Ducks In Michigan - Are Pools Safe?

[furbabies86]

Hey I have read a few threads on this but have not read anything in regards to if the pools are semi - iced over. Not frozen but I'm nervous about letting my ducks out of their pen just in case they want to go to the pools. I have both plastic pools one i put in ground and one above ground. Today its 30 degrees but the pools have some ice in them today. Is it safe for the ducks? Do they know its too cold to go into the pools? Any help would be great. This is my first winter with ducks.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

mine jumped in the pool and broke the ice themselves so i just brought them in after a few minutes to warm up and then they’ll stay inside for a couple more hours

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

They don't seem to mind the cold and should be safe. If it gets to 15 I wouldn't let them

 

[leela1979]

mine jumped in the pool and broke the ice themselves so i just brought them in after a few minutes to warm up and then they’ll stay inside for a couple more hours

It is not good to bring a duck inside and outside because they have to get adjusted to different temperature . I have had ducks for years they don’t care if the water has ice or not they can handle it

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

It is not good to bring a duck inside and outside because they have to get adjusted to different temperature . I have had ducks for years they don’t care if the water has ice or not they can handle it

my ducks are almost two and are perfectly fine, they only go out for a little bit like a dog or cat would and sleep inside the heated sunroom attached to our home

 

[KaleIAm]

Hey I have read a few threads on this but have not read anything in regards to if the pools are semi - iced over. Not frozen but I'm nervous about letting my ducks out of their pen just in case they want to go to the pools. I have both plastic pools one i put in ground and one above ground. Today its 30 degrees but the pools have some ice in them today. Is it safe for the ducks? Do they know its too cold to go into the pools? Any help would be great. This is my first winter with ducks.

My ducks are very precious to me, and I allow them to swim in ice water. They happily paddle and splash around among the floating chunks of ice. Eventually they hop out, preen themselves dry, and move on with their ducky day outside.

My concern would be for very young ducks, sick ducks, or ducks who have poor feather quality and can't dry themselves well.

Healthy adult ducks seem well equipped to naturally handle the cold well, so I don't worry about it. Where I live it only gets below freezing for a few weeks though.

 

[TomCahalan]

my ducks are almost two and are perfectly fine, they only go out for a little bit like a dog or cat would and sleep inside the heated sunroom attached to our home

Normal ducks are conditioned to outside weather, whereas your ducks are conditioned to your house. Since you treat your ducks so strangely, your advice only applies to people who also treat their ducks in the same way. Your advice could be harmful to other people's ducks.

 

[leela1979]

my ducks are almost two and are perfectly fine, they only go out for a little bit like a dog or cat would and sleep inside the heated sunroom attached to our home

I am not trying to be rude at all ..I am just saying that they adjust there temperature of there body for the temperature outside that’s all

 

[furbabies86]

Thanks everyone. This is my first winter with any type of farm animal (brand new to this) so I have lots of questions when it comes to it. They have a barn shed that they stay in at night where we have lots of hay/shavings throughout. I open up their door during the day and they have an outside area to come outside. so inside the shed --- Since they like to make a mess with the water bowl we have a plastic square bottom that catches the water they spill everywhere from the bowl. They share this pen with a turkey and a bantam chicken. they all grew up together. Today its about 23 degrees so i went to let them out and the water had gotten on the floor which then in turn turned to ice. so i had to scrape all that up and put new shavings down around the bowl to stop the ice issue if the water spills out. I know we should not have heat lamps in a shed right? Are there any suggestions to keep it a little warmer inside their pen? I know there are water bowl warmers but the problem with that is they are small/circles for just the water bowl. my water bowl sits in a big square plastic tray to catch the spilled water (so its usually full of water in the morning). so i cannot use a warmer. I see everyone says they adjust to the cold well so maybe they are fine but i did want to ask. For now i put a board over their pool but there is a space where they can stick their bills/heads in if they want but its definitely iced over right now.

 

[KaleIAm]

Thanks everyone. This is my first winter with any type of farm animal (brand new to this) so I have lots of questions when it comes to it. They have a barn shed that they stay in at night where we have lots of hay/shavings throughout. I open up their door during the day and they have an outside area to come outside. so inside the shed --- Since they like to make a mess with the water bowl we have a plastic square bottom that catches the water they spill everywhere from the bowl. They share this pen with a turkey and a bantam chicken. they all grew up together. Today its about 23 degrees so i went to let them out and the water had gotten on the floor which then in turn turned to ice. so i had to scrape all that up and put new shavings down around the bowl to stop the ice issue if the water spills out. I know we should not have heat lamps in a shed right? Are there any suggestions to keep it a little warmer inside their pen? I know there are water bowl warmers but the problem with that is they are small/circles for just the water bowl. my water bowl sits in a big square plastic tray to catch the spilled water (so its usually full of water in the morning). so i cannot use a warmer. I see everyone says they adjust to the cold well so maybe they are fine but i did want to ask. For now i put a board over their pool but there is a space where they can stick their bills/heads in if they want but its definitely iced over right now.

Because of the risk of fire I do not provide any heat. I would prefer my ducks to be a little cold than be burned, possibly to death. I understand the temptation, though.

I also find that giving water at night makes a huge mess. I quickly stopped doing it. I consulted my avian veterinarian who confirmed that ducks do not need water all night, as long as they have access to water all day. She told me it is important that they have dry bedding, and that if I want them to have water at night I'll need to make them a separate area with no bedding. I'd rather make things easier by giving them food and water during the day only - they don't really need to have a party at night. It is less work for me and better for them to have dry bedding.