pekin ducks and water question

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We have a couple pekin ducks we are keeping during the winter till spring when they will go back to a local park. I keep them outside during the day and bring them into our garage and put them in a large cardboard box for the night. They make such a mess with food and water that i quit giving them any at night time. Then they get all they want during the day when they are outside.Makes less cleanup and keeps their night time bedding dry and clean longer.Is this OK ? J.F.

-- J.F. (n8ieb@cs.com), January 03, 2002

Answers

my ducks keep me running with refills all day long then retire to their mostly dry coop at night. withholding water at night is fine as long as you also withhold feed. they are supposedly prone to choking on feed when there is not water available. I think I have a pretty good idea of what your garage must look like...

-- B. Lackie (cwrench@hotmail.com), January 03, 2002.

J.F. Post your duck questions on The Poultry Connection, General Waterfowl Forum and you will get some answers from a lot of nice people that know their ducks. As in the answer you recieved above I believe that is spot on. Just make sure the ducks get all the water they need with their food and the water should be deep enough to get their whole bills in it to clean their nostrils. Whatever it is that you are feeding them, make sure it is NOT chicken feed with antibiotics in it. That is nice of you to care for them through the winter. Be sure they get lots of greens also,Way to Go! LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), January 03, 2002.

J.F., Aren't ducks too cute and so very messy? You are doing just fine, just make sure the ducks do not have food as well as no water in the garage. My ducks do not eat at night and since everything is frozen here, they get hot water once a day. They swim in the water as well as drink it! And they are still laying eggs which sometimes freeze before I get them gathered. Can't wait til spring so I can hatch out more ducks!!LOL

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), January 04, 2002.

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