Food & water at night.

[Steven Phillippe]

Is it ok not to give my ducks food and water after they’re locked up for the night in their duck house? They don’t seem to eat any way and make a complete mess with the water?

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I fix my ducks a warm mash right at lock up. They love their night snack.

 

[CoriM]

I stopped giving my ducks water at night earlier this summer. Their food is only in their run and usually gone by the time they go to bed. They make a huge mess with the water and it was impossible to keep anything dry when I had water in their sleeping quarters. My ducks put themselves to bed as soon as it gets dark, and I shut the coop door around 8:30. I let them out as soon as it gets light, which is now close to 7. I am a little nervous keeping them in without water when the days get even shorter. But so far they have survived just fine! And with that said, if it was really hot, I might keep water in overnight, but we don't have too much for heat extremes in WA state.

 

[CoriM]

I fix my ducks a warm mash right at lock up. They love their night snack.

What is in their warm mash? So do you put water in with them where they sleep?

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

What is in their warm mash? So do you put water in with them where they sleep?

I mix their crumble food, a little corn depending how cold it is getting at night and warm water to make a mash. Yes I do, but honestly they shouldn't need it.

 

[Runner duck mom]

From what I understand they should be perfectly fine without food and water overnight.
Where we live it's quite hot in the summer and they are also locked up longer in the winter so they always have water at night. We just put their water inside another container so it catches anything that spills and keeps the coop dry. If they are locked up during the day due to bad weather we do the same with food and put their rubber bowl inside the bigger blue plastic bowl.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

From what I understand they should be perfectly fine without food and water overnight.
Where we live it's quite hot in the summer and they are also locked up longer in the winter so they always have water at night. We just put their water inside another container so it catches anything that spills and keeps the coop dry. If they are locked up during the day due to bad weather we do the same with food and put their rubber bowl inside the bigger blue plastic bowl.View attachment 1934643 View attachment 1934644

That is really good idea. I have extra of these stacking bins that have no holes in them.

 

[Runner duck mom]

Those should work great. The tray catches anything they dribble and the sides contain the water when they shake their heads. Thankfully our ducks don't try and get into their water dish. Hopefully it works for you

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Those should work great. The tray catches anything they dribble and the sides contain the water when they shake their heads. Thankfully our ducks don't try and get into their water dish. Hopefully it works for you

Thanks for sharing yours, that's what helped.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I stopped giving my ducks water at night earlier this summer. Their food is only in their run and usually gone by the time they go to bed. They make a huge mess with the water and it was impossible to keep anything dry when I had water in their sleeping quarters. My ducks put themselves to bed as soon as it gets dark, and I shut the coop door around 8:30. I let them out as soon as it gets light, which is now close to 7. I am a little nervous keeping them in without water when the days get even shorter. But so far they have survived just fine! And with that said, if it was really hot, I might keep water in overnight, but we don't have too much for heat extremes in WA state.

That is exactly what I do too. Water in the pen only on extremely hot nights.