Winter in New Jersey questions

[gnmrk2000]

I have 4 Pekins who will be spending their first winter outside and I have a few concerns. Our temps can get as cold as 0 degrees with the wind chill here. My husband can tarp their pen so I'm not too worried about the wind. However, as you can see from the picture, their home is situated on a concrete slab which is great for hosing off (which is done daily). But I imagine that hosing their area down in freezing temps is going to create a bit of an ice rink. Couple that with their getting in and out of the pond, and I am picturing their tender feet being the equivalent of having your tongue stuck to a flag pole! Will I need to cover the patio with hay? Does that mean I have to SHOVEL the hay daily?

I was just planning on having hay in their little house for warmth. Any ideas from those who have already been through a winter with their babies would be welcomed!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
winters can be rough here in the mts of north carolina too, we get snow ice and with 10 ducks lots of poop, everything gets covered in poop and if I try to wash it off it just freezes and then it's even nastier. They also make a mess where their water buckets are ice around there too. I scoop out messy pine shaving from inside their house to try and cover up some of the mess, when it's below 32* it can't be washed off unless i could heat up water. so I just try to keep it clean as best I can, but I'd think they will need something under their feet if they live on cement. straw or pineshaving would probably work or sand. all the best and if you come up with something let us know.

 

[pekinsRus]

I also have 4 Pekins in a chain-link dog run in Western PA & Winter sucks here!!! We added a roof on our duck "house" last Fall. I then tarp over it in the Fall/rain & depending on the weather I will not totally secure the tarps until winter is here, so they get the sunshine,etc.