I was thinking about the increase in feed consumption, a few things come to mind.  Of course winter weather will increase their needs, but another thing that winter does is increase wild bird's need for food, too.  Is the pen they're in secure from wild birds and have you noticed an increase in wild bird activity?  Also, do you leave feed out overnight and could there be 'vermin' such as mice or rats getting to the feed?

Update Nov 21. 14 hours of light!
We have turned the lights on for the entire daylight period instead of just during the morning and evening, as the weather change here has made it necessary to use the tarp for rain protection occassionally. It was easier to just change the timer rather than to have to reset it each time we tarp.

New behavior! The duck Smokey allowed the drake to mate her yesterday! (the kids caught them at it! Boy, I must say that she looked guilty for the rest of the day!) Their food consumption is up  2 1/2 times since the start of the experiment. Their water used to be filled once a day, now they need additional water through out the day.(this could be due to spillage during the "not ready to mate" stage).
We have not caught the drake and Koko mating yet, but the drake seems a lot more mellow now. We will have to wait and see if eggs result. No eggs yet. 

They all seem happy and healthy. The consumption in the portable pen with the feral ducks has only increased about 50%, so they seem to not be affected by the light stimulating laying.( a good thing!)

Have you tried backyardchickens.com?

Alot of people on there ship eggs as well as birds, and they are quiet friendly Im sure that all the Scovie owners on there would be glad to help out

Well, I'm on upstate NY and I'm getting half a dozen eggs a day from about 18 hens hatched in May.

The space sounds fine for spending the night, but not for living all the time. Do you let them out during the day? Mine free range during the day and get shut up in a fairly small shed at night.

i have 3 drakes and 2 ducks in the 6 x 4 shed with two inch pine shaving with hay and straws. This fall is very wet and the bedding doesn't stay dry for long. They had bright red caruncles when I got them, now they have turn pink and one of my drake has died. Could it be the wet bedding or lack of kiddie pool or a place to roost or simply too many drake in a such small area? Do they need light or go out on the lawn? It's quit dark in the shed but they get enough food and veggies. Can they die if not enough water or light or excercise? Can it be too damp for them to live in. Help please... If this does not work out I will have to release thme in the wild. I live in Vancouver B.C. so I don't think it's too cold for them, too wet and damp in the shed maybe.

Yes, I live in central Florida.  I have three out of four females sitting on "a bunch" of eggs now.  Hope to have some babies in a month or so......Bob

Thanks, Cathy and Kats. They are now sleeping in the house at night! I noticed the other evening that when it grew dark, they headed in. No treats necessary...although if they hadn't done it on their own I would have tried that next. I guess they had to get used to this new structure on their pond. We're VERY happy, and I have let the one month old stay with them all day and night now. He/she is a much happier duckling! Thanks again. -Tina

Thanks Kats,
Are those the plastic milk crates? (is the plastic good since you need to wash out the nest? will they lay eggs all year if I remove most of the eggs and leave a few?) and how are you putting them up? on a shelf? Do ducks jump up to nest? Do you cover the crates so it's dark in the nest? and put straw in? How many nests would I need for 9 ducks? Will they share? What kind of shed do you have them in? And do you have roosts in the shed? If you do, how high and how far apart should they be? Do Moscovy like a roost of 2x2's? or wooden poles or branches better?

In their temporary pen I have two dog houses with hay inside, and also a plywood board on top and behind for the weather, since we have had rain almost everyday this year. (Of course the DUCKS are the only ones happy with that ) The drakes use to sit on top of the plywood, until I put some long cleaned branches through the wire at corners about 3 feet high and some sit there, and some sit on the ground. Is 3 feet too high? would more sit on the branches if there were lower? In their permanent pen, I want to put roosting places so I would like to have them at a good height for the birds. Amazing! Sounds like I'm building a castle! But, I want to make them as comfortable as they can be without going overboard.  Sara

We raised Muscovies and chickens together this year. Ducks were 27 day-old ducklings. Chickens were 47 hatched out of our incubator. They lived together in the same shed until they were 4 months old (because I was and still am behind with the chores of building chicken coop, etc. Then we (with difficulty) transferred the chickens to the chicken tractor and the ducks were left with the shed to themselves.

The ducks have started laying. (I thought they wouldn't lay until next spring.) They lay dirty eggs in corners of the shed because they have no nests. I'm building a few milk crate nest raised about 8" off the floor to get over this problem.