Arkhamqueen
In the Brooder
- Mar 31, 2020
- 14
- 19
- 23
Hello! I’m probably going to ramble too much for any sane person to withstand, so I’ll put it short in a summary at the bottom.
Long story long: I’ve had 2-4 ducks and some chickens before and they used to be free range (locked up in the a kind of coop at night though) in our backyard in the suburbs. Things went great for years (against all odds) until a momma possum enjoyed one of them and promptly shook off all her babies in our yard. The remaining birds were quickly rehomed. All that so say that we are not completely novice, but... clearly far from knowledgeable.
A decade+ later, our family lives in the woods now and have 3 acres and a flowing, deep creek. We recently got/where given 8 ducklings (Pekins, Runners, and a mallard). They are 2 weeks old today. We want to do eggs for our family to be more self-reliant. I have never had this many ducklings at a time. They are currently being raised inside, but our big worry is their future outdoor home. Because of the coyotes, random stray dogs, cats, hawks, etc. that share our land, we are terrified of losing our ducks or their pen being an unwinable battle against smell. I’ve researched tons into electric fencing ideas already for security. I fear having them wondering at all is far too dangerous with the predators lurking at every bush (my anxiety, but still). We are toying with several tractor and coop ideas, but keep coming up at a loss on how to build a coop that is: ultra cheap (trite, right?), fairly clean, easy to maintain (double trite, right?), and predator-proof. The typical dilemma. We have the limitation of only having a car and not a truck to get building supplies, BUT we have tons of rolls of steal wire fencing and a large steel carport out back left by a previous owner
. I looked into converting it to a coop, but without a rental truck ($$), we can’t get pallets or planks. We aren’t even sure what a cost estimate would be for building the wire and wooden walls would be. We can’t afford to spend hundreds on a project to be more self-reliant.
Even with a coop built, the problem of a flock of ducks pooping constantly in one area for years terrifies us. We want to be able to go out daily and play with them still, but smell and sanitation feels like we are torn between a money pit of shavings (and mucking them out and time buying them)... and having filthy, miserable duckies and a reeking, putrid yard.
I feel like we are completely missing something when I see people with 10-20 birds and aren’t swallowed up by the maintenance. Is sand in the coop really a great help? Does having the flock in a rotated tractor daily really help that much since they poop at night still? How is everyone managing their sanitation?
LONG STORY SHORT:
1. How do you keep a flock of 8 ducks (assuming the statically impossibly they are all female), in a confined area for years without it becoming a money pit of shavings, or a smelly, mud, cesspool? What is your maintenance routine like? What is your set up like? What have you done or wish you did to ease the burden of poultry cleanliness?
2. How can you build a predator-proof area/coop for 8 ducks without it costing hundreds and a week or two to build? What are your tricks to keep the cost low? Have you found that just following the rules of chew-proof, inclosed, and aprons, works great?
I’m hoping you clear masters of your poultry crafts can help ease our fears and give us back some sleep over this.
Long story long: I’ve had 2-4 ducks and some chickens before and they used to be free range (locked up in the a kind of coop at night though) in our backyard in the suburbs. Things went great for years (against all odds) until a momma possum enjoyed one of them and promptly shook off all her babies in our yard. The remaining birds were quickly rehomed. All that so say that we are not completely novice, but... clearly far from knowledgeable.
A decade+ later, our family lives in the woods now and have 3 acres and a flowing, deep creek. We recently got/where given 8 ducklings (Pekins, Runners, and a mallard). They are 2 weeks old today. We want to do eggs for our family to be more self-reliant. I have never had this many ducklings at a time. They are currently being raised inside, but our big worry is their future outdoor home. Because of the coyotes, random stray dogs, cats, hawks, etc. that share our land, we are terrified of losing our ducks or their pen being an unwinable battle against smell. I’ve researched tons into electric fencing ideas already for security. I fear having them wondering at all is far too dangerous with the predators lurking at every bush (my anxiety, but still). We are toying with several tractor and coop ideas, but keep coming up at a loss on how to build a coop that is: ultra cheap (trite, right?), fairly clean, easy to maintain (double trite, right?), and predator-proof. The typical dilemma. We have the limitation of only having a car and not a truck to get building supplies, BUT we have tons of rolls of steal wire fencing and a large steel carport out back left by a previous owner
. I looked into converting it to a coop, but without a rental truck ($$), we can’t get pallets or planks. We aren’t even sure what a cost estimate would be for building the wire and wooden walls would be. We can’t afford to spend hundreds on a project to be more self-reliant.Even with a coop built, the problem of a flock of ducks pooping constantly in one area for years terrifies us. We want to be able to go out daily and play with them still, but smell and sanitation feels like we are torn between a money pit of shavings (and mucking them out and time buying them)... and having filthy, miserable duckies and a reeking, putrid yard.
I feel like we are completely missing something when I see people with 10-20 birds and aren’t swallowed up by the maintenance. Is sand in the coop really a great help? Does having the flock in a rotated tractor daily really help that much since they poop at night still? How is everyone managing their sanitation?
LONG STORY SHORT:
1. How do you keep a flock of 8 ducks (assuming the statically impossibly they are all female), in a confined area for years without it becoming a money pit of shavings, or a smelly, mud, cesspool? What is your maintenance routine like? What is your set up like? What have you done or wish you did to ease the burden of poultry cleanliness?
2. How can you build a predator-proof area/coop for 8 ducks without it costing hundreds and a week or two to build? What are your tricks to keep the cost low? Have you found that just following the rules of chew-proof, inclosed, and aprons, works great?
I’m hoping you clear masters of your poultry crafts can help ease our fears and give us back some sleep over this.
