patrickftobin
Chirping
- Jul 7, 2022
- 36
- 76
- 76
Hi all,
I know there are many threads about giving ducks water overnight but they didn’t answer my questions given my particular setup.
I have 5 Rouen females. I live in Maine. The previous owners of our house had ducks and had a small room/coop at the back of the barn for them so I am using that.
There’s a slide up door for the ducks to enter and also a regular door so I have access. The floor is cement, and it’s not very deep, maybe 1 1/2 inches deep.
My problem is, I’ve read ducks can’t go long without water, so I put in water overnight with them. Since the floor is not deep and they make such a mess spilling water everywhere, the pine shavings get soaked very quickly, and I can’t keep adding shavings on top for the deep litter method because then I won’t be able to open my door to access the room, so I have to scoop out all the wet shavings where I put the water almost every 2-3 days.
Is water necessary overnight? How long can they truly go without? I feel like if they didn’t have water overnight I wouldn’t need to go thru shavings so fast, which makes the price add up. I also get conflicting information as to how long they can go without water. In the summer I put them in for the night around 8pm and let them out in the morning, maybe 6-7am. They are out all day. However in the winter it gets dark at 4-430pm and isn’t light again until the following morning. Their time in the coop can vary from 10 hours to 15 depending on the season (because I also understand they can’t be out after dusk bc of predators). I’ve read 8 hours without water is the max but others say 10 hours or longer. If I put them in at 430 in the winter that would mean going out after midnight to give them water.
I don’t know what to do, I’d like to make things easier on myself, and less costly in terms of shavings. I also want to keep my ladies healthy and happy. Basically so far I’ve gone above and beyond and clean out their coop maybe more than is necessary, but given my setup with shallow floors in their coop I can’t afford not to clean as often as I am now. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks!
I know there are many threads about giving ducks water overnight but they didn’t answer my questions given my particular setup.
I have 5 Rouen females. I live in Maine. The previous owners of our house had ducks and had a small room/coop at the back of the barn for them so I am using that.
There’s a slide up door for the ducks to enter and also a regular door so I have access. The floor is cement, and it’s not very deep, maybe 1 1/2 inches deep.
My problem is, I’ve read ducks can’t go long without water, so I put in water overnight with them. Since the floor is not deep and they make such a mess spilling water everywhere, the pine shavings get soaked very quickly, and I can’t keep adding shavings on top for the deep litter method because then I won’t be able to open my door to access the room, so I have to scoop out all the wet shavings where I put the water almost every 2-3 days.
Is water necessary overnight? How long can they truly go without? I feel like if they didn’t have water overnight I wouldn’t need to go thru shavings so fast, which makes the price add up. I also get conflicting information as to how long they can go without water. In the summer I put them in for the night around 8pm and let them out in the morning, maybe 6-7am. They are out all day. However in the winter it gets dark at 4-430pm and isn’t light again until the following morning. Their time in the coop can vary from 10 hours to 15 depending on the season (because I also understand they can’t be out after dusk bc of predators). I’ve read 8 hours without water is the max but others say 10 hours or longer. If I put them in at 430 in the winter that would mean going out after midnight to give them water.
I don’t know what to do, I’d like to make things easier on myself, and less costly in terms of shavings. I also want to keep my ladies healthy and happy. Basically so far I’ve gone above and beyond and clean out their coop maybe more than is necessary, but given my setup with shallow floors in their coop I can’t afford not to clean as often as I am now. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks!