Ideas for duck housing

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FarmGirl21

FarmGirl21

Songster
11 Years
Sep 16, 2008
237
2
119
WA
the ducks have never really been fond of sleeping in a building like the chickens do. I went outside this morning & found LuLu, our chocolate muscovy hen, with a frozen tail. She's always been the dumb one in the bunch. she was the only one up with the chickens this morning when i went out, everyone else was on the creek. She's in a basket warming up right now.

I was thinking of a 3 sided building on the ground so that they could get out of the weather when they wanted to. does anyone else have any ideas or pictures of their housing set ups for their ducks? I really appreciate it everyone.

Also, there is about 10 muscovies, 9 other ducks & 2 geese.
 
A 3 sided shelter or a lean-to will work fine. Try piling hay or straw up on the floor so they have something to snuggle into.

However, I would suggest building them a shelter that can be completely closed up to keep out predators.

Now that we're moving into winter, predators are having a more difficult time finding food and it's more likely they will kill poultry and ducks.
 
Sorry I don't have good answer for you seeing I don't have any ducks to shelter right now but I am interested in what others have to say since we plan on getting Mucsovy next spring.
I have read that Mucscovy like to roost and have seen a roosting pole made up of two concrete blocks w/landscape timber run through. I was thinking I'd do something similar with our setup.
Hope LuLu's tail thaws nicely.
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She's sitting in a laundry basket chowing down on some bread & water. being very good considering this is the first time shes been in the house, lol.
 
It was cold here this morning too. Nearly a quarter inch of ice on the water pans. My duck pen has numerous small shelters available. A low 4'X4' shelter with 3 sides, some small A-frames and some dog houses. I could see by the unfrosted places in the grass that the ducks had chosen to stay outside last night.
It is my understanding that if you see frost on the back of a duck it is not necessarily a bad thing. It indicates that it is retaining its body heat inside its feathers rather than losing it into the air.
db
 
Yeah, everyone else was fine this morning, not sure where they slept...for all i know they could be sneaking into the barn at night, lol. LuLu has always been kid of an outcast from the other Muscovy's, they run together & shes with the other ducks or off by herself. she's just kind of weird i guess
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. I always try to keep an eye on her though. So far this year I haven't lost any ducks to predators, but have lost quite a few chickens before i had to move them when it flooded. the only predator I've had to worry about with the ducks was a hawk, i think i lost 2 call X's to a hawk...they kind of just disappeared. I am planning on penning them up soon though, so they're all separated for spring, they should hopefully start laying then
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.

The only thing im not looking forward to after penning them up is the feed bill...they run free on the property & have stayed SO fat just eating off the creek & property, they rarely come for food, It's more of a treat to them.
 
What you should check for when your ducks get that cold is frostbite on their feet.

It doesn't surprise me that the other ducks were keeping warm in the water.

I have to agree that you should insist on locking them up at night in a secure building. Once a predator finds them, their nights of cavorting in the frost, under the bright glistening stars, are numbered.
 
Predators of concern for ducks would be eagles, coyotes, cougars, and bobcats. I imagine there is a good likelihood that all of these predators live in your area.
 
Yes, we have for sure, coyotes, eagles & cougars, not sure about bob cats though. I plan on getting them penned up soon. we never lost any ducks or geese when we had them before. But the land has changed, A LOT. They cleared all across the top of the hill & part way down in some spots to build new homes....Hideous. It makes everything look terrible down here. I'm positive it has pushed a lot of animals down onto other peoples property. The crazy neighbor guy (with a billion chickens & peacocks) has lost some chickens already this year to predators.
 
Better safe than sorry. Once they find you, they know where to catch a quick bite.

And YES, if there has been development near you, you will most likely have worse problems with predators.

I'm sorry to hear that the nature of your area has changed like that. I agree. It is a shame to see the natural beauty and the rural areas disappering.

Good luck with your ducks.
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