Freezing weather!!!!!

[Duckduckchicken32]

I have a duck with wet feather, ( she’s molting so I hope that it will help restore her feathers!) we are supposed to get slammed with a severe winter storm. How can I keep her and all of my other ducks and chickens warm? I don’t want anybody to get frostbite or freeze to death. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Miss Lydia]

A molting bird is going to have a hard time staying dry and warm. I’d remove any water they can climb into and make sure they have fresh deep bedding. If they look to be suffering then I’d advise to keep them up. But having feed and water inside is going to be real messy. Plus will cause condensation inside the coop. Most of us leave feed and water outside that way they can come out to eat and go back inside where it’s dry. I have 8-10”of shavings down now.

 

[Duckduckchicken32]

A molting bird is going to have a hard time staying dry and warm. I’d remove any water they can climb into and make sure they have fresh deep bedding. If they look to be suffering then I’d advise to keep them up. But having feed and water inside is going to be real messy. Plus will cause condensation inside the coop. Most of us leave feed and water outside that way they can come out to eat and go back inside where it’s dry. I have 8-10”of shavings down now.

Thank you! I am planning on keeping them inside due to abnormally high wind speeds, 50 mph+. There’s supposed to be a flash freeze as well. If i keep water outside while they are locked up, so you think that their mucus membranes will dry out? I’m not sure how long it takes for that to happen.

 

[Miss Lydia]

One thing we have to not do is give the food without water. You might be able to set something up inside to keep the mess contained but as hard as I tried I was never able to fix anything they didn't manage to get water all over the shavings and then it was frozen the next day. Hopefully, someone has an idea of how to offer food and water inside. If your planning on keeping them inside with no access to the outside I'd try and offer water off and on through the time they are inside. Dehydration is something we don't want. I made a container out of a deep storage container placed the heated bucket on top of a couple bricks then cut a hole in the lid just big enough for them to stick their head into for a drink Boy they sure surprised me with how much water they managed to spill out. So I've never tried again to have drinking water inside.

 

[Duckduckchicken32]

We have a waterer, it’s like a super sized chicken waterer. They can’t clean their eyes in it, only drink from it. Do you think that that will be sufficient?

 

[Miss Lydia]

It would be fine for a few days but I notice my waterfowl use their heated buckets to wash their faces quite a lot during the day.

 

[Duckduckchicken32]

It would be fine for a few days but I notice my waterfowl use their heated buckets to wash their faces quite a lot during the day.

Okay! Thank you.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We're at 4* with wind chills of 25 below. How many are ready for spring?

 

[Duckduckchicken32]