Duck House questions...?

[nao57]

So I had a few questions regarding how duck houses affect egg production.

Thanks in advance.

To start off, our backyard is so well surrounded by fences that you can't see through that I believe I'd underestimated if a duck house was necessary. Plus, the dog pen itself has a dog house in it, and the dog pen has its own fencing.

This made me think a duck house might not be necessary?

My ducks weren't using the dog house. But the chickens were.

Could it be my 2 chickens are scaring the ducks out of it? And could it be that the chickens are more aggressive at night? (During the day it feels like the ducks (with a majority) seem to get their way. But I don't know if that's the same at night?)(9 ducks, 2 chickens. 7 of the ducks seem to be males.)

I have seen one of the drakes push the chickens away from the ducks. And I thought the ducks weren't accepting them. But then recently I'd caught the chickens pecking the smaller ducks. And so it may be that the drakes were just being protective and not aggressive on purpose.

Neither the ducks nor the chickens seem to have much interest in the dog house. (But could it be that the dog smell is still in there from a year or two ago? No dogs have been in it within the last 18 months.) This is partly why I wasn't sure how necessary a duck house is for the ducks to start laying eggs.

So far I haven't seen any eggs, but I'd found out I had the duck calls mixed up. I am sure I only have 2 ducks, and like 7 or 8 drakes. (Maybe this is why I don't have eggs?)

But I'm mostly worried about how to change this?

I could give the dog house a good scrubbing and try to see if its old smells (I don't know for sure if there are any), and if it needing to be more clean could be an issue?

But I also need advise if the 2 chickens being aggressive could be why I don't have eggs either? (But at the same time, the 2 chickens should start producing eggs soon also. They are at about 7 months also.)

I want to figure out what the heck is going on.

(IF they are all eating their eggs then would I see splattered egg remains or shells? How would you know if this is going on?)

And I will trim the number of drakes down, now that I have figured out some of what's going on. But I don't know if you think its better for me to get rid of the chickens first (If they are the problem?), or trim the drakes first? (If I trim all but one of the drakes also, I'm worried if that will make the chickens more aggressive.

Anyway, have you guys compared egg production with and without a duck house? Thanks.

(Also the back yard is fairly good sized. I don't think lack of space could be a problem.)

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Whew..
Lemme ask a couple questions first and then try attempt an answer here.
Are you locking them all up together the dog pen at night?
How old are your ducks?

If you are certain you have seven Drakes and two hens the first thing you absolutely need to do is trim down the Drakes.
I am thanking your ducts must not have hit puberty yet or you would have already saw a major problem. That many Drakes could easily kill two hens by over mating. You need to have three to four hens per Drake.

 

[nao57]

Thanks.

Yeah, I didn't know I had that many.

I will take care of it. But its interesting you were the only one that commented on this thread.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Thanks.

Yeah, I didn't know I had that many.

I will take care of it. But its interesting you were the only one that commented on this thread.

Why is that?

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks.

Yeah, I didn't know I had that many.

I will take care of it. But its interesting you were the only one that commented on this thread.

One of the number one reasons people won't respond to a thread, is because its formatted way too long. I'm not saying you have to change the way you post, don't think that,, but just consider that many people are busy and just want to see the "question" and not a few paragraphs explaining it.

 

[21hens-incharge]

For me....it is that no one recently wants to hear that....

A. Housing drakes with chicken hens is NOT safe for the chickens.
B. Often (sadly) the poster is adamant that they want to keep ALL the drakes when told it is not safe for the duck hens to be mated to death.
C. Not many are willing to hear that the housing is ineffective, insufficient, needs redone/modified.

I tend to move on rather than get in a spitting match with someone refusing to truly see the needs of the birds.

Sooooo.....
To try and help here.....

First, the chickens need separate housing. I know some people are able to keep chickens and ducks together. My view is it is fine....until it is not and then it goes south FAST.

Pictures of your set up will help us to help you with the rest.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

For me....it is that no one recently wants to hear that....

A. Housing drakes with chicken hens is NOT safe for the chickens.
B. Often (sadly) the poster is adamant that they want to keep ALL the drakes when told it is not safe for the duck hens to be mated to death.
C. Not many are willing to hear from hat the housing is ineffective, insufficient, needs redone/modified.

I tend to move on rather than get in a spitting match with someone refusing to truly see the needs of the birds.

Sooooo.....
To try and help here.....

First, the chickens need separate housing. I know some people are able to keep chickens and ducks together. My view is it is fine....until it is not and then it goes south FAST.

Pictures of your set up will help us to help you with the rest.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

And when People don't seem to want to answer any questions its hard to help them.

 

[nao57]

For me....it is that no one recently wants to hear that....

A. Housing drakes with chicken hens is NOT safe for the chickens.
B. Often (sadly) the poster is adamant that they want to keep ALL the drakes when told it is not safe for the duck hens to be mated to death.
C. Not many are willing to hear that the housing is ineffective, insufficient, needs redone/modified.

I tend to move on rather than get in a spitting match with someone refusing to truly see the needs of the birds.

Sooooo.....
To try and help here.....

First, the chickens need separate housing. I know some people are able to keep chickens and ducks together. My view is it is fine....until it is not and then it goes south FAST.

Pictures of your set up will help us to help you with the rest.

Well I'll give your way a shot then. I don't have anything to lose by keeping them separate. And the yard is pretty safe already. And I had experimented with a backup housing fixture.

I'm just sure the best way of training the chickens to go to a different coop when they are already used to going to the same one as the ducks. Do you have suggestions for that?

Normally I feed them together. So it means having to figure out how to separate them after that and retrain the chickens to go to a different spot when I go to put them in at night.

I actually don't mind a second separate spot for the chickens anyway, because it would be good practice for if I can expand the flock. And I'd need to be able to do this if I want to expand anyway.

And given how destructive and chaotic society is going right now. The idea of expanding the flock (while hoping nobody notices) seems like a really good idea right now.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The chickens need separated from the drakes all... day... long.

You have a very large number of drakes and very very few female ducks. This poses a problem for hormonally crazed drakes or those establishing dominance.

The straight up of it is drakes have a penis. Roosters do not. Chicken hens are not designed to be mated that way. Drakes can kill a chicken hen when/if they mate them. Drakes housed without enough females or those in flocks with several drakes can and do attempt to mate chickens. It does not end well for the chicken.

Yes chickens can run faster than ducks.....but....have you seen or heard of the egg squat? Yeah they don't run when they should.

To train chickens to a new coop.....
Close them in it at night. Leave them closed into it or it and a secure run for a few days to a week. It will teach them that "this is home". They should return to it from then on. If not repeat until they do return to it.