Ducks Not Drinking Much, Not Leaving Coop

[Pela Phillips]

Hi there!
This is our first year owning backyard poultry. We have four Cayuga ducks. The weather has just started getting cold in Southeastern Wisconsin. Normally, my ducks would come outside, forage, go for a swim, and then eat some pellets and drink from their drinking tub.
Lately, they won't come out of their coop and spend all day in the back corner. They are way more skittish and don't seem to be drinking very much, although I do see that they have eaten a little. I even put peas in their waterer. There are a ton left...very unusual as they normally gobble up peas as fast as they can. I'm worried about them not getting enough exercise and, generally, they seem terrified all the time. (They've always been terrified of me, but now they try to take flight inside the coop and I worry about wing injuries.) We have one boy and three girls. They are reaching "puberty", could this have something to do with their behavior? Are there any steps I can take to ensure they stay healthy? They look great and don't seem to be suffering and they don't even seem cold, they've been out foraging and swimming in colder weather. I have removed their pool, as I have no way of keeping it de-iced but they have ample drinking water.

 

[Star and eclipsa]

I know nothing about ducks other than the fact that they are awesome, but maybe there is something trying to attack them and making them paranoid all the time?

 

[chickens really]

How cold is it outside?....What's the set up like?..Do you Lock them in each night?..sound cold and a bit depressed...

 

[sourland]

During their teen age spell ducks tend to become more skittish and spooky. I would also be concerned that a predator may be making passes at them. Is there a topo on their pen ? Reread your post and don't see mention of a pen. I'd try moving feed and water closer to the coop so that they have ready access if attacked.

 

[Krazyquilts]

Hi there!
This is our first year owning backyard poultry. We have four Cayuga ducks. The weather has just started getting cold in Southeastern Wisconsin. Normally, my ducks would come outside, forage, go for a swim, and then eat some pellets and drink from their drinking tub.
Lately, they won't come out of their coop and spend all day in the back corner. They are way more skittish and don't seem to be drinking very much, although I do see that they have eaten a little. I even put peas in their waterer. There are a ton left...very unusual as they normally gobble up peas as fast as they can. I'm worried about them not getting enough exercise and, generally, they seem terrified all the time. (They've always been terrified of me, but now they try to take flight inside the coop and I worry about wing injuries.) We have one boy and three girls. They are reaching "puberty", could this have something to do with their behavior? Are there any steps I can take to ensure they stay healthy? They look great and don't seem to be suffering and they don't even seem cold, they've been out foraging and swimming in colder weather. I have removed their pool, as I have no way of keeping it de-iced but they have ample drinking water.

Are there any other changes to their routine? My ducks completely flipped out the one time I was using an umbrella while letting them out. They tried to fly through the wall in terror!

As far as their pool goes, if you have the ability to get electricity to their pen area etc, livestock watering trough de-icers are great! I can't speak for all ducks of course, but our ducks would be very depressed if they didn't have at least a small pool to bathe in during the winter. Last year, our duck house was right next to the garage so we just ran an extension cord out to their run.

I think this is the one we bought to use in a 9 gallon pool: https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovat...=1511279512&sr=8-4&keywords=stock+tank+deicer or Tractor Supply has them: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...-chaser-multi-use-utility-deicer?cm_vc=-10005

 

[Pela Phillips]

How cold is it outside?....What's the set up like?..Do you Lock them in each night?..sound cold and a bit depressed...

We do lock them in each night. They have lots of room (it's a shed) and lots of warm straw. During the day they have the run of our whole back yard, which is fenced.

 

[Pela Phillips]

They do have a locked up(at night) roofed shed that they have free access to during the day. They have run of a whole back yard during the day.

During their teen age spell ducks tend to become more skittish and spooky. I would also be concerned that a predator may be making passes at them. Is there a topo on their pen ? Reread your post and don't see mention of a pen. I'd try moving feed and water closer to the coop so that they have ready access if attacked.

 

[Pela Phillips]

How cold is it outside?....What's the set up like?..Do you Lock them in each night?..sound cold and a bit depressed...

Oh, and it's around 40 during the day right now

 

[CntryBoy777]

Ours do not like changes and anytime that there is any change inside their areas it takes days for them to adjust about it. It could be a predator scare, but if their shed is located under trees, oaks especially, with wind and squirrel activity the acorns can hit it and might freak them out some....ours stay close to their building and laying down during heavy wind.....so do the goats and chickens. I think it is because the sound of the wind muffles their ability to hear and being a prey animal they are not comfortable out and about when conditions seem unsafe....falling limbs and branches can send them into Alert mode also....

 

[Pela Phillips]

Update: Later on today I tried moving around some of the bales of straw in their coop. Voila, they ate all the peas in their water and seem a lot more energetic. They still haven't left their coop but it is a windy day so that could be the source of that issue. In conclusion, it seems a bale of straw between them and the door(which I thought would make them feel warmer and safer) was really freaking them out. Ha! Ducks are funny.

Hi there!
This is our first year owning backyard poultry. We have four Cayuga ducks. The weather has just started getting cold in Southeastern Wisconsin. Normally, my ducks would come outside, forage, go for a swim, and then eat some pellets and drink from their drinking tub.
Lately, they won't come out of their coop and spend all day in the back corner. They are way more skittish and don't seem to be drinking very much, although I do see that they have eaten a little. I even put peas in their waterer. There are a ton left...very unusual as they normally gobble up peas as fast as they can. I'm worried about them not getting enough exercise and, generally, they seem terrified all the time. (They've always been terrified of me, but now they try to take flight inside the coop and I worry about wing injuries.) We have one boy and three girls. They are reaching "puberty", could this have something to do with their behavior? Are there any steps I can take to ensure they stay healthy? They look great and don't seem to be suffering and they don't even seem cold, they've been out foraging and swimming in colder weather. I have removed their pool, as I have no way of keeping it de-iced but they have ample drinking water.