How to keep ducks warm and prevent frostbite?

[anonymous99]

I’ve yet to build my 9 pekin ducks a new coop, but I’m concerned with how they’re gonna be warm and how to prevent frostbite in cold weather. Can they be able to stay warm in their enclosure with hardware wire? I’m little scared to put a heating lamp in their coop bc I don’t want it to catch on fire. I do put straw/hay in their coop. One of my concerns is how they’re gonna have cold water without getting their feet in it. Right now, they’re 11 weeks old. I plan to separate the drakes from the 2 hens that i have and I’m not sure how i can keep them warm or prevent them from getting frostbite.

 

[nuthatched]

Do they have shelter? Like a dog house? Something to get out of the weather?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Generally ducks don't get frostbite - except my muscovy drakes can get it on their caruncles because they are so fleshy and big. I re-purposed a child's playhouse using hardware cloth over the windows so they have plenty of ventilation. I have covers for the windows when needed. I add a good thick layer of straw that they can bed down in. I don't use a heat lamp and I don't recommend one.
I don't put food and water in their coop. Except for 1 yr when the temps reached like a negative 70° windchill. Then, I placed a rubber dish in their house with a board over it so they couldn't get in, but could drink water. Now, I have a different run set up, so just block off areas so they can get out of the wind and haven't shut them in their house when it got frigid.
However, I also have a large feeder bucket with a livestock heater in it. I use the rubber bowls too, but just block them off so they can only dip their heads in and not their bodies. The rubber bowls will freeze, but are easy enough to knock the ice out and refill.
It sounds like you will need a good sized shelter to keep the drakes separate from the hens or you will need to build 2 shelters? Ducks houses can be pretty basic if you've got the skills and tools. I have tools, but not building skills.

 

[Yardmom]

What type of winters do you have? Temps, winds, snowfall? Ducks can handle moderate winter conditions pretty well.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

It was -40 here this past winter and I bed my ducks down with almost 1ft deep bedding. 4-5 inches on the bottom wad shavings and the top was straw. I use the 2 gallon buckets from tractor supply and set them in a rubber feed tub to collect any water they splash out. It works great and keeps the water from getting to their feet/bedding. Our problem we ran into was every water heater we tried this winter kept freezing up and breaking so I did cave and hung heat lamps above their buckets too keep them from freezing. I used regular bulbs and I double secured the heat lamps with extra tie downs that way if the original line came undone the light was still hanging by the safety lines.