How can i stop a mother hen (raising 3 ducklings, no chicks) from perching too early?

[Kimmyh51]

Hey guys

I have a chicken raising some ducklings, they are about 3 weeks. And she is in a house with a perch and just tonight I noticed she is perching, and of course the ducklings cant perch with her. Its going to be quite cold tonight and the next couple of nights.

Is there anything I can do to discourage her from perching? The chicken actually belongs to my landlord and had been visiting me and started a nest which initially had only her eggs in it but somewhere along the line she stole some duck eggs and hatched 3 ducklings (and no chicks).
So they are in a coop and run my landlord owns with what appears to be a permanently fitted perch, so I cant remove it. And i am full up with ducks and rescue ducklings and have no where to move them

So just wondering if any of your chicken ppl can give me any ideas on anything I can do to discourage her perching, maybe put something over the perch? I had a couple of chickens raise ducklings a few years ago and I feel like both did not start trying to teach their "chicks" to perch till later than 3 weeks. But i googled that chicks can perch from 7-10 days (though id imagine 7-10 day old chicks wouod also get cold at night perching at that age?)

Its going to go down to 2 deg celcuis tonight and i think tomorrow so I am concrned thr three ducklins may be cold without mum to keep them warm. I am also totally full up with ducklings indoors and all of my heat plates, heat pads, heat lamps are in use, so aside from taking out a hot water bottle there is not much else I can do. Mum is still very much mothering them. I just need her to not perch for at least another week or so.

Any ideas which dont involve removing a permanently fitted perch from someone else's house?

 

[Egg Snatcher]

My bantam hens will raise gosling for me and the same thing happens. At about this age is when the ducklings (or goslings) won’t go under the hen so she perches at night and then in the morning continues her motherly duties. Is the perch in like a house where the ducklings could get into and snuggle together? If not, I would ask your landlord if you could bring the hen and her duckling in the house at night until the ducklings get a little bigger and have more feathers.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

You could move her into a nesting box and block off her escape and open it in the morning

 

[Kimmyh51]

They are inside a little house with mum on a low perch. I have no space to bring them indoors here as Im already full up with orphaned ducklings, and my landlord has dogs and cats so not safe for them, they were initially in a house in his yard but had to be moved out to where I am on day one as one of the dogs was too interested.

So 3 weeks is a normal age for chicks to start perching at night? Do they kinda perch under mum on the perch when its cold? Or just perch beside her? Id have thought a 3 week chick would need mummy's body heat still? The chickens I had raising ducklings before, didn't perch that early.

Though one was still on the floor at night when the ducklings were fully grown and about 8-10 weeks old. Was funny watching the babies tower over mum (that hen didn't want to let them go at all and a few weeks after that when they were about 3mths, she would follow them around calling at them to come back to mum, bless her wee heart lol).

I guess if there are any real cold nights ill have to taje them out a hottie. They seemed to be fine last night, though a little confused as to why mummy 'duck' was suddenly climbing up above them, lol

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Ducklings can’t purch under a hen because the ducklings can’t fly. If the ducklings were with a duck the mother duck would stay on the ground with them. I would put some hay in the house and make sure the babies go in every night, they should be fine.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

How cold is it going to be there?

 

[KyCoop]

35 degrees he said 2 Celsius

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

They are inside a little house with mum on a low perch. I have no space to bring them indoors here as Im already full up with orphaned ducklings, and my landlord has dogs and cats so not safe for them, they were initially in a house in his yard but had to be moved out to where I am on day one as one of the dogs was too interested.

So 3 weeks is a normal age for chicks to start perching at night? Do they kinda perch under mum on the perch when its cold? Or just perch beside her? Id have thought a 3 week chick would need mummy's body heat still? The chickens I had raising ducklings before, didn't perch that early.

Though one was still on the floor at night when the ducklings were fully grown and about 8-10 weeks old. Was funny watching the babies tower over mum (that hen didn't want to let them go at all and a few weeks after that when they were about 3mths, she would follow them around calling at them to come back to mum, bless her wee heart lol).

I guess if there are any real cold nights ill have to taje them out a hottie. They seemed to be fine last night, though a little confused as to why mummy 'duck' was suddenly climbing up above them, lol

Ducklings and chicks still need body heat at that age and will find it, my broody hen stopped sitting on here at night the moment they could perch on their own and most of them either got under her or (funny thing is that my chicks with maran dads slept with the Maran and the lav Orps chicks slept with the lav orp roo) their dad, but also some slept with the other hens so if you have a duck that’s not mean to the ducklings and lets them sleep on and around her put her in there too.