Giving ducks a bath

[dpears28]

Hi. I live in northern WI and have two ducks (along with my 15 chickens and one turkey). I have a heated water bowl for everyone to drink out of but do not have anything for my ducks to get in and swim in now that it's winter. I'm curious how necessary it is for my ducks to bathe in these temps. Should I bring them in from time to time and let them have a bath? If I do bring them in for a bath do I need to let them fully dry before going back out? Will giving them occasional baths hurt them in the cold? Any help and tips would be great. Thank you!

 

[QuailRaiser]

baths should be fine, as long as they are oiling their feathers regularly, and they know how to swim XD

 

[Amiga]

I try to avoid rapid changes in temperature of more than 20 degrees F (I just go with my intuition, not thermometers so that's an estimate). Also, if you are new to ducks, I have read that some folks mistakenly use soap for their bath and that is not necessary. In fact, it can mess up their waterproofing, so when I write "bath" I mean water deep enough to float in or at least up to the top of the legs, no soap.

My runners get their baths (on those really cold days when I cannot provide the swimmy pans outside) in 2-gallon stew pots in the watering station. Cute to watch. After about an hour, I change the water out again and they drink from it the rest of the day.