Do your ducks have water at night?

[TracyLovesDucks]

I see that this is an old thread, but I was wondering if you could explain how age makes a difference?

I have 4-week old runners, and we just finished building their new home (YAY! Love the little guys, but they definitely aren't meant to live inside with me!). Put them out for the first time last night. I dug a water/feed grate into one corner of their 8'x8' to minimize the mess and left food and water (1 gal) for them all night on top of the grate. They splash so much of their water out instead of drinking it, that I'm concerned they'll run out of water and still have food. Any recommendations (like should I leave them water at night and no food, take them both away, leave them both and give more water)? Thanks!

 

[Amanda39]

I'm also curious on this matter! My babies are almost 3 weeks old and I currently have been leaving the food and water in their pen at night. But when I get up and come downstairs in the morning, ALL the water is gone and the smell is unreal! I would have no problem giving them a big meal at 10:00pm and then taking out the food and water, if that would be ok?!?

 

[Amanda39]

Can I see a picture of your new pen?

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Yeah, I will try to post some pictures today. I got a second group of runners who are now 5 weeks old and trailing that original group in age by about 3 months, so I'm going through the raising stage again. Because of this I leave water and food out all night for both the older and the younger group. My setup will allow me to always give them water at night without too much mess.

I'll take pictures during my chores today. It's definitely the best solution I've come across. Still not the most pleasant thing to clean up, but better than any other water mess solutions I've seen.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Hopefully these pics give you a good idea of what I've got going. Because of the new little ones, there are now two water grate areas in the duck house since I keep the two groups separated by a hardware cloth fence at night.

Basically what the water grate area is, is:

1. a hole dug into the ground,
2. a thick layer of sand in that hole to help with drainage,
3. then a plastic tote set in the hole to catch most of the water (this makes it easy to control and clean the mess down below)
4. a sheet of 1/4" welded wire firmly attached to a wooden frame which is set on top of the whole thing


This is first thing in the morning when I let the ducks out. You can see the watering stations in opposing corners of the duck house.


In this photo, I have taken the tote and frame out of the one at left for cleaning and airing out.


Here's a close-up of the hole in the left corner. This is the best and easiest one to work with because the wooden frame with wire is larger than the hole and tote so I don't have to worry about it falling through. And the ducks poop through the wire at night onto an area of sand which makes for easy cleaning in the morning.


And here's a shot of the frame I built and the tote that I use to catch water (after being hosed off). I leave these out all day to air out, get some sun, and dry completely.


Tip: don't keep food on the watering grate or even near the watering grate... I started out doing this and it made a moldy mess down below as the food fell through and stayed moist. It made cleaning very difficult. In addition to keeping the food at a distance from the water, the sand also helps a lot.

When I join the two groups of ducks, I will keep only one watering station and fill the other one up with dirt. I'm also considering keeping food out of there to cut down on the mess.

 

[jem92281]

Great ideas!

 

[Amanda39]

Awesome pen!

Back to the feeding and water at night thing, most people are saying bring them in when it's dark, no food or water, then let them out in the morning. Well, I don't wait until it's dark, I bring them in at about 9pm. Is that too long to go without food and water? I let them out between 6:30-7:00am.

 

[jem92281]

Following. I put mine away at 6:30 or 7 pm. Put by 9:00am. I'd really love to only feed and water them outside!

 

[LucyArredondo]

I like to give mine a small bowl of food and water when I put them up at night. I'm working on free range and I want them to associate supper time with bedtime to keep them easy to tuck in at night

 

[tdd2]

Our 12 week olds are in their secure run in the evening - where the food, water and a small indoor pool are (they only free range the yard when supervised).

At around 8:30pm each night, they go into their nightime barn on their own and shortly after, we come in and lock the door between the barn and run behind them, cover the feeder to protect against moisture and bugs, dump and refill the indoor pool and hose out the run. There is no food or water inside the barn.

When my better half heads to work in the a.m. - typically around 7:00, she opens the door between the run and the barn and uncovers the feeder - they again have access to food, water and bathing.

After I get up a bit later in the morning (I sleep later since I work nights) I'll take them out into the yard for supervised foraging and pool play time in their kiddie pool.

You don't want food available without water, and water in their nighttime sleeping area is just inviting a mess.

They don't seem to have any issue with a lack of water overnight (10-12 hours +/-) and they never rush the waterer or pool when let out implying an immediate need.

Hope that helps!

Cheers

Dan