Does anyone breed ancona or cayuga ducks?

[MarineCorpFarmr]

I am pretty new to ducks, but here is the set-up I have for my Anconas. So far, it is working well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-harried-homemakers-duck-house

Only one of my ducks is laying at the moment and 3/4 of the time she'll lay in one of the attached nest boxes. The other 1/4 of the time she just lays in any old place in the duck house.

I use pine pellets for bedding. My ducks are currently separated from my chickens and turkeys because my turkeys like to herd the ducks and pick on them, so the ducks are confined to a grassy pen that is about 500 square feet. The fencing is constructed of 6' tall welded wire mesh and 8' T-posts. Obviously, it doesn't have to be that tall to keep in ducks.

The ducks will put themselves to bed when it becomes dark. If I want to make sure they are locked up and secure before then, we can herd them into their house pretty easily. MUCH easier than herding chickens!

LOL thanks for the info. I dont herd my chickens. If i want them in the coop i just throw down some scratch at the door and on the floor. they come running lol

 

[Tivona]

Quote: I use dog kennel panels like what Celtic mentioned but instead of hardware cloth I skirted most of mine with metal roofing strips up about 3 feet. It gives the birds a feeling of security that the hardware cloth doesn't even though both are safe. The door is finished in the hardware cloth but the rest has the metal roofing strips. The top is covered in more wire but I plan on switching to more roofing for this winter. The main thing I watch for is making sure they can get out of the weather, have good wind protection, that the pen makes them feel safe, and most important that predators can't get in.
For nesting I use cut up hay. I have wondered if something else would work better but I get free bails that are too loose from my neighbor who cuts his fields. Best/favorite of my ducks nest box I have is actually the plastic liner of an old dishwasher. The rest of it went to the dump but the inside plastic compartment is just the right size and my ducks love the white walls. The drain at the bottom of the insert naturally hold the hay in a nest shape too. I also have two different dog house styles of nest box but those are not near as loved by my ducks as the dishwasher insides