Winterwonderland and Alaska Duck Owner!

[katharinad]

We had extreme cold, snow, then snow melted off, followed by rain, another round of cold, and now we have 4" of new snow and more coming. I love it, it looks nice. I wish it had waited a few more days, because I need to drive to a special clinic 3 hours away for knee injections. My kneecaps are rubbing on my leg bones and these gel injection buffer it and allow me to walk pain free. The gel gets absorbed into the body and the pain will return and then you need another shot. The gel last 3-9 month depending on your body and activity. I need it every 3 months. Gotta love the 4" long needle, but it does not hurt. They ice up the knee and the gel contains lidacaine. Well back to my story. Duckies are out bobbing in the snow loving it. They use their A-frames with hay to take 30 minute breaks and off they go again. They are good walkers, and are busy all day long. They all had a nice warm bath yesterday, after looking like pigs due to mudding for a few days, until it turned cold again. Now they are nice, clean, and loving the snow. Last night the weather man talked about the Lunar Eclipse on Monday night, and about the short daytime hours in Alaska. This got me to wonder how people keep their ducks in such a harsh environment. Not only cold, but lots of snow, and no or very little light. How do you guys deal with it? How do you manage your ducks? Are you promoting egg production with extra light? I would love to hear from you guys in Alaska. Hope you guys take your vitamin D supplements too.

 

[BirdBrain]

Good Morning!!! It was -5 F lastnight when I got home from a Christmas party. My DD had put up the ducks and chickens when it got really dark--around 5pm. Sundown is around 3:45 to 4pm. It is 9am right now and I am starting to see the first streaks of light coming over the mountains to the east. It will be as light as it gets around 10:30. I let out the chickens and ducks around 7:30 every morning. I turn on the porch light that shines across their yards. They have electric in the coups and the lights are on a timer so they get 13-14 hours of light a day. Lights come on around 5:30 in the morning and go out around 7:30 in the evening.

The chickens come and go all day, but mostly hang out in the coup. The ducks don't know it is cold and stand around outside on some straw I spread around for them or they hang out in the doorway. These ducks are Muscovies and are 7 months old. About 2 weeks ago we started getting an egg a day from my DS duck. She comes down off her perching shelf and lays every morning around 6:30 or 7am. The other 2 are just taking notes right now. The 2 drakes keep the ducks company and do little else. It is too cold for them to breed, although when it was warmer, they were getting things figured out.

I had to go with a partially covered water bucket since the girls kept swimming in the bucket. DD's duck was always covered in ice. We called her the ice princess. She would jump in to bathe and when she got out would flap her wings vigorously. By the time she was done, her feathers had frozen and rattled like porcupine quills. She always seemed to be dry and fluffy in the mornings, so we don't worry about her. I am surprised at how hardy these ducks are. They don't seem to be phased too much by the cold. It is beyond me, but I am not complaining. Does that answer your questions?

 

[maggiemmm]

I read your post to my husband..He just shuddered. He cannot take that much dark nor that much cold! Northern Michigan is bad enough. Although , we have had 30º weather the last couple of days. Still in the teens at night. He has Reynaud's and cannot have his hands colder than 50º without them turning black for lack of circulation. Alaska sounds awesome .. but only in our dreams! Good luck to you and more power to you !

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

I am cringing for your poor knee. I had my 3rd surgery on my knee a year and a half ago and am hoping I can make it another 5 years without incident. Hope your injection works!

Since this is my first winter with the ducks and chickens I am still figuring it all out but mine have the barn to be in when there is a mountain of snow. Which right now the duck run has over 3 feet if not 4 feet of snow in it. Since I had three buckets buried I had to go out yesterday and treasure hunt for them. Today I found a chicken flopping in the snow, somehow she got stuck and didn't look like she was going to figure out how to get back inside so I brought her into the house and she is in the poultry hospital for tonight (didn't find anything wrong with her). The cold snap we had a week or so ago really was NOT fun.