My ducks want to sleep in the freezing cold - any suggestions?

[Sarayes]

Hi guys.

I’ve got 2 drakes. They have an outdoor coop with a 2 meter run. In the mornings I let them out and they meander around my large enclosed garden during the day, then they return to the run in the evenings to sleep. They’ve never used the coop, except once when we had a thunder storm, at night they nestle in the grass in the run.

Recently our temperatures dropped below 0, it’s been averaging around -3°C at night. The ground has been completely frozen over at night; their pools are frozen, their water buckets are frozen; but they won’t go into the coop at night. They just sleep on the literally freezing cold grass.

2 nights ago I lured them into their coop and locked them in overnight but in the morning they had spilled their food and water all over the place (they have the biggest size non-tip dog dishes in the coop for drinking). The straw was completely drenched, their food was scattered everywhere, and they were bundled in the corner clearly very unhappy. I figured being locked in wasn’t suiting them so last night I put them in as normal hoping they’d go into the coop on their own.

This morning they had clearly been sleeping outside again and hadn’t set foot in the coop.

It’s -3°C today and was -5°C last night.

I don’t know if I’m being overly concerned. Half of me thinks if they’re happy to be outside then they’re clearly fine with the colder temperatures. Half of me thinks they’re a bit dumb and are going to freeze to death in the middle of the night.

Do you guys think it should be fine to let them sleep outside if that’s what they wanna do? I know ducks in the wild obviously manage to survive in winters colder than this outdoors. Or should I lock them in and hope they adjust to it without destroying their bed every night?

 

[Callender Girl]

I lock my ducks up at night because of predation, not because of the cold, which they seem either not to mind or to completely relish.

If I used the right converter, -5 degrees C is 23 degrees F. My only duck experience is with runners, but mine have no problem lying outdoors when temps are in that range or colder. On some days where the wind is especially strong, they tend of hang out inside their "coop," but I leave the door open and the decision up to them.

Many folks don't believe in putting food and/or water in their ducks' nighttime shelter because of the messes. My seven runners have a 3-foot-by-10-foot, partially open-air (but wrapped in hardware cloth) structure. At night, I lure them to bed by feeding them at the extreme west end, where I also keep a non-tip dog dish for water. I only partially fill the dish, and it is set on top of a rimmed boot tray to catch some of the spills.

The ducks tend to sleep in the extreme east end of the shelter, away from the messes they invariably make. On days when the temps rise above freezing, I do my best to remove all I can of anything they have soaked.

Hope all goes well with your silly boys!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have Runner Buffs and Muscovy and honestly my Runners are the biggest slobs ever. I tried putting feed and water inside overnight but what a mess. So after their first winter they have not had water or feed inside their house. They are going on 7 yrs old and haven't suffered for it. Mine also go inside to sleep so with a little training you can get yours inside, feed them right close to the coop then herd them inside and close the door. They will get used to sleeping inside and snuggling down into their bedding for the night.
Their pop door stays open during the day and when it's really cold [20's and below ] they will go into their coop off and on to warm up.

 

[Canadian Wind]

How old are your boys?

I agree food and drink is not the way to go in a coop. The only time I do it is when it's -20 or lower and I don't want them outside.

Last night, it was getting dark when I noticed the time and had to go hunt for my ducks to get them in their coops. There were a bunch missing, but it had gotten too dark to do anything about it by then. This morning, I had between five to ten ducks waiting for me to feed them, having had no problems staying out in the -10 C night. I hope they don't make a habit of it though. They're hard enough to herd in for the night as it is!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I don’t put feed or water in my coop at night.
I will put it in on days -30 or cooler as they can’t handle it outside but when I lock them up for the night I remove it
I leave their little duck door open and my birds go in to warm up in cold days anything -10 or warmer they stay out all day
I don’t have to bring my birds in as they automatically go in themselves when the sun is just going down
But when I first started with them I used a blue pool noodle to guide them in at night
It worked like a charm a few times and they had it figured out

 

[Percheron chick]

Don't worry about them. Throw some straw down on the ground where they like to sleep. Next summer you can build an overhang on the coop and encourage them to sleep there.

 

[Sarayes]

Okay thank you everyone!! Very appreciated