winter on Runner ducks

[ShayShayHappy]

Jamie,

We have a duck that my daughter found in the woods, can you believe that?? No, really. We lost our dog and went into the woods looking for him, his name is Shay, and the duck followed us out of the woods. Of course we kept the duck. He is 5 months old, found in May. Turns out he is an Indian Runner. We a really not prepared to keep in duringt he winter. Looking for a good home for this little fella. . . . . . . . . Might anybody be interested. He is so use to people and our dogs, cats and bunny. We will truly miss him, but need to do what is best for the animal.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Jamie,

We have a duck that my daughter found in the woods, can you believe that?? No, really. We lost our dog and went into the woods looking for him, his name is Shay, and the duck followed us out of the woods. Of course we kept the duck. He is 5 months old, found in May. Turns out he is an Indian Runner. We a really not prepared to keep in duringt he winter. Looking for a good home for this little fella. . . . . . . . . Might anybody be interested. He is so use to people and our dogs, cats and bunny. We will truly miss him, but need to do what is best for the animal.

There is a rehoming thread on here and a buy sell trade thread also please post on these and please don't think of setting him loose at a park or pond or lake. Like someone else must have done for you to have found him. Can you post a pic of him? Your state thread at "where am i where are you" is another good place to post.. What state are you in by the way? Might look into a water fowl rescue in your state too, here in NC there is Carolina Water fowl Rescue if your in NC
@ShayShayHappy

 

[Amiga]

@ShayShayHappy , glad you posted here! Not sure of your experience with ducks, and did I miss your location?

If the Little Runner is quacking, you have a girl! If not quacking but kind of raspy voiced, especially with a curly tail feather or two, you have a drake.

 

[campchickens]

I have two Swedish ducks, who happily co-habitate with 15 chickens of varying sizes and breeds. They all live in a happy little tractor coop.



As you can see, the roost is all enclosed, but they've got some room to have fresh air and scratch the ground before we let them out to free range all day. The ducks were originally raised with one of the chickens, and the three used to snuggle up on the ground. The chicken has since learned to roost, and it's just the two ducks on the bare ground. I've tried giving them nesting materials, and even building somewhat of a nest, but they just hang out in the back corner, under the roost.

I'm nervous as the weather gets colder, how will they fare? How can I help them stay warm this winter? Central Virginia usually hovers freezing most of winter, but gets quite a bit lower at times. I'm thinking about trying to move them in with the goats (the ducks hang out in the goat house on rainy days sometimes), where they might be warmer. Thoughts?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have two Swedish ducks, who happily co-habitate with 15 chickens of varying sizes and breeds. They all live in a happy little tractor coop.



As you can see, the roost is all enclosed, but they've got some room to have fresh air and scratch the ground before we let them out to free range all day. The ducks were originally raised with one of the chickens, and the three used to snuggle up on the ground. The chicken has since learned to roost, and it's just the two ducks on the bare ground. I've tried giving them nesting materials, and even building somewhat of a nest, but they just hang out in the back corner, under the roost.

I'm nervous as the weather gets colder, how will they fare? How can I help them stay warm this winter? Central Virginia usually hovers freezing most of winter, but gets quite a bit lower at times. I'm thinking about trying to move them in with the goats (the ducks hang out in the goat house on rainy days sometimes), where they might be warmer. Thoughts?

A member just had a Pekin stepped on by a goat so I am not sure ducks in with goats is a good idea as long as the ducks have protection for wind rain and snow and ice they should be fine in with the chickens. If you put some hay or shaving on the ground they would probably lay on it. Main thing just like the chickens is they are protected from the elements when it is cold out and Predators.

 

[campchickens]

The problem is they don't currently have protection from the wind or cold. They have a roof, but they sleep on the ground in the open part of the coop. I can't find anything on how cold a temperature they can tolerate. So far do good this week with it hovering freezing overnight, but I need a longterm plan and am having trouble finding information about ducks' cold weather hardiness.

 

[AimToMisbehave]

My group is driving me nuts! We built them a little overnight pen in our workshop (not a heated building, but insulated and out of the elements at least) but they do anything and everything to avoid going in there! The both of us tried to herd them in for a good 10-15 minutes last night before we just gave up. There's a portable greenhouse building inside their usual pen that we can get them into at least, but the door doesn't close, so we can't really keep them in there, and they don't have the good sense to stay there. They'd rather sleep in the middle of the pen on the frozen ground!

 

[Miss Lydia]

The problem is they don't currently have protection from the wind or cold. They have a roof, but they sleep on the ground in the open part of the coop. I can't find anything on how cold a temperature they can tolerate. So far do good this week with it hovering freezing overnight, but I need a longterm plan and am having trouble finding information about ducks' cold weather hardiness.

Is there anyway to close in sides that would help alot. Ducks and chickens are very cold hardy as long as they can get out of the elements and are away from strong cold winds.

 

[MaureenD]

Hi There! I am in WI also...
Question about winter, runners and ducks in general...

This past weekend we got 6" snow and it got cold really fast (a couple nights easily 10-15*F). I felt I did things right for feed, light, nest, straw, water, etc.
My question is, when they take their little spa bath from the water bowl in the morning, their feathers would have a bit of frosty/ice like spots on them. They looked so cold! If I had ice on me like that, I would be....
Is this normal for ducks to have a little ice on them? Not blobs, just droplets.
I know it was cold enough for them to sit on their feet when foraging, so I put them in their night coop for a bit to warm up.

I will post new winter coop set up pics when I get them out of my phone.: )
'Temps are up yesterday and today- rain expected for Thanksgiving.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi There! I am in WI also...
Question about winter, runners and ducks in general...

This past weekend we got 6" snow and it got cold really fast (a couple nights easily 10-15*F). I felt I did things right for feed, light, nest, straw, water, etc.
My question is, when they take their little spa bath from the water bowl in the morning, their feathers would have a bit of frosty/ice like spots on them. They looked so cold! If I had ice on me like that, I would be....
Is this normal for ducks to have a little ice on them? Not blobs, just droplets.
I know it was cold enough for them to sit on their feet when foraging, so I put them in their night coop for a bit to warm up.

I will post new winter coop set up pics when I get them out of my phone.: )
'Temps are up yesterday and today- rain expected for Thanksgiving.

If there is a way to keep them out of their spa bath on those kind of morning I sure would. I use heated buckets and place a board over half of it so they can't climb in just keep their heads inside.