Ducks and Freezing Rain

[LuckyDuck411]

Well we are at the beginning of round two of the freezing rain/sleet and my silly trio are laying out in it!!! They already have some ice hanging on their feathers. This morning my husband and I went out and put up mini shelters in their pen and even an extra duck house. Yet they are refusing to get in from the weather. We really can't bring them inside with our dogs and there is no extra space in the garage.

Are mine the only dumb ducks or is anyone else out there having this issue?

I want to lock them inside one of the houses but I'm afraid if I do that I will have a heck of a time chiseling them out when all this freezing rain is done!

 

[JosieR]

I didn't let mine out today but only because I just had someone tell me she lost 2 ducks during the last storm. Thinks they sat down and with the snow blowing, they got confused and lost in a drift.

Other than that, mine are out. We had snow the other day and we spread up plenty of hay and as my husband was clearing a path back to their house they were running in the snow practically up to their eyes! I was afraid someone was going to get hurt or get frostbite. We yelled at them (I don't know why I think they understand, "Get out of the snow, stupid!" and threw some peas into the hay. They got out for a while but when we looked out we could see the telltale dragging marks through the snow where they hauled their little butts all over the yard again.

My Cayuga boy regularly drills his face into the snow treasure hunting.

We also have a swampy area of the yard that doesn't freeze as easily as the rest of it, they've discovred that and were over in the mud and snow and half frozen water the other day.

I hope they're smarter than me. My duck book warns against frostbite but they don't seem to care what the book says. Silly things!

 

[LuckyDuck411]

I went out to check on them this morning and they survivede...We have a heat lamp over their water and they were laying around that late last night. Then the wind picked up and I think they FINALLY went into the second duck house we put up for them. I couldn't stop worrying about them last night!

 

[critterranch]

my ducks were so happy to be out this morning. they are out playing in the snow. everyone safe and sound. i got all my eggs this morning too 6/6 runners and 2/2 calls. they are hearty little buggers.

 

[LuckyDuck411]

I wish i could let ours out of the pen, but the sleet we got yesterday has a nice coating of ice all over it. Their pen is downhill a slightly from our back door and I slid all the way there this morning...getting back was a challenge! It's snowing now so if we get enough of that for them to get better footing on the ice they can come out and play!

 

[JosieR]

Mine were in today since we were getting freezing rain and wind today. I would much rather go out in the morning and shovel the snow with the ice on top of it than to have shovel snow today and have to break up ice tomorrow

I'll do that early in the a.m. and spread some hay for them to hang out on.

I am SO ready for spring!!