but I'm also debating about having it set up with a heater and thermostat so I can keep the coop temperature just above freezing. Again I'm not saying heating to be hot I'm saying just enough to keep the pipes from bursting and buckets from freezing.
I would super insulate the well house, no way you want those pipes to freeze.
Instead of heating their coop/barn area, I would make warming stations for them. There are heat mats used for dog crates, or you can make a do it yourself version.
If you decide to heat their area I would see if you could keep their coop/area somewhere between 0F and 15F. No reason to waste the electric for more heat.
Remember they still need lots of ventilation which means a great deal of your heat is going to go outside.
And YES, I too have broken all the things! The heated dog water bowls frozen to the ground so you can NOT get them up without them breaking in half.... the heated metal waterers..... and all the rest.
I will use little pots that the ducks can NOT bathe in, but can dunk their heads in. I just swap out the entire pot 2 or 3 times a day. Or, I use the black rubber pans (they come in many sizes. Smaller ones must be wedged so birds don't dump them over). When the water freezes over, too thick for them to get through on their own in less than an hour, then I start to use a deicer.
When it gets too far below zero F, my little deicer has trouble keeping up and often there is just a little circle of liquid water right over the deicer.
BUT, we still haven't busted it.
And, when the power goes out and it ends up in a block of ice, it can thaw itself back out.
In warmer weather, putting the water up against a clear-ish window or plastic panel will block wind as well as give the black rubber water pan some heat gain. I think 0F (or 10F? I need to pay more attention to these things), is the cut off for that working. But up until then we don't use any electric and just bring out water twice a day. When the pan freezes to the ground you can kick it up, jump on the upside-down pan to get the ice cube out, and then right it and fill it.
Do toss the ice cubes in a spot that is out of they way, since they willnot be melting any time soon.
I'm a newish duckie mama. As aforementioned, it doesn't get THAT cold here, but is there a point when y'all don't let them swim (assuming their water isn't frozen solid)? Like, can they go in for thr night if they've just been swimming? I know they don't really get wet, per se, but???
Forgive a naive Californian for a dumb question...
I would only bring out bathing water if it was at least 10F or warmer. The water would be brought out in the warmest part of the day. They would only get an hour or 2 to bathe, then I would take it away. They need time to fully dry before the temps start to drop for the night.
Yeah.. I'm sure i would limit swimming water in weather like yours.
I recall
@Alaskan having a story of a duck that got frozen to the ground once.
Yes. He splashed the water out of their water tub, and his feet froze to the ice.
I heard of someone else's duck who tried to bathe, and encased himself in ice. Complete ice suit. Luckily his owner saw it happen and was able to thaw him out, so he did survive.
So yes, it can easily get too cold for bathing.
