Question about free ranging ducks

[yotetrapper]

Hi. My ducks, some of them anyways, live with my chickens. So yesterday for the first time ever, I let my chickens (and therefore ducks) out to freerange. When it got dark, all the chickens headed right back in, but the ducks lingered. My ducks dont sleep in any of the coops, they prefer to be outside. In fact, I dont know if my ducks ever sleep as they seem to be up and quacking all night, lol. Hhow do you all get your free ranged ducks to go back into the run after free ranging at night?

 

[FenDruadin]

Yes, ducks are much more independent-minded about where they sleep, lol. Chickens are much easier to manage.

However, I've finally managed a system that works great for me. I feed them at night in their pen and when I let them out in the morning I close the door to their pen. If they want to eat their grain they have to wait for me to open the pen up for them (and then close it behind them). I used to stress about it and wait till late in the day to close them in, but I discovered that they would give up on me and go back down to the lake.

So now I let them choose when they come in for the evening. When they come up from the lake and quack at the pen gate, I go out and let them in, feed them, and close the gate behind them. Even if it's two in the afternoon, they are now in for the night. I figure they are getting at least a few hours to free range in the morning and they're choosing when to go in, so I don't worry about the fact that it means they're shut in for part of the day. Usually, they come up from the lake around 4 in the afternoon, but sometimes earlier and sometimes later--it's up to them.

Anyway, the key is that they don't get fed except when they go in their pen for the night, and that seems to have done the trick.

Good luck--it's certainly a different challenge from chickens!

 

[Crazy4cochins]

I just got 3 adults
pekin male Mr duckelsworth. First night I caught him and put him in the coop. Second night- Wouldn't sleep in the coop he slept on a island in the pond then a few days later I got my friends ducks who stayed with her chickens, now I caught them the first night and put them in a dog house in the coop.
Last night all 3 were standing out by the coop and so I shoowed them in but had to throw them in the house because my chickens were going crazy. I have a big dog house inside the coop for the ducks.
So I think I will be building a seperate house for the ducks(I just got 4 more but they are babies)
I keep seeing on here that they like to sleep outside !!!! go figure, DH's going to love to build another house

 

[acipolone]

We have to Shetland sheep dogs and a yorkie mix with strong herding tendancies, so we usually have them round 'em up in the mornings. (We let them have free roam of the yard at night.) After a week or so of this, it seems like they expect it -- they start getting flustered at night when it's time to be let out, and in the morning they sort of head right back for where we hold them when they see us coming out the back door.

Then again, we don't have a whole lot of them. Had 4 now 3 -- our other dog, an American Bulldog, got ahold of one -- so it's a manageable number.

 

[Crazy4cochins]

Cool tonight they went in the coop with out me having to catch them ... I bet your will get it too just start a routine and they will catch on I bet!!!

 

[cheraboo]

Before we moved, our ducks and some of our chickens lived in a coop in the garage. We recently moved to a house with a small barn so now all of the birds stay there. When we go to close up the barn for the night the ducks are always there with the chickens. They don't hang out with the chickens during the day.

 

[duckyfromoz]

My ducks are only in the back yard- so dont have acres to roam- but after a few days of the routine of looking them into night pens in the shed began - they started to congregate at the door waiting to be let in if I am running late and it is getting dark out already. I also feed them in the pens at night so they are hungry and wanting to go in for some dinner.

 

[Friend2Fowl]

Feeding them at night is certainly the easiest way to train them. Mine free range all the time, and usually sleep on or near the pond. The only ducks I've lost have been ducks that decided to go broody on a nest of eggs...the phrase 'sitting duck' comes to mind....

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Quote:
We have 10 ducks that freerange 5 acres ALL day! Even our little 3 weekers do. We have ducks that range from 3 weeks to 2 years old. What we've done is feed them EVERY night at the same time. About half an hour before dark. It took all of ours 2 days tops to learn that they needed to be in their coop at that time to eat! Even our little ones caught on within 2 days!

We recently took our ducklings from the chicken coop where our brooder is to the duck coop so they had to learn to go in there not in the chicken coop.

Even our chickens have caught on! We feed our baby chicks at the same time we feed the ducks. We give the older hens & roo's scratch outside the coop. When it's time all our little babies go into the coop and just wait for dinner! Then after about 15 minutes of letting the little ones eat without the older ones around, we then feed the older hens in the coop their food. At that time all the older gals just line up and follow us right into the coop.