Ducks playing in mud puddles in winter?

[nao57]

So....in the backyard my ducks are in a section of pen where snow melt has pooled into a mud puddle.

I'm confused about if I should curb this because its very cold out. But they are still out there in the middle of it still.

Would you let them stay there, or would you try to keep them out when its cold enough for snow... (Its like just barely above freezing, and there's been the polar vortex thing going on in states next to ours.

I would like to make sure I'm not missing anything, and don't care about my pride. I don't want to lose any ducks. What would you do?

One of the reasons why I wanted to double check on this is because a lot of the outside pen areas is a mud puddle...but the area in their sleeping pen has no mud. But they won't go in the pen, which they have access too. But all of the area outside it doesn't have places they can stand in that don't have mud puddles. (I don't understand why they don't just hang out in their shelter area, which is the one spot without mud and is the only dry area. (By this I mean there are a few parts they could go to that are dry, but not many. The only dry spot is in their shelter, and I don't get why they don't go into it, and stay in the wet area all day. Is that safe for them to be only in the wet area literally all the daylight hours?)

Would you do something differently?

(Most of today has been around 32 degrees (F).

 

[Tam78]

So....in the backyard my ducks are in a section of pen where snow melt has pooled into a mud puddle.

I'm confused about if I should curb this because its very cold out. But they are still out there in the middle of it still.

Would you let them stay there, or would you try to keep them out when its cold enough for snow... (Its like just barely above freezing, and there's been the polar vortex thing going on in states next to ours.

I would like to make sure I'm not missing anything, and don't care about my pride. I don't want to lose any ducks. What would you do?

One of the reasons why I wanted to double check on this is because a lot of the outside pen areas is a mud puddle...but the area in their sleeping pen has no mud. But they won't go in the pen, which they have access too. But all of the area outside it doesn't have places they can stand in that don't have mud puddles. (I don't understand why they don't just hang out in their shelter area, which is the one spot without mud and is the only dry area. (By this I mean there are a few parts they could go to that are dry, but not many. The only dry spot is in their shelter, and I don't get why they don't go into it, and stay in the wet area all day. Is that safe for them to be only in the wet area literally all the daylight hours?)

Would you do something differently?

(Most of today has been around 32 degrees (F).

My ducks have been playing in our pond all day and the high was in the teens, I think. They are probably still out there because they refuse to go in their pen at night. We keep trying, but they keep refusing. My daughter and I are worried about them being out there in such cold weather conditions, but we can only hope and pray that they are okay.
I'm sure your ducks were having the time of their life in the mud puddles! Hopefully they went to bed though where you know that they will be safe.

 

[Callender Girl]

We are having temps in the double digits below zero, and my ducks still want to be in the water. I have a heated dog bowl that they would gladly climb into if I hadn't wedged a plastic two-piece chicken waterer into the middle to keep them from bathing. It's too cold here for any "natural' water -- just solid ice everywhere.

They also prefer sitting outside their shelter despite the snow. I have now laid down a layer of straw for their "sunbathing." Crazy ducks! They're making the geese -- who are normally the ones exhibiting dumb winter behavior -- look like geniuses. Gussie and Golly rejected their straw and mostly hang out in their shelter.

Hope your babies stay safe!

 

[3bird]

I would be sure to be checking their feet, but I suspect they are okay. As others have noted, healthy ducks do fine around water in much colder conditions. Our ducks swim all the time when its in the teens or lower. You do want to make sure they can get out of the wind though. Do they go in to their dry house at night?

I would think about dealing with your drainage situation next spring or summer so that your run stays drier. In the meantime, you could experiment with putting a pallet with a board on top (or something else) down in the run to create an "island" above the mud and puddles. Cover it with a good layer of straw and see if they use that.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

they probably want to swim, you can bring them inside for a bath

 

[Pollo Blanco]

Ducks love mud. Must be good for them.

 

[Flockincrazy]

So....in the backyard my ducks are in a section of pen where snow melt has pooled into a mud puddle.

I'm confused about if I should curb this because its very cold out. But they are still out there in the middle of it still.

Would you let them stay there, or would you try to keep them out when its cold enough for snow... (Its like just barely above freezing, and there's been the polar vortex thing going on in states next to ours.

I would like to make sure I'm not missing anything, and don't care about my pride. I don't want to lose any ducks. What would you do?

One of the reasons why I wanted to double check on this is because a lot of the outside pen areas is a mud puddle...but the area in their sleeping pen has no mud. But they won't go in the pen, which they have access too. But all of the area outside it doesn't have places they can stand in that don't have mud puddles. (I don't understand why they don't just hang out in their shelter area, which is the one spot without mud and is the only dry area. (By this I mean there are a few parts they could go to that are dry, but not many. The only dry spot is in their shelter, and I don't get why they don't go into it, and stay in the wet area all day. Is that safe for them to be only in the wet area literally all the daylight hours?)

Would you do something differently?

(Most of today has been around 32 degrees (F).

So my ducks have been doing the same thing and then it's blizzarding at my house and they are out in the yard sitting in the snow and have been fine so I would say it is ok but that's me

 

[nao57]

My ducks have been playing in our pond all day and the high was in the teens, I think. They are probably still out there because they refuse to go in their pen at night. We keep trying, but they keep refusing. My daughter and I are worried about them being out there in such cold weather conditions, but we can only hope and pray that they are okay.
I'm sure your ducks were having the time of their life in the mud puddles! Hopefully they went to bed though where you know that they will be safe.

They sure are weird haha. Thanks for the post!

 

[nao57]

So my ducks have been doing the same thing and then it's blizzarding at my house and they are out in the yard sitting in the snow and have been fine so I would say it is ok but that's me

I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering about it. Thanks.

 

[nao57]

Ducks love mud. Must be good for them. View attachment 2530895

Nice pic.

What are those gray ones? Are those the blue runners?