Hi everyone,
I have had my 5 adult (1 year old) khaki Campbells for a few months. I’m trying to figure out a good schedule for them since we are getting less daylight. They free range in the yard during daylight, but I make sure they are locked up in their house 20-30 minutes before sunset. However, I’ve felt kinda bad having them locked in their house for 12 hours at a time without food and water (to keep them safe from predators I currently let them out shortly after 7am and put them in around 7:15pm). We are going to continue to get less and less daylight and I’m trying to brainstorm what I can do about that. They do have a pen they can go into (their house is inside their pen) but it’s somewhat small. So I’m thinking I’ll just herd them into the pen about 20 minutes before sunset and give them the option to go in and out of their house at that time and will offer water. I really don’t want to offer them food after dark since we have been having a really bad rat problem (rats always seem to make it into the pen no matter how hard I try to rat proof). I did read somewhere that ducks are fine just being fed during daylight hours, but I’m thinking about the evenings in the winter where it gets dark around 4:30 pm... would that be too long for them to go without food? Sorry if this is a jumbled mess of thoughts lol. I’m new to ducks and still learning! Thanks in advance for any advice.
I have had my 5 adult (1 year old) khaki Campbells for a few months. I’m trying to figure out a good schedule for them since we are getting less daylight. They free range in the yard during daylight, but I make sure they are locked up in their house 20-30 minutes before sunset. However, I’ve felt kinda bad having them locked in their house for 12 hours at a time without food and water (to keep them safe from predators I currently let them out shortly after 7am and put them in around 7:15pm). We are going to continue to get less and less daylight and I’m trying to brainstorm what I can do about that. They do have a pen they can go into (their house is inside their pen) but it’s somewhat small. So I’m thinking I’ll just herd them into the pen about 20 minutes before sunset and give them the option to go in and out of their house at that time and will offer water. I really don’t want to offer them food after dark since we have been having a really bad rat problem (rats always seem to make it into the pen no matter how hard I try to rat proof). I did read somewhere that ducks are fine just being fed during daylight hours, but I’m thinking about the evenings in the winter where it gets dark around 4:30 pm... would that be too long for them to go without food? Sorry if this is a jumbled mess of thoughts lol. I’m new to ducks and still learning! Thanks in advance for any advice.