Uhhh...I didn't think about that

[chickschool]

So I am a first time duck owner and couldn't be happier. I have one chocolate runner and one white crested. I delight in watching and interacting with them everyday. Soooo as I was changing the water in their pool today, for the third time, it dawned on me...I live in Northern Michigan...isn't it beautiful...aren't I lucky...(wait for it)...Uhhh, what am I going to do with these characters in the winter?!

I know we are at the beginning of summer but because it might take some time could anyone tell me how they house their ducks in the winter? It's the way they get water everywhere that I'm worried about. It will freeze very quickly.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

I am curious to see what people say but unfortunately I can't help being from down here in the south!!!!

 

[chickschool]

I'm gonna end up building them some sort of heated coop aren't I! They are already completely spoiled so I guess that wouldn't be a stretch. Which one of you wants to tell my husband.

 

[NYRIR]

Ducks don't require heat. Mine here in NY are fine in a DRAFT free yet well ventilated hut with a few inches of sawdust topped by a couple inches of hay/straw.I use a stock tank heater to keep the pool open and a heated water base with a galvanized waterer for drinking.

 

[stargazingmommy]

I've been wondering this to. We do get some pretty cold winter nights. I may just stick them back in the chicken coop and run with a heat lamp

 

[evansacres]

Well I live in Canada and we get some cold weather

and a bunch of snow

My shelter has an insulated cemented floor and I put lots of shavings in it and some straw in the winter. The ducks spent most of their time this past winter outside. If it was really cold or nasty they would go into their shelter but otherwise were quite happy out in the snow. They are always shut in tight at night. Our shelter sits and faces the south so whatever sun we get hits the building right on for most of the day. I have a large black rubber tub that I used this winter and for the most part it stayed thawed through out the day. The tub was always filled with fresh warm water every morning and I would add to it after I came from work so that they had a bit more water before night time. I would bring the tub in where it was warm overnight to allow anything frozen to thaw and start over the next morning. It's definitely more work and cold and miserable in the winter, and there were a few times I wondered why I wanted the ducks in the first place. Seeing them playing in the pool once it warms up though is sooo worth it and makes Spring/Summer even more fun!

 

[mandelyn]

This last winter a light on the chickens water was enough to keep it flowing, so I'm going to do the same with the duck water. I have a catch pan under a wire/wood frame I use as a watering station, so they can't throw water everywhere to freeze onto the bedding.

Contain the water, contain the mess... or ice too. I was going to yank their pool when it got to freezing or below and give it to them weather permitting. They'll get a nose cleaning pan instead. Or maybe a bucket buried into the bedding with bricks stacked around it and a fish tank heater stuck in it. Or something. I have gallon jugs I use to refill waterers from the house when I forget to drain the hose and it freezes solid.

 

[Going Quackers]

Oh yes something i am thinking about myself, as another Canadian i have more cold than warm... i figure a good shelter and use a heated water bowl(probably a dogs) and possibly heat up a livestock trough? do ducks even like to get in water during winter ?lol

see i'm almost full of more questions than answers myself

 

[Hattiegun]

I need to take new pics.. these are from last yr... I have a heated hut that I USE more than they do .. lol but I like being able to get warm and they come in the hut to see me. I put a stock tank heater in their pond in the winter (an we get COLD COLD winters) and the water did not even ice up... I made it drain easily and can change it even in the winter.... I put plastic around the whole pen (plexiglass in front so I can see out) and put straw and blankets down in the winter... it was quite cozy.

plastic up and blankets so the pea gravel doesnt stick to them

 

[chickschool]

Mandelyn...I don't suppose you have a picture of your watering station. That sound it would work well for my setup. And I want to come back as a duck at Hattiegun's house.