When is it too cold to swim?

[graypes]

My ducks are obsessed with our pond and refuse to leave it when I am not outside with them. I'm glad they have their "safe spot" but it is getting colder and colder every day. I am worried about hypothermia. they have ample access to dry land, but they refuse to give up. I am considering fencing them When is it too cold for them to be swimming outside??
Any advice?

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

depends on how easy they can warm up if needed. i let mine in the house and they sleep in the sunroom so they can swim until like 40° in my opinion. if their coop is cold or they are outside all day then i would stop them sooner. and anything under like 30° mine only get an hour outside each day

 

[HollowOfWisps]

My ducks are obsessed with our pond and refuse to leave it when I am not outside with them. I'm glad they have their "safe spot" but it is getting colder and colder every day. I am worried about hypothermia. they have ample access to dry land, but they refuse to give up. I am considering fencing them When is it too cold for them to be swimming outside??
Any advice?

Ducks can swim all year round and do so all of the time in the wild. A ducks legs have veins that run closely together which allows for what's called "countercurrent". This means that a vein with hot blood from their central body is next to the veins that bring the cold blood up from their feet. This allows for the hot blood to warm up the cold blood as they pass each other just enough for a duck to maintain it's body temperature in cold conditions.

 

[graypes]

Ducks can swim all year round and do so all of the time in the wild. A ducks legs have veins that run closely together which allows for what's called "countercurrent". This means that a vein with hot blood from their central body is next to the veins that bring the cold blood up from their feet. This allows for the hot blood to warm up the cold blood as they pass each other just enough for a duck to maintain it's body temperature in cold conditions.

wow! that’s exactly the kind of science-based info I have been looking for!!! Thank you!
So, even though it is 34°F here today and my ducks will stay in the water all day, they’ll be fine? I have just read some people’s experiences with duck hypothermia and I just wanted to do my best to make sure they’re okay!

 

[graypes]

I wish they would just sleep under the bush by the edge of the water, but there’s no stopping them

 

[graypes]

depends on how easy they can warm up if needed. i let mine in the house and they sleep in the sunroom so they can swim until like 40° in my opinion. if their coop is cold or they are outside all day then i would stop them sooner. and anything under like 30° mine only get an hour outside each day

Thank you! I may end up doing something like this today as it is so cold out!!!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

wow! that’s exactly the kind of science-based info I have been looking for!!! Thank you!
So, even though it is 34°F here today and my ducks will stay in the water all day, they’ll be fine? I have just read some people’s experiences with duck hypothermia and I just wanted to do my best to make sure they’re okay!

I'm not sure if there is a set temperature per se. If your ducks are being fed a properly fortified duck feed and have no injuries I don't see why they couldn't pick and choose when to swim in the colder months. I grew up in Northern Pennsylvania about 20-30 minutes from Lake Erie and on top of the largest hill in the area (practically a mini mountain). We not only received Canadian winds coming across the lake, but also at a much greater extreme due to our high altitude. We had a couple ponds between the family's total of 225 acres and we would have wild ducks swimming in the middle of winter just about every year. I have known a couple people who did have issues with frostbite, but when I asked them what they fed every single one was feeding chicken that wasn't properly fortified for ducks and their ducks had a history of bumble foot. Now it very well could have just been a coincidence, but I am a science based thinker and from everything I have read a perfectly healthy duck should have no problem being in cold water (excluding weather extremes like negative degree weather). I would just monitor them and take a mental note of how they do when the weather dips. Are they still avid swimmers? Are they stationary for long periods of time on the water with little movement? Do they appear stiff getting out of the water? Etc.

Here's a good link that better describes the science behind it. https://phinizycenter.org/why-dont-ducks-freeze/

 

[TomCahalan]

Ducks handle the cold much better than people can. They are made out of water-proof down jackets. There is no reason to bring a duck inside at all during winter. 30 degrees is not cold to a duck. Even in places that get much colder, all you need to do is provide them with a way to get out of the wind.

However, this only applies for ducks that are 8 weeks or older. Ducklings, especially those with access to preen oil from their mother or a foster duck, are more cold-hardy than you would expect, but can suffer and die in conditions that are comfortable for juvenile and adult ducks.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

There is no reason to bring a duck inside at all during winter. 30 degrees is not cold to a duck. Even in places that get much colder, all you need to do is provide them with a way to get out of the wind.

they aren’t gonna freeze at 30 but definitely aren’t comfortable after a certain point

 

[neo71665]

My ducks would walk out on the ice to get to the middle unfrozen part of my pond in the winter, they didn't care.