Coop training adult ducks?

[TheOtherHorse]

How long should I keep adult ducks in their new coop initially to train them to come in every night?

Two of them are Pekins that we have had for a couple months, but they have been 24/7 free range until now.
We just got 5 more Blue Swedish. They are all in the coop together, getting along well, but seem antsy to get out.

 

[LBejaran]

Whenever I move any of my birds to a new coop, it can take several days to get the habit established. Keeping them in the coop for a couple days gets them used to the coop, so it'll encourage them to come back in at night. I tend to feed mine in the coop just to establish with the younger birds that the coop is the place where good things happen.

Make sure that they are entertained when in the coop. With ducks, they love to keep active and moving. If they are just locked away in a coop, make sure they have something that will keep them from going stir-crazy. Whether you have a kiddie pool available to them or if you have some treats hanging from a string for them to try and eat from, anything to keep them from attacking each other in protest should work.

When my ducks were put away in the mating coop (I wanted ducklings really badly, haha), they were going absolutely mad. They really wanted to get out, so I put in a small kiddie pool to distract them. I also hung a couple overly ripe peaches from a string for them to tear apart as they saw fit. It kept them from being so antsy and once they mated a couple times, they were set free. After that, they started going back to that pen at night. It wasn't my intent to make that their coop, but that's eventually where they felt it was safe enough to lay their eggs and brood. It was great!

 

[TheOtherHorse]

Thanks! I kept them in for 3-4 days, then started letting them out late afternoon for a couple hours, then herd them in before dusk and had food waiting in the pen. It is working really well. They are now free range all day, and are getting easier and easier to herd in at night to get their tasty dinner. For treats and boredom breakers, they seem to really like some torn up weeds floating in their pool. Silly ducks!

 

[LBejaran]

That's awesome! I'm glad that they are getting used to that routine. Eventually, they'll be venturing back without any coaxing or treats (though they'll probably appreciate it nonetheless, hehe). I sometimes through some game bird crumbles into the pool and let then have at it. Of course, I have to change the water soon afterwards since they are so messy, haha!