Chicken and ducks when it gets cold

[Jenjens]

Hi,

I am putting this in the chicken section because I have 11 chickens, but only 2 ducks. I have them in the same coop at night with no issues. I have read that the duck's bills can "dry out" after a certain amount of time, but I am not sure how that is a thing????

I live in Illinois so we have hot summers and very cold winters. I would prefer not having to redo a shed and put the ducks in there (I didn't purposely get ducks - my husband found an orphan on the road and we got it a friend - it wasn't planned!)

The ducks are about 2 months old right now. When it gets cold enough that I need to take the water out of the coop at night so the chickens don't get frostbite - will that be a problem? I have been keeping the light on until 8:30 so the ducks - since they are still babies - have access to their food and water for a longer amount of time, but I would prefer shutting things down earlier in about a month. I was thinking - since I also have 5-month-old chickens, to turn off the light around 7 and then earlier the next year. Will the ducks be okay without water for, let's say 11-12 hours?

I know chickens need their break - Our first round of chickens got no supplemental light at all in their 2nd year, but I have younger ones to deal with.

Thank you.

 

[lomine]

Regarding water and ducks. Ducks should have access to water whenever they have access to food. They can learn to use the nipple waterers if you want to reduce the mess they make from open top waterers. I would not leave them without food for 11-12 hours. In the freezing temps, you should offer deep water at least once a day so they can clean their nares (nostrils). You can do this with just a bucket outside, so they don't make a mess in the coop. If the temps are warm enough, you can offer swimming water so they can fully clean themselves, but it isn't necessary, and they can go a long period without swimming if it's too cold.

Regarding light. You don't want to set up lights to turn off at a certain time at night. The slow reduction of light at night is what tells the chickens to go to the roost. If the light suddenly shuts off they will be caught off guard and that could get pretty stressful for them over time. Also, ducks can see pretty well in the dark, unlike chickens, so they don't need light to eat and drink. They'll spend most of the night awake anyway.

 

[Jenjens]

Regarding water and ducks. Ducks should have access to water whenever they have access to food. They can learn to use the nipple waterers if you want to reduce the mess they make from open top waterers. I would not leave them without food for 11-12 hours. In the freezing temps, you should offer deep water at least once a day so they can clean their nares (nostrils). You can do this with just a bucket outside, so they don't make a mess in the coop. If the temps are warm enough, you can offer swimming water so they can fully clean themselves, but it isn't necessary, and they can go a long period without swimming if it's too cold.

Regarding light. You don't want to set up lights to turn off at a certain time at night. The slow reduction of light at night is what tells the chickens to go to the roost. If the light suddenly shuts off they will be caught off guard and that could get pretty stressful for them over time. Also, ducks can see pretty well in the dark, unlike chickens, so they don't need light to eat and drink. They'll spend most of the night awake anyway.

 

[Jenjens]

I am trying to get rid of mice so I cannot have food in there.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I am trying to get rid of mice so I cannot have food in there.

The mice will stay even with zero food, they will come in for the bedding, and may bite the hens for food too. I put little mouse trap boxes with scraps of grain inside. Then I put the box in a bucket of water to drown them. Nasty little beasts with bugs in their fur that take so much effort to get out of a coop. Sorry to those that love them, but when you see bite marks on a hen or a dead chick, you'll see my pain. I had hamsters as a child, and I treasured them, but now I drown mice to protect the others.

I have younger ducks so I bring them into the house once a day for a bath because they were getting their bedding wet and it will make their bed and the rest of the coop cold. I set them a bowl within a bowl of drinking water in their space to limit the spills but they are messy with water. I am trying to make the bedding higher up than the water bowl to see if I can contain the water. I can't keep throwing out all the straw every morning. Best of luck to you, I love my ducks, but they are much harder to keep than hens. Not surprising that where I am all the ducks leave when it gets freezing cold and go where it is warmer. They are not suited to this weather.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Oh, for the lights, I use a string of LED Christmas lights, it gives just enough light for me to see what is happening and the chickens walk around/see things, but not enough for them to fight. I leave it on at night, I can look in a window to see everything is fine without opening a door. LED give off no heat and don't take much electricity.