My Indian Runners are up late at night....is this normal?

[jollibee]

My Indian Runners, 2 drakes and 1 female are up at crazy hours of the night. We hear them quaking away at odd hours like midnight, 1, 2 and 3 in the morning. Our guess is that they are feeding at that time on the night time critters that crawl around our house cause we hear them poking at the house at those hours. They seem to be fine, they eat fine and drink fine and seem normal otherwise, but we notice that they rest a lot more during the day. We live in California and we are having a bit of a warmer Fall. Any other ideas on what they could be up to? Should I be concerned? I tried a few times to rustle them back into the coop, but they just come right back out again.

 

[HauiBali]

Dear Jollibee,

!

as I know ducks are quiet in the night when they are somewhere safe. As the sun settles, my five runners go inside their coop, waiting for me to lock them up. Now, this part may sound silly, but believe me, it works: from the very first time they introduced to their house, when the sun goes down and I lock them up, I sing a lullaby. Just a short one I created for them, it is singed in a sleepy, slow tune.

(Lyrics is: goood night goood night birdies...quack, quack, quack... all the ducks going to sleep...quack, quack, quack)

Anyway, after a few weeks they connected the song with the situation that I shepherd them inside the coop. So when at time of dusk I start to sing this song, they go into their house to sleep. It's magic, and when I throw a party all the guests see how well educated ducks I have. The price is that the neighbours not just think that I'm looney but they know it for sure.

And the morning, there is a special good morning song too, from a cartoon series that my daughters really liked.
The sound is like this, first part:

(lyrics: "Oh, the little birdies.. little birdies.. little birdies.." etc., in Hungarian, also with a "quack-quack-quackquackquackquackQUAAACK" that they happily response, greeting me with loud and heartily quacks)

My ducks have a little nap at noon (or midday, we have a word for that when animals "middaying"), except that they are active all day in the garden, talking to each other but rarely quacking.

 

[wildpeas]

Ducks dont sleep set hours but take frequent naps around the clock.

 

[Amiga]

My runners also get rowdy at night from time to time, not always.

(and they have a lullaby, too)

 

[tomhoogstra]

Thats normal. We have muscovy ducks and sometimes I see them up at 4 AM trying to fly.

 

[Celie]

My ducks sleep in shifts and like to be up at night, but when the security lights go on they put themselves into the barn. I point toward the barn and they start their trip from the swimming hole pond to their night time lock-down in the barn, single file like ducks in a row, all 150 of them !

 

[jollibee]

Thanks everyone for the reassurance and for the tips on "duck lullabies" Good to know the ducks are just being ducks. I love BYC!! I'm going to try the lullaby thing

 

[DirtyAnkleDucks]

our indian runners are more active at night than during the day!