Raised Duck Pen w/ Plastic Pond and PVC Drain (Photos) - Page 5

Okay, Scott, you have got me thinking (its scary when I start thinking) and I have come up with a bunch more questions for you... feel free to answer them or not but I am curious about this mandarin pen you are making.

1. Do the mandarins like water more then the call ducks?  Is that why you are building one with a bigger tank for them?

I happened to buy a stock tank for $20 at a farm auction not long after finishing the first raised pen. I was going to use it as an in-ground pond for the mandarin aviary I was initially planning. After building this raised pen, I decided I wanted something similar for the mandarins. So it was a matter of having a spare stock tank on hand, not anything specific to the breed. Besides, the stock tank will be able to go longer without being refilled with fresh water because it is so much larger than the mortar tub.

2. you mention the house portion being two stories.. does this imply that it is one large area that is tall, or two sepperate floors?  Also with 4 private houses, is this for 4 pair of ducks?

Two separate stories: one upstairs and another downstairs. Each level with be about 1.5ft tall. The upper level will include four separate nest boxes. In my case, I have 3 pairs of mandarins: two split-to-white mandarin pairs and one white mandarin pair.

3. With the pond in the outside area, is it still necessary to have a water dish inside as well?  One of the things I like about yours is they aren't as messy due to the water going through the wire, but if there is a water in their house they will get their floor way more messy.

Its really a matter of your preference. I offer drinking water separately in one of those black rubber feed bowls. I think you can see it in the photos above. Water is kept outside. Feed is kept outside. This time of year we got lots of below freezing days. Its not practical to empty or thaw out their pond water if it is frozen. However, the rubber bowls can easily be emptied of ice and fresh drinking water replaced.

4. are the private nest boxes up higher where they "fly" into them like wood ducks do, or are they more like chicken nest boxes?

Yes, the nest boxes are on the upper level. From the outside, you would see a door into the lower section (as you see now) and then four entrances into the upper section. The mandarins have to fly up to the nest box entrances. Picture four wood duck nest boxes fused together side by side. Its essentially like a nest box condo/apartment.

I am just putting together plans of what kind of pen I want to make and you have given me tons of ideas so I wanted to pick your brain a little bit more!

This design works well for me. Its really a matter of preference though. I do not like what ducks do with water if kept on the ground. When I first got call ducks, they were kept with my chickens. I was appalled by the mess those little ducks made around the drinking water inside the house and with mud in the pen after a rain. I decided then that something would have to be done. And hence, I went with the raised pen design. I'm not sure it would work well for standard size ducks, but for a few small ducks I think it is ideal.

Just trying to get this right in my head... so are you saying that the ducks can only get in the nests from the outside area where the swimming tub is? Or can the get in the nests from the outside or inside?   Also, if they can only get in from the outside, then is the second story on the inside where the nests aren't... is that just another place for them to hang out?

LOL.... that is perfect... thanks for spelling it all out.. I understand it a lot better now.  how deep is the inside part?  with it being 4 feet wide, and between the two stories 3 feet tall, how long (deep) is it?

Hello Scott,

I've been checking out your raise call duck pen / coops,  which looks GREAT

I see that ur' out-side run ,which is all wire  floor w/  a tub in the middle of the outside run for swimming , How do you find that set-up,
would it be better if maybe the tub was place in the front of one side corner with a wire door attach to the front cage/ pen,
this way it would have more walking area in the run with the mini pond over to one side and also having a door in the front of the run for easily getting to them if needed .

Whats ur option on this type of set-up

Also it would be nice to see the coop part, like where and how do you place the food and water dishes and what about how do you stop the ducks from tipping then over in there sleep quarters  so the shaving dont get wet .
It would be nice to see pic.,s of ur inside set-up.


Thanks Alan