Ducks in Winter

[chickenbuttsowhat]

im new to ducks and geese and i was worried about winter but now that i watch them they love it slipping and slidding on the frozen pool and staying outside even when all chickens go in whens it freezing winds below freezing they dont care i even chased them in and they ran right back out when i left the coop lol so im not worried about those silly kids no more just about my chickens lol even my baby duckling christopher who just got all his big feathers like being outside but i make him go in at night with the other kids in the "day care"

 

[leah_c]

I've been wondering the same thing with ducks and winter water. I live in southwest Wisconsin and i have a natural spring fed creek on the property. Found my hen on New Years Eve swimming in the creek! We have a little more snow now and was wondering if she was going to need water to swim around in this time of year. I had two Rouens, 1 drake and 1 hen. Duke was killed on New Years Eve and was worried that Lady wouldn't do well without him. She does have the chickens though. She goes in the coop with them at night and depending on the temp, goes out with them in the day. They ALL share a small coop and I have no way of keeping a bucket in there for her to dunk her head into. If I made a path for her to the creek would she be okay or would it be too cold?

 

[RunnerWhisperer]

Mine seem to be cold so I'm not sure how they are handling this snowy weather. At first they seemed to like it, now they just seem to mope around and sit. They have been pretty much huddled in their pen inside thier dog house most of the day. I put a lamp out there last night for some hat but they didn't want to sit under it, they preferred the dog house. I do see that they are shivering so that makes me concearned. They also started fighting today and I'm not sure why. I was out int he yard and heard a bunch of noise thinking one was hurt or something but it was just them two going at it.

I will keep an eye on them but I may also bring them inside at night...IDK?

 

[Yetti]

mine have been fine up till now. tonight my wife made me put heat lamps out because its supposed to go down to 4* . haven't had issue up till now even with the water buckets freezing. they get fresh water if the hose isn't frozen the wife will fill up the pools. they are frozen solid today. I busted one out and refilled it but ducks didn't want in. my geese and ducks both got a layer of wood chips for bedding tonight to keep them off the floor. I figured they could try and stay a tad bit warmer. dunno how much the temp will go down but we'll see how they are in the morning.

 

[EmAbTo48]

I live in Northern Wisconsin they are fine if the temp stays no lower then 20 degrees, but the last 3 days have been negatives all day all night, they still sit outside there pen, they even went into there pools today I filled for them. Water doesn't seem to bother them at all! Its the wind chill that I can tell that is causing problems with mine! My one pekin I had to cut frozen poop off her butt today! I WANT spring SOOOO BAD!!! or at least for it to warm up to at least the teens here!

 

[Hunter0704]

Ducks have to have water they can drink from and dip their heads in to clean their nostrils!!! THIS IS A MUST!!! My set up: Due to their water bowl freezing totally solid and having to go out in horrible weather every two hours to break up ice, I opted to use their small pool for a waterer that measures 3'x2' that was semi frozen, even though it is made from rubber. So, I went to Rural King (or any farm & home store, or even Lowes) and picked up a FLOATING DE-ICER. I filled the pool, put the de-icer in it and have never had frozen water, or even any ice since then, even with temps in the low teens. It turns itself on at 35 degrees. This simple and easy to drop in de-icer cost me all of $14.99!!!!! So their pool is now their waterer. However, I put two boards across the pool to keep them from swimming in it and hitting the de-icer. Also, if your ducks are picking on each other, most likely due to being confined due to snow....Then you need to shovel an area outside for them to have more space. It isn't fair to leave them cooped up in a small coop area that is normally for sleeping only.