what all should i do to keep my ducks warm in the snow?

[saydeei]

it’s about 30° and snowing here, but not a ton so far. i’ve got my two ducks and they have a small house that’s got shelter from the snow and wind, but it’s not insulated or anything. they have straw so they’re not on the ground, and a heat lamp(it’s far enough away from the straw to not be a fire hazard) is there anything else i need to do to keep my ducks comfy?

 

[Weeg]

Turn off the heat lamp! It isn't good for them! If they don't get used to the cold because of the heat lamp, they don't grow in all there warm down and feathers. So suddenly, you power goes out, and so does the lamp, you loose your whole flock. It isn't good for them to not grow in all the important feathers. Take the heat away. Others will agree. They don't need it.

 

[noodledog]

How old are they? Ducks will be fine in the cold if they're fully feathered, as long as they have somewhere to get out of the wind. They'll acclimate to the colder temperatures, but if a heat lamp's bulb died or the power went out it could kill them. Plus there's the fire hazard if it fell.

Mine willingly stay in the snow all day, even if there's the option to go inside, and they love it

 

[saydeei]

That makes sense. You can post pics of them and we can help you figure out if they are feathered enough.

here they are in their outside area, they have lots of straw in their sleeping bit

 

[aart]

here they are in their outside area, they have lots of straw in their sleeping bit

What's going to happen when the snow builds up enough to collapse the tarps?

 

[WindingRoad]

awesome!!! thank you so much for your help!

Repeat after me. They will be ok They will be ok they will be ok.

 

[Corbdee]

Yeah most waterfowl can keep warm easily with their protective coat of feathers

 

[saydeei]

Turn off the heat lamp! It isn't good for them! If they don't get used to the cold because of the heat lamp, they don't grow in all there warm down and feathers. So suddenly, you power goes out, and so does the lamp, you loose your whole flock. It isn't good for them to not grow in all the important feathers. Take the heat away. Others will agree. They don't need it.

ok! they’re almost done growing their adult feathers i believe, but what about when it drops more at night? for future reference i mean. it can get down to -15 here, would they still be ok? (they can get away from the lamp too, they have a very large repurposed like dog fence area with a top they can access that gets snow in it)

 

[saydeei]

They will be fien without supplemental heat even in that temp. They have each other to smuggle with, and warm straw. Our ducks live in a wire coop without walls. Let winter, it got down to 9 degrees, and they were fine.

ok ! there’s only two of them unfortunately, so they don’t have a ton of ducks to cuddle

 

[Weeg]

How old are they? Ducks will be fine in the cold if they're fully feathered, as long as they have somewhere to get out of the wind. They'll acclimate to the colder temperatures, but if a heat lamp's bulb died or the power went out it could kill them. Plus there's the fire hazard if it fell.

Mine willingly stay in the snow all day, even if there's the option to go inside, and they love it

This is put perfectly!