CodieC501
In the Brooder
- Nov 4, 2024
- 2
- 11
- 14
Hey, yall. I'm new to backyard birds of any kind and this will be my first winter with them. I want to keep them as safe, healthy, and comfortable as possible without going overboard as I tend to do. Especially considering that we also have a new grandbaby living with us and this will be his first winter, too. Thanks in advance!
We got the ducks this past spring. We were keeping them in a shed at night that we converted into a pretty nice coop, but we hit a snag when they stopped wanting to go in at night. We tried just about everything to try to herd them (guiding them with flashlights and/or long sticks, using a 3-person team, etc) but they would just run underneath our other larger shed. We ended up fencing around the undercarriage of that larger shed with chicken wire, pinning that wire to the ground, adding a little wooden door on hinges, and making that their nighttime coop. Not ideal, but hey will go right in willingly and it keeps them safe from raccoons. Since adding our one hen to the mix (who just started laying eggs last month), we have built a separate pen out of wood and chicken wire between the two sheds for her and her boyfriend. I have a ramp that those two can use to enter the smaller coop shed thru a small door. My worry is for the two drakes who spend the night underneath our large shed. I'm also wondering exactly what type of bulb I should use as a heat source in the small shed that the hen and her mate use for a coop.
I did a quick search to see what our winters are typically like to give yall an idea of what we might experience this year, but weather is obviously unpredictable. Our average winter temp is 29.3°F.
"In Arkansas, winters are typically cool and short with occasional cold snaps. The average winter temperature in Arkansas is chilly but bearable, with high temperatures in the mid-40s to lower 50s and overnight lows in the 20s and 30s."
We got the ducks this past spring. We were keeping them in a shed at night that we converted into a pretty nice coop, but we hit a snag when they stopped wanting to go in at night. We tried just about everything to try to herd them (guiding them with flashlights and/or long sticks, using a 3-person team, etc) but they would just run underneath our other larger shed. We ended up fencing around the undercarriage of that larger shed with chicken wire, pinning that wire to the ground, adding a little wooden door on hinges, and making that their nighttime coop. Not ideal, but hey will go right in willingly and it keeps them safe from raccoons. Since adding our one hen to the mix (who just started laying eggs last month), we have built a separate pen out of wood and chicken wire between the two sheds for her and her boyfriend. I have a ramp that those two can use to enter the smaller coop shed thru a small door. My worry is for the two drakes who spend the night underneath our large shed. I'm also wondering exactly what type of bulb I should use as a heat source in the small shed that the hen and her mate use for a coop.
I did a quick search to see what our winters are typically like to give yall an idea of what we might experience this year, but weather is obviously unpredictable. Our average winter temp is 29.3°F.
"In Arkansas, winters are typically cool and short with occasional cold snaps. The average winter temperature in Arkansas is chilly but bearable, with high temperatures in the mid-40s to lower 50s and overnight lows in the 20s and 30s."
!
