nighttime

[renniegirl]

When putting ducks up for the night,do you put feed with them? My three stay in a huge dog crate at night and i leave a bowl of food and water bucket in with them. But it is extremly messy by the morning! Just wondering if they need feed over night?

 

[katharinad]

You did not mention how old they are. Ducks don't really sleep at night at all. They are as active at night as in the day. They should have food and water, but when they are older you can get away with some of it. Be aware that ducks can choke to death without water. I personally prefer to give them feed and water, but I have a duck house for them. I've also put trays under the bowls so the mess will be caught. I would suggest to build a real house for them. My ducks have 10x10 for all 13 of them. This allows me to set up one corner for food and water. The rest of the floor is covered with pine wood shavings on top of rubber runner mats. The shavings absorb the poo and make cleanup a breeze. I later dump all of it under my shrubs and flowers. They grow really good with all the free fertilizer. Did I mention that my yard is almost weed free, because my ducks take care of it.

 

[bock]

They don't need food or water at night. Just be sure that if you leave the food they MUST have water, or they might choke.

 

[renniegirl]

Thank you very much for this info! My grandkids got me 3 ducks and 6 chickens for easter, the ducks were a week old then so they are about 13 weeks old now. This is my first time with either, and I am so thankfull that I found this site! The ducks roam freely around our yard (it is big) and I put them away in the evening in the crate( it is 6ft by 4ft).I had read about them allways needing water when they eat, so I they do have water at all times. We have a kitty pool that they play in all day long, we do have a large pond, but they don't want to go in it?! I love the idea of the duck house, do you have any pictures of it?

 

[redhen]

I WOULD put water in the house with them at night.. its summer time and hot.

 

[katharinad]

See Ducky for the duck house.
We don't have that duck anymore. She was a wild one and went back to nature. We now have Saxony ducks. You can build a shed for them, but I would suggest to line the floor. See if you can find some old vinyl. Ask a store for scrap or imperfect material. You may need to slightly sand the surface so it is not slippery or use it upside down. This prevents the shed from rotting out. I use under my food and water bowls deep lids from some rubbermaid containers. They are about 2" deep and work perfectly. If you can't find them get a regular rubbermaid tub and cut it down.

 

[renniegirl]

Thank you EVERYONE for your replies! Katharina your duck house is great, your ducks are a lucky bunch!

 

[Amiga]

My ducks have two parts to their nighttime accommodations. They have a plywood house (4'x8', 4' tall) and a pen, covered all over with hardware cloth, same dimensions. The pen floor is hardware cloth over dirt, with sand on top of that. I put down sawdust on that, which I change as needed. Their water is in the pen. They have food available in the pen from late afternoon until a little after dark. Then I remove the food but leave the water. They can splash all they want, and it drains fine. BTW, they have food available from the time they get me up (5:30 or 6 a.m.), until I remove it around 10 p.m.

I placed vinyl flooring in their house, and screwed 1"x3" strips along the top to keep yuck from getting under the vinyl.