Letting the ducks out

[Blueboy G]

Hi all I am a newbie to the forum and will be to keeping ducks soon we have done our research but always happy to learn, we have a large garden with a stream plus both a small and large pond. I am going to build a pen which will not be enclosed for the ducks that adjoins the small pond along with a duck house in the pen. As we plan to let them out in the morning and evening however my other half is worried that although there is someone at home most days there will be the odd day in the winter when we both leave for work before it gets light and home after dark so someone would leave around 6.45am and not return home until around 5 would they be ok "out" in the dark for a short time or not??

 

[dotknott]

They'll need to be trained, which is usually just a matter of time.. and regularity. My birds free range 99% of the time, and are pretty good about coming back when I call. If it's dark, I shine a light at myself and call them and they come up to me. (It's important to note that I shine the light at myself, not at them.)

Some nights, they just don't want to come up. It's rare, maybe once every few months (happened last night, hadn't happened since September.) In these cases I put on my wading boots and herd them to shore. This is the only concern I'd have for you.

You may need to fence off access to the water until they come back to the coop nightly.