Cold Winters

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DuckTuckandRole

DuckTuckandRole

In the Brooder
Jul 1, 2015
20
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22
Minnesota
My duck house is very open, with a very little closed space for the ducks. In the winter do i insulate and cover up the open areas? I have a Pekin and a Swedish Blue.
 
I do not believe ducks need insulation, like chickens they handle cold very well. I do not know much about ducks. However I know some people who are very experienced with them: @LittleLakePhil has ducks and he lives in Northern Michigan, so he would be the one who could tell you how he cares for his ducks in his long winter.
Also @Debs Flock and @RavynFallen are also very experienced with ducks
 
DuckTuckandRole said:
My duck house is very open, with a very little closed space for the ducks. In the winter do i insulate and cover up the open areas? I have a Pekin and a Swedish Blue.
Click to expand...

Can you post a picture of your duck house? How cold does it get overnight there during winter? @LittleLakePhil has weather more similar to yours than I do. My ducks did fine over the winter. We have them in a fully enclosed coop (about 75 sq feet) at night and I'd throw in about 1/4 bale of straw every time I cleaned their coop.
 
Realistically, ducks don't need any insulation during winter... at least not full sized ones... they are wearing a thick down jacket under those waterproof feathers...

Now draft free and predator proof is needed... a little bedding like Deb mentioned, well ventilated, and dry should be just fine... :)
 
RavynFallen said:
Realistically, ducks don't need any insulation during winter... at least not full sized ones... they are wearing a thick down jacket under those waterproof feathers...
Click to expand...

Unless you're one of a few of Amiga's Runner flock. Then you don't do so well below 35F.

We have some ducks who simply are not as cold-hardy as the duck reputation. They shivered, walked with necks tucked in, stopped laying, walked stiff-legged, and were generally miserable and not thriving until I moved them into a night pen that stayed around 40F.

Within a few days, they were laying again, feathers looked normal, no more shivering or scrunched necks, walking normally, chatty, content. I took them to the vet - nothing particularly wrong with them, just not cold-hardy.

Observation is valuable. The ducks told me they were too cold.
 
I stand corrected... very true, Amiga, they will let you know what they need... :)

I remember you mentioning that before, actually... I just didn't think about it since they didn't say Runner, lol...
 
And there are many Runners who do much better in the cold. I don't think I made any big mistakes raising them - followed Storey's Guide and did my best...we just had a few who don't thrive in the cold.
 
That is really beautiful!

-10 Farenheit, yes?

With just the two of them here are my thoughts:

The more ducks, the more they potentially could huddle together and benefit from the collective warmth. (of course, do my Runners huddle? No o o o o o o of course not!)

With just two ducks, I don't think they will be able to keep themselves warm enough when it's that cold.

The advantage of just two ducks is that the space you'll need to keep them at a healthy temperature is minimal. Do you have a utility room that has, oh, an extra 12 square feet?

That's just 3x4.
 
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