Ducks quacking all night?

[WestKnollAmy]

We go outside different times of the night and notice that our ducks are always quacking and talking, no matter what time it is.
It can be 10 pm or 2 am or 4 am and they are all yakking away.
There are no street lights that they can see, there isn't any lights on at the barn, there aren't any headlights from cars as they are very far from any road. They are cooped up in a 10x14 three sided coop with an open fenced front but I have a tarp over the top part of it. There is probably 2 ft of space on the bottom so they can see out and get air. There is only 22 of them in there so they have lots of room.

I have stood outside and listened to hear if anything is setting them off. The dogs bark but often they are on the other side of the farm but I notice a spike in quacking when our dog barks. However, they quack when no one is barking either. My neighbor gets up at 4 am every morning and goes outside and says he hears it. He does not turn on his outside lights but even if he did he lives too far for them to notice it.
I go outside to turn the pump off at 10 pm every night and do not turn on any lights but they are talking then.

I have found a cat that got locked in the coop the next morning RARELY and figured that could have caused it as they catch mice and would never hurt the ducks but I can see that causing the noise.

Do they just not settle well at night or do I need to do something more for them so they can rest better at night?

 

[easttxchick]

My ducks hold a party in their coop every night.
My understanding is that they, unlike chickens, can see in the dark, so they really don't care if it's dark out-that just means it's...party time!
I suppose it could mean there was something in there disturbing them, but I haven't found that to be the case with mine.

 

[pirtykitty]

Mine only quack when something disturbs them like hubby turning on the light in his hidaway at 9 to 10oclock at night.. the window is beside their night pen... or me going out with flash light and not lettingthem know I'm comming. or something around their cage.. also we had a storm a while back that got them upset..

 

[swheat]

A year or so ago when I had several runner ducks, they did the same thing. I do have an dusk-til-dawn light near their pen. At first it woke me every night, I was thinking some predator was after them but could never see anything. I finally quit going out there to check on them at all hour in the night but it would still wake me and I would listen in bed(just in case there might be a predator out to get them).
Also, when I had several horses, they love the night time and did me the very same way(running, partying, just having a good o'l time). I never slept when I had them but I am a very light sleeper anyways.

 

[gryeyes]

My Cayuga pair are night-time, Ninja Patrol ducks. They gabble quietly to themselves whilst on patrol. The motion-detector light at my front door is always triggered by them passing within its sensor range.

They absolutely refuse to go to bed at night, although they do settle in a couple favorite spots for an hour or so at a time. More often than not, they are sleeping during the day after having secured the perimeter of the property all night long.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Mine are more active at night when its closest to a full moon. Now that its summer here- they arent locked up at night and have the run of a secure back yard and I only hear them for a few nights each month unless something disturbs them. In the night pens over winter they would settle quickly after eating and I would rarely hear more than quiet chatter from them. They do let me know when the sun is coming up though- and they want breakfast.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Wow, I never realized how much ducks stay up all night! I can understand something stirring them up like a stupid cat getting locked in their coop at night and chasing mice. But my chickens are cooped next to them with a wire and board divider and they never utter a word. I can imagine the chickens talking it over the next day though and saying what odd dreams they had the night before!

And I never thought ducks would wander around at night. Granted it is well after dark in the summer before I can convince them to go into the coop so I can close them up for the night. But I thought it was just because it was finally decent feeling air at that time of night. It is amazing to know that if left out the ducks would walk around and do ducky stuff all night.

Thanks everyone for all your answers. I feel so much better now.

 

[Muscovies]

When I go outside and turn on the back pourch lights they get up and strat to hissing the Muscovies even when the door suts the ducks think it is feeding time :lol

 

[crj]

I'm so glad to find out that other peoples ducks stay up at night too. I often wonder if ducks even sleep and if they do, for how long??? They are up all day too. It's amazing. I notice they take naps but they don't last very long. I noticed the males discuss EVERYTHING while the girls are the boss. I have some runners in the incubator right now and I can't wait for them to hatch. I have about 9 more days! Oh no, they will be up all night too but at least not for a while.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

My ducks are almost always quiet at night, once in a while I hear a little scuffeling. I have them in houses pretty much under my bedroom window, so I'm glad they are quiet, I'm a light sleeper. But now I'm wondering if they aren't as happy as they should be. I have them in smallish houses for predator protection so they must be bored and just sleep a lot at night.