Duck house plans help

[gclarrot]

I am looking to add 2-3 ducks to my property next spring. I figured this fall/winter it would give me plenty of time to build such a duck house and a small run.

I read that it's the general recommendation 6-10 sq ft per a bird for a run and the 4ft - 6ft per a bird in the coop still applies to ducks.
* i have not decided on what breed of ducks yet. If anyone has recommendations for 1/2 acre of property, please don't hesitate to give me your 2 cents. I have kids and dogs (1/2 of the dogs are only allowed out with the birds..shes scared of the birds and i'd hate to have an accident).
i do have a flock of 12 pullets yet (who should be laying any week now..they are 24 weeks).
The ducks and chickens will NOT be sharing the same space. Only when they free range in the backyard for 50% of the day.

I do live in Florida, so the whole heat is an issue here. So, that should be a deciding factor on the actual duck house itself.
I have an "open coop" for the ladies. It's worked very well all spring and summer.

Where's a good place to find duck house plans? I haven't really found many pictures of them or plans on the internet through quick google..

 

[chickenlittle21]

Pekins. I also live in Florida and I keep pekins. The ducks don't really mind how big their coop and run is, as long as they have a swimming pool.

 

[LT71689]

Ducks generate a lot of heat and moisture, so given the florida setting I'd err on the larger side of space-per-bird recommendations, you want to give them some room to spread and cool off if needed, and you want the coop to be able to air out well with all the humidity.

For inspiration hit the "Articles" button at the top and the "chicken coops" drop-down menu on the left of the page. They'll likely need some duck-specific modification but its a good start to getting ideas. Since ducks dont roost they're pretty happy with a plain ol' box (probably why theres not a lot of plans for them - not hard to build a plain box) so long as they've got enough space and good venting and its kept clean. Most of the time they dont even go for a nest box, nothing fancy for them. Anything more specific than 'big plain box' will depend on how you plan to manage poop/bedding, and whether or not you want to supply them with food and water at night or if it's placed out in the run instead.

 

[LT71689]

Breed wise - what characteristics are you looking for? Excellent layers, friendly and pet-like, is noise level a concern, do you care if they're "pretty", etc

 

[AnnaE15]

I have 9 ducks and I have a small area fence in for them and a playhouse for their shelter and they're under a tree. And I have a kiddie pool for their water. I free range them every day. I need to get a picture of their lot now but that's the playhouse in their area before it was finished. It has a tarp on top now to prevent rain getting in.

 

[gclarrot]

Breed wise - what characteristics are you looking for? Excellent layers, friendly and pet-like, is noise level a concern, do you care if they're "pretty", etc

They don't have to be prolific egg layers but I would like at least 3 eggs a week. I do need them friendly, and docile and low noise as my immediate neigbhor is not fond of our behind us neighbor and his roosters. I have kids so I don't need an attack duck

 

[LT71689]

They don't have to be prolific egg layers but I would like at least 3 eggs a week. I do need them friendly, and docile and low noise as my immediate neigbhor is not fond of our behind us neighbor and his roosters. I have kids so I don't need an attack duck

I dont have enough breed knowledge to offer much help, but I know those are the kinds of questions the folks who can help would ask first.

Pekins are big and can be pretty chatty. Since you're only planning on a couple it probably wouldnt be *too* bad - certainly not rooster levels of annoying, but they're not silent creatures either. My two only *really* piped up when they were distressed (I picked them up) or they couldnt find me, otherwise it was low-level chatting not any worse than two people talking, but other peoples results may vary. They're a very popular pet breed, they're usually really sweet and personable. They're also terrible parents so if you do get eggs from them they wont care that you take them, they're not usually super broody.

I've heard muscovies are very quiet, not very chatty, pretty mild-tempered. I personally dont love the red faces (why I asked if you cared about "pretty") so despite all their good qualities they still wouldnt be at the top of my list - but thats just me.

There were a couple "what breed should I get" threads floating around in the last two weeks, if you want to go digging for them. Its a pretty common question for folks

 

[AnnaE15]

They don't have to be prolific egg layers but I would like at least 3 eggs a week. I do need them friendly, and docile and low noise as my immediate neigbhor is not fond of our behind us neighbor and his roosters. I have kids so I don't need an attack duck

My 9 pekins are very chatty at times and I get 1-4 eggs a day, some double yolks. And they're friendly enough. And kid friendly lol

 

[Isaac 0]

I have 9 ducks and I have a small area fence in for them and a playhouse for their shelter and they're under a tree. And I have a kiddie pool for their water. I free range them every day. I need to get a picture of their lot now but that's the playhouse in their area before it was finished. It has a tarp on top now to prevent rain getting in. View attachment 2325284View attachment 2325285View attachment 2325286View attachment 2325287View attachment 2325288View attachment 2325289

My 9 pekins are very chatty at times and I get 1-4 eggs a day, some double yolks. And they're friendly enough. And kid friendly lolView attachment 2325433

Welcome to BYC!

Gorgeous ducks!

 

[Maddog_photog]

They don't have to be prolific egg layers but I would like at least 3 eggs a week. I do need them friendly, and docile and low noise as my immediate neigbhor is not fond of our behind us neighbor and his roosters. I have kids so I don't need an attack duck

I personally love my Swedish Blues. They’re adorable, friendly. Not very talkative, especially compared to my Pekins. I don’t know about egg laying. Mine are both drakes therefore I haven’t concerned myself with that. But I love my Duckduck & Goose.