How to Beat the summer heat

[RJKnott]

so overall my ducks are loving all the heat and rain we’ve gotten in north Alabama the past few weeks

they frolic in the mud and play on the puddles and generally make a delightful mess of everything

except my drake, Nibbler. He has always had weak legs and while he can get around, the mud has made it tough on him and I think he pulled something in his leg. We found him laying in the mud from the rain we had one morning and he was covered in it . And he was stretched out with his neck on the ground gasping for breath. The mud gave him a bad case of wet feather.

we took him inside and. Leaned him up. His wet feather is better and he does really well inside.

we tried taking him back outside and within minutes of being in the heat, his head is dripping again and he’s gasping for breath and can barely move. We tried putting him in the pool and he will swim around a bit but mostly just floats there and then swims to my wife and wants to be held
His wet feather and leg seem to be better but the heat really seems to get to him when he is outside. They have water and shade out there but it still wears on him. His health is thriving inside in the AC though.

at this point I’m a little lost. I don’t want him to suffer and die in the heat, on the other hand we really don’t want the ducks inside. Even with a ramp he doesn’t like to get in and out of the kiddie pools I have set up for them so he has trouble cooling down when outside.
Anyone have any ideas other than putting an AC unit in the duck pen?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Will he move into the shade and stay there? It's not as hot here as there but in the wore of the day all of mine are laying down in the shade.
I also have fans running in my 2 coops that have power so maybe that would be an alternative to putting in central heat an air.

 

[RJKnott]

I’ve thought about fans.

We’ve had so much rain that the pen kept getting turned into a mud hole and he gets covered and just lays there. He has a shady spot he sits in but I think a combo of the heat, and the humidity from all the rain, is just a 1-2 punch for the poor guy. Last year it was just as hot at this point but we had no rain for like 2 months and he was fine. May try a fan or two out there and see if it helps

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yep humidity is the worse. Poor guy might have to just stay indoors if you can get him a fan going. His legs must just be too weak to help in the mud.

 

[RJKnott]

They are. I’ve cleaned the pen out, put fresh straw down. And it’s like an invitation for more rain and it gets muddy again. On dry land he can get around but in the mud he gets stuck

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thats sad. Poor guy.

 

[RJKnott]

Thats sad. Poor guy.

Yeah my wife and I were talking the other day how he may have been culled had we not got him. But he’s got a sweet personality and is good otherwise and loves my wife and our dogs who all dote on him. So we want him to live his best life. I was worried about him being separated from the rest of the flock but I think he’s enjoying his time away from the girls at the moment heh.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Muscovy drake had a difficult time walking he was around 9 yrs old. It was so hard for me to watch him try to go from his coop to the front yard where he had to stay during the day because at that time I had 2 other Muscovy drakes and they all had to be separated to keep them from fighting, poor Ernie couldn't hold his own any longer so for the last 2 yrs of his life I carried him to and from the front yard to his coop every day. He was my first drake and rescued from the river below our home, He still enjoyed life right up to the last and had his own set of females one which is still alive and doing well at age 14.
Nibbler is very much blessed to have you your wife and dogs to dote over him. They sure are special.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

My ducks love their big agricultural industrial fan. It's 30" I believe and it's on 24/7 and I leave the barn doors so the ducks can come sit in the shade with the fan. I think it cost $200, but I wouldn't want to go through this heat without it running for them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Mine are industrial also so nice to have that motor enclosed. But since mine are in coops and not a barn they are only 14" and I have them on one of those cubes where they come on at 78 off at 72. Last few days they have been running 24/7
I believe mine were around 80.00 each on line.