Ducks do not coop like chickens....they have webbed feet unsuitable for roosting so there is no need for them to "find a tree so sleep in for the night" like the chickens' ancestor would have. Ducks simply find themselves a good spot tucked away under a bush on the ground or in the water. When that isn't available to them, (as in the domestic duck) they will just plop down wherever they feel like it. Sometimes mine will put themselves to bed....especially if it's cold...sometimes they will even go into the chicken house since they all live in the same area, but I always have to go out before I go to bed at the end of the night and put them in their little dog house and put the door down.
The other thing is that ducks do not sleep through the night. If I didn't have a door on my duck house, they would be in and out of it all night. I like to keep the door shut because that guarantees that they will lay their eggs in the house and not outside in the run. Mine can go without water through the night but I usually put them up around 10 or 11pm and let them back out around 8am, so they only go about 9 or 10 hrs. I wouldn't deprive them much longer than that.
I have never heard that female ducks should not have layer feed. I have 2 female ducks that eat the same layer pellet as my chickens and have been fine. Really, the only big thing about layer feed is that it has extra calcium in it for nice hard egg shells. Whoever said to feed the young ones non-med chick starter was right about that. Experts say that the medication in chick starter used to prevent coccidiosis in chicks can be harmful to ducks...and ducks are more resistant to disease anyways. For that matter, unless you brood large amounts of chickens over and over, or buy them from a seller who doesn't take preventative measures, the chances of your brood getting coccidia are slim anyhow, but that's a whole other can of worms. I fed my little ones Flock Raiser, by Purina which is a higher protein, all-fowl feed that is un-medicated and it worked great. If you don't like Purina, most feed brands sell some kind of all-fowl food. When they were all growed up and ready to lay, at about 16-18 weeks I switched them to layer pellets.
Our first ever ducks. Mixed Cayuga/ pekin. I saw something about not feeding them layer chick feed. Right now the ducks and chickens are the same age, and farmer we got them from said they can eat the chick starter, unmedicated. What do I feed them next and at what age? What if they do eat the chickens layer feed when the chicks are ready for it? They are all in the run together so how do I prevent them from eating the layer feed? Thanks! this is the best place to learn!
