Duck "house" and other winter questions

[Kelebek]

Yah, last winter was not to bad - just REALLY wet .... but the two years before that were absolutely aweful and we get the winds off of the lake that are just sheer ice in the air.

We actually got stuck in our lifter 4x4 truck two winters ago and had to hand dig it out (high centered) and then pay a skidsteer to come up and plow out everything for us ($300.00 later).... GAH! they have the hay barn that they can get into it - but I really don't want them crapping on the hay either ..... LOL!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

It all depends on their conditioning too now. You can't pamper them to a degree then toss them out in the cold one day. In other words keep them barned up for a while, and let them out in it later is a no no. As the wether cools, like any animal they will put on reserves to insulate their bodies and adapt... They have to be conditioned though, if you are going this route, leave them outside or in an open barn for wind breaks at all time, no heat. If you just let them be, they are fine.
As for frostbite, they will not get it under normal circumstances, once their feet get cold, they will pull them into their feathers and warm them up. I may be from the south where 20 above is cold for us, but I know ducks too, been keeping over 100 species of migratories for over 25 years.
Buddies with folks in every state that keep them, even northern Canada, People like this cant keep litterally thousands of birds in a barn over the winter, and fortunately, being waterfowl, other than the few tropical species, theirs no need.
Now dont get me wrong here, if you have the space, and just want to do it, there's not a thing in the world wrong with it... But they can and do handle it with geneeral ease. What we feel as bitter cold, is nothing to them. I know quite a lot of MN breeders, where they hit -40 on a regular basis, an aeriated pond is all they give any of their waterfowl in the winter

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Guys, you can trust Boggy, he knows his birds. I don't think there is anyone on BYC that can or will dispute him. If you don't believe me, check out his posts and his website. He is on top of his game big time.

 

[sonew123]

mine will stay in their barn all winter-I will let them out as much as they want to go out-on days thats not freezing outside-I will leave the barn door open about 1 ft to let them come and go as they please with the chickens that arent penned. I try to keep a pool available to them as long as the weather permits-other than that a huge heated dog bowl is what they get-just deep enough to clean their bills out daily-last year I only had 1 duck this year 6!

 

[jrsqlc]

I use Dog-Loo Dog Igloo for my duck huts and have never lost a duck to weather!!

 

[jellybean]

I'm not disputing anyone.

Just giving my experiences since we both live in Idaho and it can get incredibly cold here. It's also a la nina year and supposed to be extra cold and wet. -20 Farenheit with a 20 mph wind is a wind chill of -48 Farneheit. -30f and 20 mph wind is -61 windchill. That's cold for anyone. And it gets colder and windier here, we're in a very windy spot. It gets below -30 and is very windy, roads are constantly closed. Frostbite time at -30 F and 20mph wind is 10 minutes. And I know, I've almost lost my toes several times to it! Last winter my ducks and geese had a small house, that I thought would be better cause it would keep the heat in better for them. They would hardly use it. I now realize it is too small. And they got cold a lot. Ducks do get cold, even though it takes a pretty low temperature. Many mornings they were shivering almost uncontrollably, and I'd give them warm water and lots of food. The geese stayed a little warmer, but they're bigger. My new duck house isn't insulated, but it will block all the wind and should make a big difference. They also stay outside all year, they aren't ever in a heated building or anything. They go in the house when they want to, and are outside getting drifted over with snow when they want. It actually started freezing here at night like 3 weeks ago.

Could you just block off a small corner of your barn with plywood? That way they wouldn't be on your hay. I know what you mean about that. Mine get into my hay and make a big mess. Also, you can just make a square of straw/hay bales and put a piece of plywood over it. They really like that and chew on it all winter. I don't keep water open in the winter, it's difficult and is harder to clean, refill, etc. They get an always full heated bucket of water and that's it. They do like the cold, they will stay outside of their house most of the time, in the snow and ice. But I still believe in climates this cold and windy, they need a small spot to get out of the wind. That's what I've seen after raising ducks in Idaho all my life. They do get cold here, and they do appreciate a small house when it's that bad, especially if it's an edible house. Oat hay bales are some of their favorites!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

one of the best tips i got was to make sure they have somewhere dry to stand. the only problems we ever had was when they made their spot wet from splashing in their bucket of water. so i put a straw bale for them to roost and just keep turning it so they dont have to stand in their mess. bed them down in loose straw and just keep piling it on cleaning their area out as needed. in the spring you'll have incredible mulch/compost.

and we just make sure they have a bucket of non-freezing warmish water 2x a day when the pond freezes. make sure they are out of the wind and they will be just fine.

 

[Kelebek]

thank you all - I am feeling better about things! My husband and I talked a little last night - and we are going to square off a part of our barn and cut a hole where they can get into the goat barn if they would like or we can shut it off if we want also .... but we are really excited at what we are doing He wants to start it this weekend - but as soon as we do we will take lots of pics of what we are doing!

 

[Bring]

Just in case you haven't figured out who's duck and who's drake: The females have a very loud quack and the males have a quieter "i've been a chain smoker for years" quack.

 

[Kelebek]

LOL - yah - I just have so many young ones that I just can't tell quite yet because they are all "chirping" still.


Oh and BTW - brought home two more on friday --- they are 3 weeks old and I got my pick of the clutch

I am hoping that i did good and picked 2 females .... but we will see!