How Old for Khakis to Tolerate NH Winter

[fatedfaithfulfatal]

Hello all. New here and new duck parent. A week ago I got four Khaki Campbell ducklings from Tractor Supply. They could not give me an age when I got them, but they are still quite young (still 100% fluff, no signs of feathers yet). Im thinking that depending on what I wind up with for my M-F ratio, I may want to get another batch later, but I‘m wondering how late in the season would be too late to get or hatch some more and still have them grown enough to withstand the winter here In NH. Some sources I’ve seen say they are fine below zero, but others say they are good down to 20F, but even that I’m assuming is for a full grown adult.

Im up in the mountains. First snow is typically end of Oct - beginning of Nov, with it being consistently cold/snowy around end of Dec. Jan & Feb get quite cold with many days below 0F, and at least a few days that are -20F, with another 20 wind chill bringing the feels like down to -40F. They will have a small enclosure, but really only big enough to be suitable for night time, not as an all day shelter from the cold.

So how old would you say khakis need to be for that kind of winter? I’d really rather not have the fire hazard of heating. I can put up wind breaks however if need be to minimize the wind chill.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We have some NH members let me see @RebinNH

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-hampshire.357963/page-225

 

[RebinNH]

Hello all. New here and new duck parent. A week ago I got four Khaki Campbell ducklings from Tractor Supply. They could not give me an age when I got them, but they are still quite young (still 100% fluff, no signs of feathers yet). Im thinking that depending on what I wind up with for my M-F ratio, I may want to get another batch later, but I‘m wondering how late in the season would be too late to get or hatch some more and still have them grown enough to withstand the winter here In NH. Some sources I’ve seen say they are fine below zero, but others say they are good down to 20F, but even that I’m assuming is for a full grown adult.

Im up in the mountains. First snow is typically end of Oct - beginning of Nov, with it being consistently cold/snowy around end of Dec. Jan & Feb get quite cold with many days below 0F, and at least a few days that are -20F, with another 20 wind chill bringing the feels like down to -40F. They will have a small enclosure, but really only big enough to be suitable for night time, not as an all day shelter from the cold.

So how old would you say khakis need to be for that kind of winter? I’d really rather not have the fire hazard of heating. I can put up wind breaks however if need be to minimize the wind chill.

Hi! Welcome to ducks in NH! This was my first winter with 3 muscovy that were all born either mid May or (in the case of the drake) early June. I don't know what age they are considered full grown but my smallest seems to have grown more recently. They all did fine, even the littlest girl with wet feather. The others huddled with her, took turns putting their wing over her and all was well. They also found a spot under a house overhang where the wind was not so much an issue.
We in southern NH are in mountains (about 1200') too and get a LOT of wind here as I am in a valley between a 2000' and another mtn. behind me. That said we only got 3 or 4 days of sustained below 10 degree days and one brief period were wind chill was -40 or so. On those days I kept them inside a plastic covered (at least up to my head height - this is above human height) small run and though I tried opening the door a crack being that it was also snowing pretty hard they chose not to come out. I think giving them options is good, as I think they will decide for themselves pretty much.
I did get heat into their small inner coop and made sure to have (either cleaning out or adding more on top) extra dry straw for them after doggie bagging the poops. The coop is insulated but the hens did pull a bunch of that down where they were able to take bites - after tearing back the plastic I had covering it. I guess they knew the R value was better than straw and their feathers combined! I have only had this one winter and only the muscovy so I can't speak about other breeds, though in the books I've read scovy are actually more inclined to suffer from cold. I certainly did NOT encourage bathing during those cold days and again tried to keep everything dry! The wall infra red heater was great and I felt safe and I got a tiny (size of a fat wallet) electric dehumidifier that you plug in every so often to increase it's drying capacity. I did provide ventilation but when extreme, closed the 2 end windows most of the way and put a wool curtain hanging on one when more open.
I also did as Lydia suggested and fed them more protein in kitten food pellets. They seemed to really like that. I didn't encourage laying - in fact pulled the layer feed to give their bodies relief so they could expend their energy just in keeping warm.
It was a constant checking to make sure all was well and even on icy footing I had to get out there to dump and refill water (though I did have 2 waterers in different areas that were heated). Oh and because I don't have a great back, I had to pay for the electricity to keep my hose going (ie. heated hose) so I lugged limited buckets.

A definite challenge but well worth it! We all did a sigh of relief once most snow melted! Whew!