Questions! Building a duck house...surviving harsh winters

jmc said:

Heat lamp not neccess.,

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Thank you for posting this. I had a village chicken keeper tell me that I was abusing my ducks because I didn't have a heat source in their outdoor pen.

LeannS said:

A duck shelter is very important and is protecting your investment. I got started late in the year with my 6 ducks and next year by this time I intend to have better shelter for my 6 ducks. The less stress they have to endure, the more, they can
put out.I got my ducks 1 month ago and it took that long for them to get in better health so they could produce eggs for me. We are in the 20 th century now and our animals become family. I have shelter but it should be better, I have heated water, and heat lamps to keep it available for them to go to, and they do use it. Straw, wood chips, food and water 24 /7. It is very cold here in Washington state right now. At night in the 20`s day time in the 30`s. Winter is harsh and they need help getting through it. I would rather buy duck eggs, but they are not available in my area, so I had to get my own for the eggs. I am allergic to Chicken eggs. Also now I can say I have organic eggs. Some old timers would bring their ducks in side their homes just to help their ducks survive. Or they would process them before the cold set in for the winter.
I am actually old enough to remember my Aunts and Uncles, doing that when they had no electricity. I would really feel bad to loose a duck to the weather.

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only problem with using heat , if water fowl or poultry are kept in a well ventilated house out of drafts and elements they really don't need heat supplementation. What happens when they get use to heat and we lose power for weeks We had it happen here when we were out of power for 6 days Thankfully my birds had not had extra heat just their safe well ventilated house to keep them warm and dry. Even my chickens did fine. We had temps down in and below single digit's last Feb. very harsh my birds hunkered down 'outside' even though all their doors were open so they could go in anytime they wanted too.They are tougher than we give them credit.

My situation is that their shelter is still drafty and the heat lamp only makes it 10 degrees warmer.The roof is too high so I put tarps to lower the ceiling. It is not insulated. It is still next to freezing out there.

This is good information . I'm from Michigan and it's about to snow I'm getting ready today to build them a winterized house cause all summer they just had free range if my backyard besides night time they stayed in a little triangle shaped shelter and now my girl is laying eggs and here it is about to snow . One thing though about the eggs should I take them and incubate them or will she do that herself and will they hatch I know they won't last outside in the cold so id bring them inside if they hatch but I don't know anything about the ducks laying them how they become fertilized how to incubate them. People have told me different things on how they become fertilized and I'm skeptical and think one person is messing with me.

You need a Drake to fertilize eggs...Not all Hens will get the Hormones to Brood eggs..An incubator is needed if you want to hatch eggs?...Lots of dedication needed to hatch Ducklings...
Warm dry straw in the house and sheltered from wind..Some way to prevent water from feezing and quality feed .....