What do I do for my two Peking Ducks In the winter.

[lauren2k]

I have a male pekin duck as well, along with a female khaki campbell, and they both do just fine in below freezing temps. I live in Kansas, and our winters get pretty cold with snow and ice. This is my ducks first winter, and they don't seem to be bothered by the elements. They are kept in a wire enclosure with an insulated dog house and a heated water bowl. Having a heated water bowl is probably the most important part. My ducks hardly ever go in their dog house, even when the winds are blowing and its snowing. They prefer to stay outside with their head in their feathers. I do have straw covering the entire pen along with inside the dog house. I also have a brooder lamp inside the house that I turn on at night, just in case they do decide to go inside. I keep their bowl of food inside too to encourage them to actually go in their house. I can understand that you would be worried about them; I was definitely worried about mine too until I noticed that they never went inside their dog house but prefered to just sleep outside. They are very hardy birds and don't seem to mind the cold weather one bit. My ducks still love to swim in my pond when its not frozen over. Good luck with your little guys!

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

Wow. You must not have any predators in your immediate area or some good flock guardians. If I left my birds with that type of setup, the coyotes would make a great meal of them in no time, if the hawks didn't get them during the day.

I do think that they can survive in more extremes if they are accustomed to it but since most people raise their ducklings in a brooder, indoors or with a heat lamp, they don't have the opportunity to become accustomed to bitter cold.

The way I look at it is there are many folks out there that have WAY more experience than I do. When I give advice, it is what I have done or from info I have gotten from literature written by people like Dave Holderread.

Err on the side of caution. I would hate to give advice to someone that resulted in the loss of their birds.

We have good flock guardians and they are penned in a fenced enclosure but again no shelter to speak of really(other then the straw bales with a tin on them). The hawks dont like messing with the bigger ducks/geese and appearantly that deters them from even looking at the bantam ducks. In the summer the waterfowl is free range. The LGDs keep them quite safe. My waterfowl only get heatlamps for about their first 1.5 - 2 weeks of life and then they are downy enough to go without supplemental heat, even late october ducklings dont seem to be bothered by early cold weather when that young. They are just tough little boogers!!

 

[Lusadi]

I have 5 Pekins, 2 Rouens, and 3 Black Swedish ducks up here in South Central Alaska. They live in a non-insulated coop with plenty of straw bedding. Most days they wander out in the snow just fine. We've had temps drop to -15 or so this year and had no issues. I do have a small heat lamp in the coop, but it is really just providing light. I have not noticed any real increase in the interior temperature. They do have some nest boxes inside the coop to snuggle into. I think the most important issue is keeping fresh, unfrozen water available and blocking wind drafts. Our ducks seem to be very healthy so far.

 

[Amiga]

What breeds of ducks did you have, and how many?

Perkins two males

I apologize. It was right there in your title. sigh. Must've been really tired.

Pekins have less surface to volume ratio than smaller ducks - they are chunkier, and their little bodies can hold more heat. As my vet said the other day, we often talk about ducks as one thing. "Ducks do this, ducks do that." But ducks are individuals. Some require more niacin, or thiamine, or calcium, than others to be at their peak health. I reckon it's the same with temperatures. Some are more or less sensitive. And in areas that tend to get colder, ducks raised and bred there will most likely be more cold hardy, since those that aren't won't make it.

Observe the ducks, go with your gut, give them every bit of help you can, with good food, adequate shelter, maybe some extra vitamins, enough fresh water.