Best Housing Features for Ducks

[I Love Ducks]

I have two 3 month old ducks and two 3 month old chickens. I just finished building them a 4x12 coop with a 6x12 yard. The ducks have their pool in the yard and I will be putting nesting boxes in the coop and roosts for the chickens inside and out. I see a lot of information for housing features for chickens, but what do ducks prefer in their houses? Will they "hang out" in elevated spaces if there are ramps for them...or do I have to worry about them falling if they can get up to high? I always figured they preferred to hang out on the ground, but then I realized I really don't know if that is true or not!

Anyway, let me know what your ducks' favorite things are, besides water...we've got that covered.

 

[Amiga]

My ducks like a mostly open arrangement, with a few 2ft by 2ft plywood boards fastened at right angles to the wall, because they like to make their own nests, in corners.

Some of mine are afraid of the dark so I have a night light. Yours may not have that problem.

We avoid ramps and heights. They do need to step down three inches to get out of the night pen - that's about it.

They like the compost and straw base of their outdoor pen, and the concrete mixing pan and doggie pool for bathing and playing. They can root around and get worms right inside their pen.

They like edible plants where they can reach through the fence for them.

They like frequent human company.

 

[I Love Ducks]

Thank you, that helps. Right now the inside of the coop is just walls and the dog crate I used for a brooder and some hay on the ground. This weekend my project is to put in the nesting boxes and roosts. I already thought of putting a large corner nesting box, so I'm glad to hear that's something they will like. The 4 of them still like to huddle together at night. I don't know if that will change as they get older or not, but I think it's pretty cute.

I love spending time with them, I think my other animals are jealous. I sit in their pen while the ducks swim and the chicks will jump onto my knee and sit in my lap and "talk" to me. One of the reasons I only bought four babies this year was that I wanted to spend lots of time with each of them so they'd be nice and friendly.

I'll have to think about what I can plant near their coop. My options are somewhat limited due to the desert climate, so I'll have to research which plants that do well here will be safe for them. Grape vines do very well here, so that's an option if they are safe for the birds.

 

[Going Quackers]

I have a type of roosting duck, so i do have a shelf and a roost that mine take advantage of, otherwise there is nothing special in there whatsoever.. it's basically like a chicken coop but no ramps mine are mainly large breeds so agile like a hippo they don't take kindly to anything funky.

Ducks #1 thing is water and everything to do with it, mud is probably the second love.