Today’s Weathering the Winter series post details our winter management for ducks. This winter we have a flock of 16 Khaki Campbell ducks, which we use for egg laying purposes. The ducks are one of our hardiest animals, and seem to do just fine in cold, snowy weather. There’s a reason humans take their feathers to insulate down jackets! Still, there are few considerations we make to ensure they are happy and healthy over winter.
The ducks live in a hoophouse year round. This structure is sturdy enough to withstand winter weather, including several feet of snow. It is covered with tarps, protecting the ducks from wind, rain, and snow.
On a weekly basis we put fresh hay in the house for the ducks to use as bedding. In winter, animals are in their houses for more time due to inclement weather and shorter daylight hours, so bedding gets soiled faster. Duck droppings are very wet, too, so their bedding gets gross. Fresh bedding is essential for them to have clean living quarters. 
When the ground is covered with three feet of snow, like after the last blizzard, the ducks cannot easily walk around. They might be smaller than us, but it’s still tough for them to walk on snow. During this snowy time, the ducks spent their days in the run-in shed. We placed their food and water dishes there so they could easily eat and drink.
We like to use rubber pans as water dishes in the winter. If the water freezes, these dishes can easily be flipped over and stomped on to break out the ice. Then we simply refill the rubber pan.
Here’s a portable shelter that could be used as a place to feed and water the ducks, if needed. This is what we’d use if the run-in shed wasn’t an option.
Our ducks have continued a high rate of egg-laying over winter, too. We do not provide supplemental light to their house, yet we’re getting 13 eggs/day from 15 females! They’re laying better than our chickens right now.
We love our ducks, and the ease of taking care of them in winter is just one of many reasons why.
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