Building a duck ramp

[palyn819]

We originally constructed our coop to house the chickens up top and our duck underneath. However the ducks and chickens have developed a very close attachment. The duck sleeps in the coop with the chickens and makes a lot of noise if they are seperated. The chickens go up in the coop every night and then go up and down the ramp trying to coax the duck up the ramp. The problem is that we built the coop up high to allow room for the duck beneath. (This is our first time with chicks and a duck and we do realize that ducks are social animals and need companionship. The duckling was the last one and we felt compelled to bring it home) Our goal now is to modify our ramp to allow the duck to go up easier. She/he will come down and has stopped in the middle and gone back up, but has never gone up from the bottom. Because of the set up it will need to be bi directional I am thinking.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

I made one to get in and out of the water, a less steep slope but the same length. No holes along the track! up they always use the whole ramp. Down, one follows the ramp and another jumps from half way down... it depends..

beautiful cool Btw. And Welcome to BYC

 

[3bird]

We have a pretty long ramp for our ducks to enter their elevated duckhouse. They learned to use it pretty quick. We placed small 1x" boards all the way up it to make it easier. You can see it in this picture. I'll see if I have others.

It looks like you may not be able to extend yours anymore to make it less steep.

 

[palyn819]

I made one to get in and out of the water, a less steep slope but the same length. No holes along the track! up they always use the whole ramp. Down, one follows the ramp and another jumps from half way down... it depends..

beautiful cool Btw. And Welcome to BYC

This last week he ended up figuring out how to use the ramp. I found the trick was to put them in the run about an hour before dark and as soon as the solar light flicks on they all head up. He actually jumps up from the side and then walks up.

 

[palyn819]

We have a pretty long ramp for our ducks to enter their elevated duckhouse. They learned to use it pretty quick. We placed small 1x" boards all the way up it to make it easier. You can see it in this picture. I'll see if I have others.

View attachment 2220385
It looks like you may not be able to extend yours anymore to make it less steep.

 

[palyn819]

He did end up figuring it out and has been going up the past few days. As long as I get them in the run before dark.

 

[Finnie]

That’s great that s/he figured the ramp out. If it turns out to be a male duck, you will need to separate him from your hens. Male duck anatomy is different than chickens, and a drake can kill a chicken when he tries to mate with her. And he will try for sure, since he doesn’t have a female duck friend. Hopefully you have a female duck!