advice on keeping ducks winter proof needed!

[trees]

ok so the last two british winters have been horrific, snow, ice and -10 temperatures...how do you keep your ducks warm, especially at night or do they generally do ok without much extra doing?

My hubby is really worried we will wake one morning to frozen ducks and chucks, so much so that he has cleared out or little store thing on the side of the house that has a heater in!

any advice from people used to much colder winters would be VERY welcome!!

thanks

xx

 

[froggie71]

We get pretty cold winters and lots of snow. our duck coop is not insulated or heated and is open 24/7 to their run. Have not lost 1 to the cold nor has any had frost bite. WE do throw some hay on the floor, but that is about it.

 

[trees]

awww cheers for that, they do have straw/hay now and choose at the moment not to sleep on it. i planned on just windproofing the hut a bit more with some heavy duty plastic sheeting we have-obviously leaving air holes!

 

[Jay262]

I live in north eastern canada my ducks have never had a issue with the cold. Chickens and geese either just bank your coop with snow when the time comes make sure there are no drafts. You can add a light if you want but not that nessecary unless you want them to lay more. Just keep the water changed a few times a day but generally when my coops are banked with snow it doesnt freeze and here in canada we are no strangers to it being -20 or 30 celcius. I generally dont clean the coops out during winter i just add more bedding i use sawdust the decompsion actually provides heat during the winter months. Come first thaw i clean them all out of course.

 

[cindyschicks]

I live in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. My ducks did fine in their coop last year. They have an indoor outdoor coop and chose to spend all their time sitting outside in the snow. My biggest problem was keeping them watered, I didn't have a heated water base, but because they are very messy drinkers, by the end of the winter, the ducks/geese had made a 2 foot tall ice hill where the water sat. Any tips on keeping them watered without making ice stalgmites?

 

[trees]

thank you for your reassurance

i have been a busy bee looking for rubber troughs for them to bathe in and flexible bucket type things to put drinking water in...

hopefully i will have happy ducks and chucks all winter long.

regarding the ice hill, im kinda thinking its something for them to do haha im having bets with my hubby who will be the first to break a bone after falling on the duck created ice rink!

 

[kurtjackieprovost]

Ice rink? I hadn't thought of that. This will be my first winter with ducks too. The muddy slime is bad enough, now I need to consider ice? Will be looking into crampons.

 

[Aria]

We have cold Winters...and we raised Call Ducks. We have a Pond. We kept a small portion of the Pond open with an electric unit that worked fine.

Our ducks would go out every morning ALL WINTER and we would need to drive them in the Barn in the evening. The Barn has a lot of hay on the floor. AND they were fine. Ducks have a protective oil that helps keep them warm.

That is one of the reasons we went with Silkie Chickens. Chickens go in an out by themselves. We provide a lot of hay on the floor and a covered run for our Chickens. Chickens are easier. Regards, Aria

 

[trees]

haha kurtjackieprovost crampons are a good idea! we have had such horrid rain the past few weeks and i can quite agree the mud is bad enough, had a fair few slippery evenings trying to chase them in to bed...

Aria-thanks for the further advice, im thinking they will be ok with all the feedback iv had

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
what are crampons?