Basement coop

[Emmjjaayy]

I currently have 6 ducklings. Pekin and khaki Campbell. When they’re old enough they’ll be put outside in our backyard. My worry is at night in their coop some predator might get to them. I was wondering if I should let them roam during the day outside and at night put them in a coop in my basement? Need advice.

 

[BReeder!]

I currently have 6 ducklings. Pekin and khaki Campbell. When they’re old enough they’ll be put outside in our backyard. My worry is at night in their coop some predator might get to them. I was wondering if I should let them roam during the day outside and at night put them in a coop in my basement? Need advice.

Have you found how messy ducks are yet? I certainly wouldn't have ducks in my basement or anywhere in the house for that matter (except for a brooder as ducklings possibly). Why dont you just lock up the outdoor coop securely at night. Solid walls, floor and roof with a door goes a long way, unless you have bears in which case I would suggest adding some high voltage electric fencing.

 

[nao57]

Well there are some things you might could tell us first.

Are you in the city or outside the city? Rural or not?

Do your neighbors have loose animals like dogs running around? Some dogs are fine with chickens and ducks, but some train their dogs to hunt. And dogs are probably the least of your worries.

I suspect as the full economic damage comes in this 2020, some of the worst predators are going to be the 2 legged kind.

Is your yard fenced in?

And what about how visible your yard is from the street? (I think a lot of trouble may be psychology related, as it pertains to the 2 legged kinds of predators. Some do better not knowing about something at all, and think they are more special and entitled to things they haven't earned. And some of them get jealous and act out when someone has something they don't have.) Personally, I think one of the better defenses for 2 legged predators is for them to not know something is there.

I got lucky in that we'd already accidentally had fences set up. Some of them were neighbors trying to contain their own animals.

And I think some of the perception of animals being bad is when people see their neighbors animals exploiting and using resources on the property of others that doesn't belong to them. This was the view I had before getting them myself, and I don't think its bad to think that people shouldn't have their animals roaming everywhere that isn't their own.

If you want something cheap you can get the chicken wire mesh cheap at hardware stores. And its cheaper than hardware cloth. But if you get the thinner versions it won't stop predators. A lot of people also are suggesting large chicken tractors that are lightweight and don't cost much. (People compete on these also for how good a design they can do for the least amount of money.) A lot of these cheap chicken tractor designs are actually pretty good for avoiding trouble if they are closed in.

You can also just use what's available. In my state, growing up most of the fences on farms used to be what looked like salved driftwood pieces of wood (looked terrible) with barbed wire strung up on them. Somehow they worked, mostly because the animals were dumb. (These wouldn't keep out most predators, but did keep animals from going too far from your own land.)

 

[Isaac 0]

I currently have 6 ducklings. Pekin and khaki Campbell. When they’re old enough they’ll be put outside in our backyard. My worry is at night in their coop some predator might get to them. I was wondering if I should let them roam during the day outside and at night put them in a coop in my basement? Need advice.

Is there a reason you can't make the coop predator proof or hire someone to do it for you? Your house will smell like a sewage plant in no time if you let six ducks live in it at night, not to mention they may cause major flood damage.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Sitting in my living room....7 ducklings going on 2 weeks old in the next room in a brooder.....yeah I want them OUTSIDE as soon as possible.

Soooooooo messy.....so very very messy.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I currently have 6 ducklings. Pekin and khaki Campbell. When they’re old enough they’ll be put outside in our backyard. My worry is at night in their coop some predator might get to them. I was wondering if I should let them roam during the day outside and at night put them in a coop in my basement? Need advice.

Well, what kind of a night pen do you have for them? You should be able to make it predator proof so pictures would be could so we could give you ideas on how to do that.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Amiga has made part of her basement into housing for her ducks, hopefully she'll see this tag.

 

[Emmjjaayy]

Well there are some things you might could tell us first.

Are you in the city or outside the city? Rural or not?

Do your neighbors have loose animals like dogs running around? Some dogs are fine with chickens and ducks, but some train their dogs to hunt. And dogs are probably the least of your worries.

I suspect as the full economic damage comes in this 2020, some of the worst predators are going to be the 2 legged kind.

Is your yard fenced in?

And what about how visible your yard is from the street? (I think a lot of trouble may be psychology related, as it pertains to the 2 legged kinds of predators. Some do better not knowing about something at all, and think they are more special and entitled to things they haven't earned. And some of them get jealous and act out when someone has something they don't have.) Personally, I think one of the better defenses for 2 legged predators is for them to not know something is there.

I got lucky in that we'd already accidentally had fences set up. Some of them were neighbors trying to contain their own animals.

And I think some of the perception of animals being bad is when people see their neighbors animals exploiting and using resources on the property of others that doesn't belong to them. This was the view I had before getting them myself, and I don't think its bad to think that people shouldn't have their animals roaming everywhere that isn't their own.

If you want something cheap you can get the chicken wire mesh cheap at hardware stores. And its cheaper than hardware cloth. But if you get the thinner versions it won't stop predators. A lot of people also are suggesting large chicken tractors that are lightweight and don't cost much. (People compete on these also for how good a design they can do for the least amount of money.) A lot of these cheap chicken tractor designs are actually pretty good for avoiding trouble if they are closed in.

You can also just use what's available. In my state, growing up most of the fences on farms used to be what looked like salved driftwood pieces of wood (looked terrible) with barbed wire strung up on them. Somehow they worked, mostly because the animals were dumb. (These wouldn't keep out most predators, but did keep animals from going too far from your own land.)

We have a fenced in backyard. We live in the woods so we get all critters and bears. Our neighbors don’t really have pets and they don’t mind. The previous person who lived here years ago had chickens but unfortunately they got eaten. We can make a coop outside I’m just worried about the predators.

 

[Emmjjaayy]

Sitting in my living room....7 ducklings going on 2 weeks old in the next room in a brooder.....yeah I want them OUTSIDE as soon as possible.

Soooooooo messy.....so very very messy.

yes! Ours are 2 weeks old. We had them in our living room and just moved them to the basement. They are incredibly messy. Lol

 

[DuckyDonna]

If you've got any predators you should worry about them free-ranging during the day too. Predators will come out any time when there's a duck for dinner! that includes flying kill machines too!