What time do you pull food for Ducks and Ducklings and say GOODNIGHT??

[Katicorn]

I’ve been hanging in there to do the last brooder spot clean and water refill, and remove food til about 8pm. They are two week and a half weeks old. The Border Collies get me up at 6am, so Im pretty pooped.lol

What is everyone else doing or did? Also, for adult birds, what’s your game plan?

 

[fatty and friends]

ducklings especially need food and water 24/7.

 

[Katicorn]

ducklings especially need food and water 24/7.

I supply water, but Issac said pulling food after dusk helped slow growth problems with larger bodied ducks. ALso, if they run through the water, which they DO, it keeps other problems from happening.

Im just trying to figure all this out.

 

[indianaducks]

Mine are a few months old now and are outside. They go about 7pm-7am. I try to not let it go much longer than that but they are fine.

 

[DuckDuckSook]

Mine are 10 weeks old and I put them in the coop with no water and food at 8:15pm or so, when it's starting to get dark. Then, I let them out in the morning between 6:30am and 7:00am. They seem to be handling this fine. The first few nights out there I worried, but they were all okay. It really helps prevent a hot mess in the coop.

When they were inside my house in the brooder, they had food/water 24/7. I used a mama heating pad so when it was night time, they tended to settle down when the lights all went out. I think this helped get them on a regular schedule and to slowly wind down when the day was over.

 

[3xhhheather]

My ducklings have 24/7 access to food and water, which will get tapered off once they're almost ready to move outside. The OG flock puts themselves to bed around 7 and then I let them out around 8. I've considered doing water at night when the dog days hit here, but for now, they go without.

 

[KaleIAm]

I provided food and water 24/7 for my ducklings. I don’t have large ducks. Being a softie I wanted to keep doing it after I moved them outside, but cleaning the soggy coop daily got old after a few weeks - even with building a drainage system. I think they stayed up all night flinging that water everywhere!

For the last 2 years my vets have had me have my ducks on a 10 hour daylight schedule year around to reduce reproductive activity, because one was very ill. So they have a blacked out room in the barn with a light on a timer. We put them in the barn right before 5:30 pm and let them out about 7:30 am all year. They get no food or water all night. My vets have told me it is fine for them to not have water all night as long as they have access to it all day. And that they shouldn't be able to get their bedding wet, so if I wanted to give them water at night I would need to build a separate area for them to drink.

Before we needed to have the 10 hour daylight schedule we put them to bed about dusk, and let them out about 7am.

After you move your ducklings outside I see nothing wrong with putting them to bed early for your own sleep needs/sanity. The emotional health of ducks is very important to me. It's just, you'll be able to be a better duck owner if you get enough rest.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I provide food 24/7 but I am also using a brooder plate instead of a heat lamp, so they get “night time”.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

I pulled the food and water at night once they went outside. Around a month old. I make sure everyone gets a good drink before bed, and they have been doing great! It helps to keep the pad they sleep on much cleaner, if I leave the water they will slosh it all over. Make sure to provide fresh clean water and food first thing in the morning and throughout the day. I would suggest leaving the water and food at night, but it just doesn't work for my current setup.

 

[indianaducks]

I provided food and water 24/7 for my ducklings. I don’t have large ducks. Being a softie I wanted to keep doing it after I moved them outside, but cleaning the soggy coop daily got old after a few weeks - even with building a drainage system. I think they stayed up all night flinging that water everywhere!

For the last 2 years my vets have had me have my ducks on a 10 hour daylight schedule year around to reduce reproductive activity, because one was very ill. So they have a blacked out room in the barn with a light on a timer. We put them in the barn right before 5:30 pm and let them out about 7:30 am all year. They get no food or water all night. My vets have told me it is fine for them to not have water all night as long as they have access to it all day. And that they shouldn't be able to get their bedding wet, so if I wanted to give them water at night I would need to build a separate area for them to drink.

Before we needed to have the 10 hour daylight schedule we put them to bed about dusk, and let them out about 7am.

After you move your ducklings outside I see nothing wrong with putting them to bed early for your own sleep needs/sanity. The emotional health of ducks is very important to me. It's just, you'll be able to be a better duck owner if you get enough rest.

This actually makes me feel better that mine could handle a bit longer if my schedule requires it. I wasn't sure "how long" was okay. Figured 7pm-7am was okay, but sounds like yours handle 14 hours just fine. Very helpful!