question for all those who have ducks

[bangor777]

Hi Guys,
I've been raising chickens for a year now. Wow, I can't believe how fun and addictive it is! I have my first duck eggs in the incubator, 6 little silkie ducks! They have about a week left and so far all six have movement! Here's my question....Do ducks put themselves to bed? Will they go into shelter at dusk like my chickens do? Or do they have to be rounded up and put in? Thank you in advance!
Lori

 

[DuckyBoys]

I think it all depends on several things:

Your climate - the colder it is the more probability that they will seek shelter

The size and availability of the shelter - if it is crowded with other birds, they might not want to go in there

Your own feelings about locking them up for the night - if you need to do that for predator control, then you should regardless of how they feel about it!

Mine like to go in their shelters, but many other people on here will tell you their ducks don't have much interest in being inside.

 

[citalk2much]

Most the time they will

 

[muscovy94]

I asked this question a while ago, and people told me that if you have them in the shelter a little bit when they are young, and if you feed them every night in that shelter, they will know to go to that shelter every night if they want something to eat.

 

[b.hromada]

Quote:
mine do too.

 

[crazy cat lady]

Mine went into their house after a couple trips around their kiddie pool. Then after a while whenever I went out to put the chickens in for the night I would say "bedtime" and they would go inside and I would lock them in for the night. I live fairly close to a river so have raccoon and possum, therefore I always make sure my pultry are locked up for the night.

 

[raindrop]

Mine would rather stay on the pond, but they know that they get fed in their pen.

 

[RavenStorm]

My two ducks free-range in the back yard during the day, but they do spend a lot of time voluntarily in their pen. I think they are just creatures of habit perhaps, because when I am not home I put them in there to be safe. In the pen they have a little house with pine shavings, and the younger mutt loves to sleep/hang out inside but the older Khaki only goes in when it is raining or she wants to lay an egg and sleeps in the run next to the door of the little house.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
this is how i had to train mine...otherwise it was a nightly game of catch the ducks here...

when we started to feed them in their house every night they started to go by themselves in there and wait to be fed...

 

[chickensioux]

My coop has a porch on it, while all the chickens go in, the ducks stand on the front porch and wait for us to come up and close them in. They do walk right in tho when we get there. Silly, precious ducks...