Big problem with my newly purchased mallard ducks.

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/inserting-pics-in-on-the-new-byc
since it seems you want to try this and make it work. One thing you need to do is feed them ONLY in the run close to their house so at night they will come into the run to eat you close the door and herd them into their house. The other problem I see is putting food out is going to attract the raccoons , so anyway you look at this your ducks are going to end up food for these rascals unless you build a secure pen top and down into ground to keep digger out and keep them inside the run 24/7 or all your work and money is going to end up in the stomachs of these coons.

 

[Koipondduck]

I am building a 10 ft by 6 ft run for 6 birds... I will get three chicken and no rooster. I do not like to hear them roosting at the moring. Is that a good choice since I do not want fertinzed eggs? Thanks for your reply. I do not know what to do with these raccons.

 

[Nyowpotopop]

Raccoons dig and climb so you need a coop that has a dig guard (1ft deep is pretty typical) and a top. If your coons are bold you may just consider doing the whole thing in hardware cloth... (Coons around here are pretty aloof.)

Most people build coops off the ground to help prevent predators and drafts from getting into the coop. I actually have a design I drew for an inexpensive 4-5 bird coop that is just built on cinderblocks with a ramp... So keeping them off the ground doesn't have to be fancy.

Most ducks like roosting on the ground or outside better.

 

[Koipondduck]

Looking at all the above replies, I have to say one thing. Kois are the most expensive things people can have as pet if someone do not have a natural pond.
Ornamental pond is expensive since someone needs to purchase a bead filter, UV lights, expensive food for colors and lights. I found some of these posts to be not encouraging and I do not feel welcome here. MAY BE GOOGLE WILL BE A BETTER CHOICE.

I came here to learn not to be "lectured". I came her to connect not disconnect. I came here to be friends and to be part of a group. Group members do not "bully:" each other for mistakes but rather encourage. Here is what I would have done with my intellect......

I would have simply encourage the person ( like me) with new experience to build a pen, or to rehome them in a nicer way instead of lecturing. Sorry, if I come to your place and began lecturing you how to have an ornamental Japanese Koi pond and you are doing every thing wrong instead of pointing out the proper ways of building a pond, then I am not a good advisor but rather a " badgering:" How can we be better teachers if we will just mock each other for their mistakes and not to teach them?

As someone like me with couple of master degrees that loves animals is capable of understanding that anything in wild needs care. Hence, I posted for advise. However, the replies that are more like " ordering" and " lecturing" without any positive input are boring,.

If I were to read the ad, I would have answered it in a very positive way, First of all, the person I bought the duck from had a home that is smaller than my cedar dog house and he kept it outside and nothing ever happened for a year. He informed me that with my lush landscaping and the pond, ducks will sleep on the water and coons can't do nothing to them. He told me it took little care and to beautify my pond, I got them. What is wrong with that> I am not lecturing anyone as per how to do a great landscaping and build great expensive Koi ponds....

Before getting a better hold of this website and to reply to you, I decided to build a pen without anyone' s advise. Yes, I am caring and do have the ability to build a pin, However, I was not certain that how to do a best job and if it would suit my site. My " upscale landscaping" is considered since you can't put lime in the milk and expect not to see whey. However, to put that in a quotation mark as such "upscale" is a redundant.

Please advise if I should stay with you or leave this site? I would expect more of a “ friendly” communication that are positive rather than “ negative” useless comments that does not really help me reaching my goal. This is my personal opinion.

 

[Koipondduck]

thanks for this nice reply... I like it a lot. I learned something. When I dig down a foot, is there any way to make the hardware cloth hold?

 

[Koipondduck]

Miss Lydia, thank you for your encouraging post. I was hoping to see more of you in here rather than putting words like " upscale" landscapping in a quotation mar and telling me I am doing every thing wrong. I found your reply to be pleasant to read

 

[flewdacoop]

if you feed them they will come..lol use food to lure them into the pin at night and it should be a peice of cake

 

[Miss Lydia]

if you feed them they will come..lol use food to lure them into the pin at night and it should be a peice of cake

Well maybe not a piece of cake, but it will be, first you train them that the only place their going to get food is in their run and they will remember that. Then you feed them only a small amount in the morning, if your going to let them out to go to the pond, if they are going to stay in their run scratch this part. Then in the evening they get their feed plus some other kind of yummies like dried mealworms or frozen peas thawed [because ducks love both of these] AND this will be everyday at the same time so they get into a routine of coming into their run every evening to get their special treats. Then you close the run gate and herd them into their secure house. Ducks can be trained and they love routine. Good luck and let us know how it goes with pics if you can. And for the raccoons humane traps work real good, most would say don't drop them off somewhere where they will end up being someone elses nightmare but if you have forest lands not too far away I'd say thats a good place for them to live.

 

[cskotek]

Hello, this is a nice response. This is a nice reply. I think I now want to built a pin and I have a facebook friend coming on saturday to help me do this.
I am more scared that they won't come to their house at night and be killed. Ability certainly come with efficiencies and chasing ducks at night is not fun
and a not an efficient way to invest my time. However, as you stated, if they come to their house at night and all I have to do is to let them in and lock the gate that is
not a bad idea. Also, thank you Kevon for your response as per as house being small for the night. However, this house has to do until saturday. Trust me, they were in a smaller house than this for a year and the back yard was was 1/16 of this size and the pond is a kiddle pool. They would have fine I think in this house. However, I just want to have a house./ pen combo and after it is build, I will not let them out for a week. Ater a week, then I let them out, I know they will walk from the big pond area where this house is to the small pond. My only hope that they will go back from the small pond to the big pond area at the night time.

Every thing is possible but wasting time chasing ducks are not fun and if they get used to their pen and come there waiting to be let in at the night fall, then, I am gave with this project. I know I should not be usinng chicken wire by reading all of your posts and going to Medina tractor supply to get hardware cloth. I think I will use combination of both doors and windows will be made out of hardware cloth and other welded metal chain link. I tend to do every thing right at first since that is the way to sucess for Kois, blue birds ( that I have coming back every year and brooding) and other plants. How do I post pictures in here?

Why are alll coops are higher thant from the ground on posts? what adverse situation could it be with having this house to be build on the ground?

Thanks

You can post a picture by clicking the little image icon in the row with the smilie face options.
And we built ours off the ground so the ducks had more area to to go (this was before we decided to make the yard behind it their cage too lol) and when you put them on the fround you can use more variety of bedding in it and not have a hard time takeing care of it.

 

[desertdarlene]

Sorry you got a rough welcome, some people can be a little brusk in their replies.

Ducks are a creature of habit. I've noticed that ducks at the lake have a routine as to where they stay, eat and sleep, it may take a while, but you can get them into the habit of going into their house at certain time of day every day. You also might want to look at the thread in duck coops in this forum for ideas on how to make your coop look extra nice and compliment your yard.