*~*Runner Duck Club*~*

[Duck Hill]

Update: Cinnamon is eating well now and her weight is back up to normal. Crickets, salad, and a little bit of duck food. Breathing is still difficult because... an operation in the nose causes, of course, the nose to swell. So she still works hard at breathing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Great to hear she is improving though..

Merry Christmas!!

 

[Duck Hill]

Update on Cinnamon: Good news! After examining her, the vet was very pleased. She said her lungs sound much better, her nose is much better (ya, I know, it's a bill). The vet now gave her a 90% chance of getting better. This is ever so much better, 'cause a couple of weeks ago she said "there is always a chance" and refused to give me a number.

Cinnamon is eating and drinking much more. She breathes almost normally with only some medium to mild effort to pull air in (seems to get it out ok). When I put Cinnamon out today for a little bit she even ran a few steps and seemed quite lively (which is new). She bobbed her head at the other ducks.

Thank you all again for your support!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is awesome. I give you a lot of credit for her doing so much better , your TLC brought her to where she is today.

 

[PirateGirl]

I figured the runner thread might be the easiest and fastest to get answers as I'm having trouble sifting through online info. Are runners hardy enough to be kept in cold climates? I know larger bodied birds can tolerate cold quite well, but runners aren't exactly large, but they aren't exactly small, they seemed to be classed somewhere in the middle. I'd love to get some runners, but if they are going to be miserable where I live, then I will go with something else. I don't want to be lying awake at 3:00am in a blizzard thinking I need to rescue my runners and bring them in the house!

 

[Ducktown]

They are quite resilient. They will also gain some weight, if you feed them some high energy grain like corn.
At - 10°C they begin to feel the cold, but their biggest issue at that point is inability to roam around and forage for bugs and greens.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It's been down into the single digits and thankfully my Runners have been going in off an on to warm up[ no heat inside but no wind either.] If you decide to get Runners just make sure to give them the option of having a draft free area to get in out of the cold.

My Runners are all slim and light weight so I do worry about them in this frigid weather especially with wind chills but seeing them make the choice to go inside makes me feel better.

 

[PirateGirl]

Thank you both for your feedback. They will definitely have a duck house with day access and I will lock them in at night due to predators. I'll probably build a wind block too because my chickens don't seem to mind the cold, but they don't like the wind and hang out behind the wind block in winter and summer. Runners remind me much of penguins (partly why I want them) and they are more efficient than a lot of other breeds in terms of converting feed to eggs and how much they eat vs. how much they produce.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I just love mine 5 females 1 drake they are the funniest lil things and so busy no wonder they don't gain weight.

 

[Duck Hill]

Thank you both for your feedback. They will definitely have a duck house with day access and I will lock them in at night due to predators. I'll probably build a wind block too because my chickens don't seem to mind the cold, but they don't like the wind and hang out behind the wind block in winter and summer. Runners remind me much of penguins (partly why I want them) and they are more efficient than a lot of other breeds in terms of converting feed to eggs and how much they eat vs. how much they produce.

You have all the key elements! When there is a serious drop in temperature, I always check my animals. If there is a sudden drop in temperature an animal can fall behind in their effort to keep warm. An hour or two in the house will let them catch up, and then they can return outside.

Sometimes also their feet might get too cold if there is only snow outside. They need an area that is snow free with some insulating material (pine shavings, etc) where they can warm their feet.