Feeding time for 3 week old ducklings.............

[Graceful Acres]

Question..................Can I feed my 3 week old ducklings in the morning........where they will have food all day long........then when I clean them up at night .......take their food away for the night? Heavens to Betsy! These 2 are immensly messy! And are so big, they are about to come over the side of the tub.

My duck house will be finished today. I'm going to go get some stuff to make it complete, such as a swimming pool, feeder, waterer, and such. Anything else I should put in there???

 

[Amiga]

It's too early to take their food away at night. Yes, they get so messy!

But it can cause big problems to take food away before they are at least six (I would say better, eight) weeks old, and then only for 8 or 9 hours overnight.

Hang in there! This phase passes quickly. I raised eleven runners, I get the concept of incredible morning mess!

(speaking of ducks - gotta dash - hope to come back soon!)

Something I thought of is an indoor/outdoor thermometer, mounted so that you can read it without opening the duck shelter. Nice to know for sure how warm or cold it is in the house, especially with younger ducks.

 

[Apyl]

It's too early to take their food away at night. Yes, they get so messy!

But it can cause big problems to take food away before they are at least six (I would say better, eight) weeks old, and then only for 8 or 9 hours overnight.

Hang in there! This phase passes quickly. I raised eleven runners, I get the concept of incredible morning mess!

(speaking of ducks - gotta dash - hope to come back soon!)

Is there a reason that food needs to be taken away? My ducks are only 3 and 2 weeks old so maybe I missed something. So am I suppose to not feed them at night when they are 8 weeks old, why? Are chickens like this also, I have 4 weeks old chicks.

 

[jdywntr]

X 2 to Amiga's advice. Too young to take it away.

Apyl- You don't have to take away their feed. Some do only to deter messiness or pests that will get into feed at night. I used to leave food down 24/7 but then the rats came. Yuck! So, as soon as they are older, food gets picked up at night.

Chickens won't get up to ear unless they have light. If they are in their coop, in the dark, they will roost until dawn.

 

[Apyl]

X 2 to Amiga's advice. Too young to take it away.

Apyl- You don't have to take away their feed. Some do only to deter messiness or pests that will get into feed at night. I used to leave food down 24/7 but then the rats came. Yuck! So, as soon as they are older, food gets picked up at night.

Chickens won't get up to ear unless they have light. If they are in their coop, in the dark, they will roost until dawn.

AAhhh ok thanks for the info. I guess since my ducklings are outside in the coop I dont notice them mess being a problem. But good to know about the critters. Hopefully our mouser will keep the pets at bay, he loves terminating mice in the yard.

 

[Amiga]

Now that I have the ducks in Little Fort Knox, I do leave some feed for them overnight, and of course, abundant water. Those are in the veranda, not the duck house, which stays nicely dry thanks to deep shavings as bedding, which get turned at least every other day.

Half inch hardware cloth keeps rats out, by the way. The drawback there, aside from some expense, is that hardware cloth seriously wants to kill me, or at least maim me. Working with that stuff feels like a battle. Nonetheless, it is a great blessing to have it in place.

 

[Daisy5381lindsay1]

How much food should the 3 week old duckling have ?

 

[chickens really]

Unlimited feed and water till the are 8 to 10 weeks old.....