the temperature drops more? The pen is predator proof. We have the hard wire all the way around, and it's buried into the ground at least 6 inches. Along the bottom 3 feet we have the 1" chicken wire so the ducks can't stick their heads out. The top is covered by our deck. I have not been locking the Ancona's in the coop at night. Sometimes I'll go check on them in the middle of the night and their in the pool. lol

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I would def put them in their house on frigid nights. Protect them from cold drafts especially the Runners need this and I doubt they would stay inside with out the rest of their family. You don't want them in their pool when the night temps dip below freezing or you could wake up to ducks with frost bite.

Miss Lydia said:

I would def put them in their house on frigid nights. Protect them from cold drafts especially the Runners need this and I doubt they would stay inside with out the rest of their family. You don't want them in their pool when the night temps dip below freezing or you could wake up to ducks with frost bite.

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Thank you! I think I am going to drain the pool and keep it empty when it gets that cold.

elly21 said:

Thank you! I think I am going to drain the pool and keep it empty when it gets that cold.

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I actually drain their pools when it get down to mid 30's and then on days when it gets into low 40's I'll give them a cement mixing tub to splash around in they are so much easier to dump.