Do ducks have to have food/water at night

[Freebird farm]

A

Now? The khakis are a year and 3 months My big ducks are two months younger than my khakis
Soooooo back then they would be..........about 9 months.

So pretty grown up at 9 months. Seems they will need water and food 24/7 for a while longer. Thank you

 

[Freebird farm]

Nope. You can see if you have males, everyone will look the same, but then the males will change to different. Thats the adult plumage.

Only females ...next year I plan to get a couple of males to keep the flock growing. Roughly how old will they be when they get adult plumage?

 

[Bills vs Beaks]

A


So pretty grown up at 9 months. Seems they will need water and food 24/7 for a while longer. Thank you

I could have done it sooner, I didnt until then because I moved them into winter quarters with bedding at that time, and i didnt want food in my bedding I think you can do it at about 5 months
No problem

 

[Bills vs Beaks]

Only females ...next year I plan to get a couple of males to keep the flock growing. Roughly how old will they be when they get adult plumage?

I think around 4-5 months....its been a while, sorry

 

[Moments]

Unless you have a light on in your coop at night most likely the ducks will be asleep and won't be up eating and drinking. I've had ducks since 2004 and chickens since 2009 geese since 2007 and only last year did I put water inside at night. And that was in Feb when we had such frigid temps and everyone went inside so early. You really have to think up some pretty good ideas on keeping the water contained to keep the bedding and floor from freezing.

Mine are starting to head in around 4-ish now. I was putting water in at night with mats underneath but they're making more of a mess I feel than they used to. I started putting fresh water in an hour or so after they go in and after a couple hours remove it, the mats and replace any damp or wet straw. In the morning around 6-6:30am go in and give water and a bit of food cause they can't go out right away when it gets light out cause of how cold it's been and I also feel that most often all their eggs are laid in the pen if they're let out a little later (their nighttime pen is in an insulated garage/connected to basement under our house so the temp stays decent). It's not heated in the area their pen is but stays a bit warmer than outside.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Mine are starting to head in around 4-ish now. I was putting water in at night with mats underneath but they're making more of a mess I feel than they used to. I started putting fresh water in an hour or so after they go in and after a couple hours remove it, the mats and replace any damp or wet straw. In the morning around 6-6:30am go in and give water and a bit of food cause they can't go out right away when it gets light out cause of how cold it's been and I also feel that most often all their eggs are laid in the pen if they're let out a little later (their nighttime pen is in an insulated garage/connected to basement under our house so the temp stays decent). It's not heated in the area their pen is but stays a bit warmer than outside.

Nothing I tried worked so mine are going in at around 5:15- 5:30 and I let them out around 7:05 so far everyone is doing fine not eating or drinking while inside. Starving once I let them out but that is typical they are that way year round. lol
If your set up is working stick with it.

 

[Moments]

Nothing I tried worked so mine are going in at around 5:15- 5:30 and I let them out around 7:05 so far everyone is doing fine not eating or drinking while inside. Starving once I let them out but that is typical they are that way year round. lol
If your set up is working stick with it.

It's starting to get dark here around 4-4:30 so they're definitely ready to go in and not starting to get light until 6:30ish so they're in for awhile and are happy to have water when I give it to them before I can let them out. I'm wondering if it may've contributed to the bumblefoot I'm finding lately. Although I've had water in there pretty much year round so dunno. Maybe temp change makes a difference, not quite sure. Everything else has been the same.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hard to know for sure.

What part of the country are you in?

 

[Moments]

Hard to know for sure.

What part of the country are you in?

The cold part lol I'm in VT. Broke the ice but hadn't removed the big pieces cause they weren't showing any interest in going in, they were preferring the smaller pool but looks like someone decided to take the plunge lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

My gander was the ice breaker here I miss him so much, he died in Feb 2021

My ducks will get in the pool if it's in the low 30's but I don't give them a pool if it gets below 32 not becasue they won't get in but because the spring line is frozen.