Advice for a New Duck Keeper?

[marylucille]

Can anyone give me pointers about what kind of housing to build for ducks? They were sleeping in an outdoor pen and we lost most to a bad coyote attack a few weeks ago. They are now sleeping in a pretty well fortified aviary, and running around the yard during the day. I need to build them a shelter of their own, but can't find anything specific on nesting and housing needs of ducks. We now have 2 different breeds-- a female mallard and another that may be a runner, but I'm not sure. It is black with black bill and feet and stands upright like daffy duck, but maybe not quite so upright as a runner. I'm not sure if it's a duck or a drake.

oh, and a chicken (cockerel) who thinks he is a duck. The birds were all hatched by a middle school girls' class and given to me. The chicken had some mates, but they were killed in the attack, and now instead of hanging with the chickens--who have their own coop--he hangs with the ducks.

Also, does anyone have advice or experience about digging a pond? We have a very small pond, but I try to keep the ducks out of it because it's too small for them and it has some nice water lilies that get tangled up in their feet. For now they've got a wading pool, which they still seem to enjoy, but we know it isn't a permanent solution. They look pretty much full grown, but haven't fledged yet.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Wildsky]

I posted pic's of my ducks new shed - well not NEW but we cleaned it and are fixing it up for them

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=71693

they're very fun and SO cute!

 

[marylucille]

Great pictures! Thanks.

Can you give me some specifics? How many ducks do you have? What are the dimensions of your shed? Do they need nesting spaces or just nest on the floor? (yours look younger than mine, but maybe you know from research?) How tall does it need to be? What kind of water source do they have?

We want to dig a larger pond, and a friend with a backhoe has said he'd do it for $500. We're trying to save that up now, but need some advice about how big, depth, lining it (with clay or other material?) how to fill it and keep it full?

 

[Wildsky]

For the most part I'm just winging it.

The shed is 7x7 I have 6 Muscovy ducks, they're 3 weeks old.
I will make them boxes to nest in, bu tI think they'll lay where ever they want anyway.

I don't have a pond yet, Muscovy's don't need one as badly as other ducks - I am looking around to build one, I will make it deep enough that they can get their whole body under the water if they want to. (Right now I dug a small hole, lined it with a raincoat

and filled it with water. they LOVE it, its not huge, but they can all get in and get their whole body under the water if they want to.

I'm sure there are other threads with pond details, I'll either go with a liner or cement and rocks. (I have to think about it and decide which will be cheaper and work best)

 

[marylucille]

Thanks for the info!

 

[marylucille]

Oh yeah--one more question--how tall is it? in the photos it looks like at least 3 feet? Also, it looks like your birds free range in the daytime?

 

[Wildsky]

Tall? The shed? We can walk into it. It must be around 8ft on one side and 7 or so on the other.

Yes, the ducks free-range with the chickens, I had them enclosed but they'd stand up agains the fence and PEEP PEEP PEEP all day so I let them out!