Winter Duck Keeping 101

Depending on where you live, preparing for winter can be a crucial part of caring for your feathered friends. After raising ducks in New England for a few winters now, we have learned some important lessons that I’d love to share with you.

Here in New England, our wildlife are subject to sub-freezing temperatures, blustery winds, stinging ice and sleet, and heavy wet snow. Ducks are very hardy birds that are equipped to deal with all that mother nature throws at them, but there are a few things we like to do to prepare our ducks for a safe, healthy and fun winter ahead.

Water

As the trees lost their leaves and the temperatures began to dip below freezing, I knew our first winter with ducks would bring new challenges. Mother nature did not disappoint! One crucial part of winter duck keeping is providing unfrozen water to your flock. Sounds simple, right? I knew we needed to provide a heated water source since our rubber water bowls would surely freeze, but I wasn’t prepared for how we would provide that water. During the first major cold snap we experienced a frozen water faucet. We have since upgraded to a frost free faucet and it’s been a game changer! Each morning we fill a bucket with water and carry it out to the ducks and fill up their heated water bowls. This way they have plenty of water to drink and dunk their heads. Depending on their playfulness, sometimes I make a mid-day trip out to refresh their water.

Here, Charlotte enjoys some fresh greens next to our heated water bowls.

Day-time

Heading into winter, you’ll notice your ducks starting to chow down as they bulk up and prepare for winter. With a nice layer of fat and recently refreshed feathers after their fall molt, ducks are ready to tough it out in the cold. To make them a bit more comfortable, we like to provide our ducks with a wind free place to frolic all day.
We wrap the west and north facing sides of their run with a reinforced, durable, clear tarp. We chose a clear tarp to allow the sunshine to penetrate and warm up the ducks. We attached the tarp to the run using screws and fender washers to ensure a secure fit that would withstand wind tugging at the edges. Our ducks also enjoy a nice layer of straw in a corner of their run where they can pull their feet up and nap in the sunshine.

With our area averaging 60+ inches of snow each winter, at time accumulating 12-18 inches in one storm, we became tired of shoveling out the ducks’ run. We installed a roof utilizing the same clear tarp used for the sides. This was intended to be a seasonal structure that could be removed in the spring, however with the spring bringing heavy rains, we opted to leave the roof up year-round. The amount of snow that collects inside the run is now minimal, and the mud in the spring is more manageable. The ducks don’t seem to mind the roof, and still enjoy the sunshine. If you decide to install a roof, just be mindful of snow load that could compromise the structure. We are diligent to remove snow with each storm, and sometimes even throughout the storm depending on the amount of snow that is piling up.

Removing the snow from the roof is important due to the weight, but the ducks also don’t like when snow slides off of it so there is double benefit of the task.

Night-time

We often receive the question “Do you heat your duck house in the winter?” The answer to this, simply put, is no, ducks don’t need a heated house in the winter. Adding a heat source to your duck house brings on the risk of fire, which would be devastating. As I mentioned earlier, ducks have secret weapons to combat the cold and if you provide a draft free structure with dry bedding, your ducks will do just fine.

Inside the ducks house I complete a deep clean around Thanksgiving and head into winter with fresh straw. We have adopted a modified “deep litter” method. Traditionally, the “deep litter” method is used for chicken keeping and involves adding new straw throughout the winter while the chickens scratch around and turn the straw, resulting in the soiled straw breaking down and releasing heat into the house. Then in the spring the used straw is composted and ready for fertilizing crops around the farm. Our experience has been that ducks stomp down the straw with their large paddle like feet and fail to adequately scratch up and turn the straw. Our modified deep litter method involves adding fresh straw as needed and completing 1 or 2 complete bedding changes between Thanksgiving and April. This method ensures that our ducks have relatively clean and dry bedding to snuggle into for the night. We also like to add a few straw bales along one of the outside walls along a door that remains closed most of the time. The straw serves as a layer of insulation along this wall and blocks any drafts from the door. The ducks like to snuggle up to the straw bales at night and even pick out fresh pieces of straw as they begin to make their nests for the next laying season. We also installed weather-stripping along the doors to provide an extra level of protection against drafts.

We typically keep the ducks inside the house during days with wind chills below 0°F. This setup works, but the ducks always like playing in their water and that makes an icy mess!

Occasionally, we have experienced extreme cold snaps involving subzero wind chills, sometimes down to -20F or so. To help our ducks get through these rare events we made the decision to keep the ducks inside their house where they could remain comfy and continue to warm their house for the even colder overnight temperatures. We repurposed the storage side of their house to bring in their water and food without making a complete mess of their bedding. In a pinch and just for a few days, this set up worked very well and gave us piece of mind that the ducks were comfy and happy.

Ducks really are very hardy and designed for all types of inclement weather. But with just a few modifications and preparations, you can provide your ducks with a safe and comfortable place to live this winter.