Preparing for Cold Weather (New England)

[Miss Lydia]

Looking good!!

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Well... I've been putting it off and putting it off and this weekend was supposed to be the weekend I put the roof on, and then we got a warning for our first snow (4 inches) tonight. So this morning we improvised. We're going to add one more tarp on the back end (by the shed) and a piece of plywood on the space between the fence panel and the doorjamb on the front. We're also going to put down a few more bags of sand to dry it up in there and then lay down a bunch of straw so they don't have to be directly on the ground.

The permanent roof will have to wait till spring because it was SO COLD this morning just slapping this together. The girls were a little wary of going inside when it was time to leave, but I think that had more to do with the fact that they wanted to stay in the yard rather than being freaked out about the new sides.

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Looks great! I’ve been putting off certain pre-winter tasks as it seemed like fall would stretch on for a bit longer. Apparently not! It was close to 0 F last night and the snow has begun a bit earlier this year. The duck pools are now frozen solid and covered in snow. Oops!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ever seen ducks ice skating? It’s hilarious

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Ever seen ducks ice skating? It’s hilarious

Goon 2 did get a nasty surprise the first day the pools were frozen over. I tried to get to the pool ahead of her to crack and remove the ice, but she was too fast for me and took a flying leap into/onto what she expected to be water, slid across the ice and fell off the edge of the pool. Luckily,she wasn’t injured! It’s the poor thing’s first winter. She had no idea what was happening!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Lol. Poor thing I’ve seen mine do that many times,usually they now wait for me to break it up then wait for the geese to finish getting it ready for them to get in.

 

[CrystaBub]

The temperatures you guys are talking about in this thread are making me cold! I thought I was cold at 28F here today - that's nothing compared to the temps some of you get. Brrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

 

[jennybvcr]

The work we did was ok for one night of snow but it was very apparent it wasn’t a final fix. We had to pull mostly everything down and start again with a bigger, more heavy duty tarp on the top, but we should be in business now.

Cold thanksgiving today at about 20 degrees. The water in the run was frozen when I got home. Poured some warm water over to break it up overnight.

Wondering about what you do with food when water is at freezing temps? Girls are usually in yard for a few hours in the morning and then in their run with food and water the rest of the day/over night. I’ve been leaving food out for them but am worried if their water is freezing, if that will be an issue?

 

[a.graham52]

7f here this morning in maine. ducks came out of the coop and went right into the woods and thats where they stayed. came out long enough to get worms from us and then hunkered back down in the trees. seemed happy though. i also banked our coop with snow for a good wind break. as far as water goes we bought a couple heaters. one being a heated plastic bucket, the other an aluminum submersible heater. the bucket wont keep the water from freezing on top but will keep the bucket from turning into a cube. the submersible heater we keep in an aluminum row boat and does a fair job of keeping it thawed.

 

[happy duck]

Hope your ducks stay warm in the winter!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Heated buckets work pretty good. I have been using them for about 6 yrs or longer.