How long can ducks go without food/water at night?

[sowNreap]

Good question @Twhi7 and glad you asked it as I've been thinking about the same thing. My current schedule is almost same as yours.

I don't have a pen or run attached to the "bedroom". I have a very large area under my deck that I can secure them but it's not predator proof, except from the hawk which is about the only daytime predator I've ever seen. At least right now, not sure when it gets to be dead of winter & critters having hard time finding food. If they see I have ducks they may show up whereas they didn't before.

I wondered if I was going to get up at 5am to let them out & lock them up at 5pm. Their bedroom is rather small at about 5x7 but hoping to make it bigger once the weather cools off enough to be able to work outside without having heat stroke. But still they're going to be confined long time & bigger area is not the same as having an acre of grass they can wander around in during day.

I do like the idea of feeding them around 6 & then taking the food back out, if there's any left. lol

And maybe I'll think about a better water solution. I do keep water in there at night but it's only about 2" deep & right at the door opening which is on slight downhill slope so it drains out. They don't seem to make much of a mess with the water. But I may change that also.

 

[nao57]

Ducks are vulnerable to predators. And the predators usually come out at night, or sundown, etc. People on this forum had noted they had much less predator issues just by making sure they were in at night.

So that's a factor.

During the day they must have constant access to water. But during the night water access seems less necessary. I'd watched and checked the ducks at night and they are usually hiding under the bushes, and being as quiet as possible. They have an instinct to not want to move around at night. (Bear in mind I don't keep lights out there at night; that could change their response.)

You can also tell if they have enough food during the day by how quiet they are. Mine won't make noise unless they are hungry.

They also tend to sleep and rest in the same places. So if you see them going to areas they normally shouldn't be in, or changing their routines then you can make adjustments to food, water.

They like routines and tend to like to eat at the same time per day. If they make a break in routine then you should check them to see what happened etc. (This always helps to know for a variety of issues.)