Winter tips for ducks?

[LoveMyDaisyGirl]

Your welcome, but try to not over do it on the treats. Especially if their laying ducks, you want to feed about 10% of their diet in treats.

So if I give them a couple handfuls of cracked corn at night in the winter (I have 6 ducks) and warm oatmeal only on the really cold mornings should that sound about right?

 

[chickluvinfreak]

So if I give them a couple handfuls of cracked corn at night in the winter (I have 6 ducks) and warm oatmeal only on the really cold mornings should that sound about right?

Depends what a handful is. If your ducks eat about 1/2 a cup each, 10% of that is about a tablespoon. So for 6 ducks thats a little over a 1/3 cup. Then on days you want to give a bowl of oatmeal you can just skip the corn.

 

[LoveMyDaisyGirl]

Depends what a handful is. If your ducks eat about 1/2 a cup each, 10% of that is about a tablespoon. So for 6 ducks thats a little over a 1/3 cup. Then on days you want to give a bowl of oatmeal you can just skip the corn.

Makes sense! Thanks again for the reply!!

 

[Amiga]

I found with my Runners that some of them are not as cold-hardy as others, so I would like to add that you need to watch them.

Also, some of us with ducks (myself included) don't always use specific terms, or we forget to include details.

My less cold-hardy Runners do not thrive if their night shelter is less than 40F, or if they are outside too long in the cold. Too long depends on whether it's sunny, and the temperature and ground temperature. Early in the cold season the ground is still kind of warm, and so a 35F sunny day they can stay out most of the day. Late in the season, the ground is frozen solid so they can get chilled sooner. And so forth.

So, again, just watch them. If you see them scrunching their necks up, feathers fluffed out, walking stiff-legged or not at all, shivering . . . they are too cold.

 

[dadaas]

What if I have ducks on the open. Will they create/find cover for them self? At my place it knows to go below zero and it knows to snow. Any tips what to give them to eat?

 

[dadaas]

I hope they survive, because i cant give them shelter nor predator protection. I already lost 2 ducks against predators. I gave them 100x100 meter yard for them self and they better find a proper shelter by they own.

 

[Amiga]

I made the investment in an electrically heated water bowl. It is 100% safe; all wiring has been molded onto the rubber of the bowl. As for the cord, it has a strong spring/wire wrapped around it. I need to use an extension cord, so after plugging the thing in, I always keep the plugs above ground, so snow can't bury them and seep into the connection. This item was a bit pricey--about $30.00, but it will last for years, so I feel it is worth the expense.
My ducks all eat "duck food"--crumbles made mostly from corn. It comes in 40-pound bags for about $18.00/bag. I sometimes give them treats--usually thawed out frozen peas, which is crack for ducks!
They live in a duck house at night--a completely covered wooden home with one open doorway. They all huddle together. I can't believe how tough they are! Really, with shelter, I don't worry about them freezing, since they have shown me how happy they can be in Colorado in wintertime.

So, for future readers, gilbert2, what breed are these (so we guess their weight and size), and how many? So good when you get the management right! Thanks! and If you already mentioned this, forgive me

 

[gilbert2]

Sorry, Amiga--I forgot the important detail. I have one Rouen drake, two Rouen ducks, and one Pekin duck--although strangely, starting last week, one of her tail feathers has really curled upwards!! I am sure it is just a temporary thing, since her tail has been female looking since she was a hatchling last April. I hope I'm right!
As a post script, I might add that the Rouen drake, normally so colorful, has molted into a drab guy. His normally "metallic" green head feathers have gone almost black (and dull), and even the bright violet wing feathers (that you can see when they are folded up--as a little diamond shape) are again a dull dark color, almost black. Strange.

 

[purslanegarden]

Strangely, when I was a kid, I had chickens and ducks in my back yard. They would find their own sleeping place each night. The chickens liked to jump up to the mimosa tree, which had some perfectly large branches in a good formation that even I could sit up there. The ducks would sleep where they wanted at night, too. I locked up my quail, but mainly because they could get away from the yard, not because I was thinking of predator protection.

Only years later, as an adult, when I began my next flock and experienced a few predator killings as well as tell-tale signs of predators in my yard at night, did I wonder at the amazement of how these birds were able to live free-range in day and night time for so many years when I was a kid.

I would say that's the exception, as well as partially being a kid who had no access to all the learning available on the internet now, and any person who wants to have chickens, ducks, or other poultry birds as pets, should do their best to provide food and protection for them. Free-range in a small area is not the same as being able to go anywhere they want, so the owners still need to supplement with other food matter, and living in a small area without the ability to escape it, is even worse if a predator gets in.