Duck House

[Bill83]

Hello,

My wife and I picked up 4 Pekin Ducklings. We are both brand new to raising ducks, and I have a few questions.

This weekend I am planning on building an 8x8 fenced in pen for them and we are looking into houses for them to put inside the fenced area.

Something like this looks like it would be great to clean and the size looks like its big enough for 4 ducks. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0728KDXV9/?tag=backy-20

I am looking for opinions or other suggestions.

For the coop base i am going to do 5 inches of gravel-2 inches of sand-rice hulls deep littler idea. If the coop base is about 12 inches off the ground will the ducks be ok with a ramp going in and out of the coop ?


Sorry I have so many questions just looking to make sure we care for them the best way

 

[Jpat]

Hello,

My wife and I picked up 4 Pekin Ducklings. We are both brand new to raising ducks, and I have a few questions.

This weekend I am planning on building an 8x8 fenced in pen for them and we are looking into houses for them to put inside the fenced area.

Something like this looks like it would be great to clean and the size looks like its big enough for 4 ducks. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0728KDXV9/?tag=backy-20

I am looking for opinions or other suggestions.

For the coop base i am going to do 5 inches of gravel-2 inches of sand-rice hulls deep littler idea. If the coop base is about 12 inches off the ground will the ducks be ok with a ramp going in and out of the coop ?


Sorry I have so many questions just looking to make sure we care for them the best way

Youll figure the ramp out! Mines a foot of the ground and i found stairs to work better than ramps but youll figure that out to what the duckys like

8x8 is going to be a Mud and poop filled pit after a couple months, unless your goimg to free range outside the pen all day, or clean the run regularly

 

[Bill83]

I have about an acre of property already fenced in, during the day when someone is home the ducks will be able to wonder the property. If we do the gravel-sand-littler concept i thought the idea was it wouldn't need much cleaning. If you have any suggestions please let me know. I am all ears

 

[PirateGirl]

I agree with @Jpat here. I started with the same number of ducks in the same size run. My ducks are in their run 24/7 due to town regulations as well as predators. It is a nightmare of a mess more often than not. It's been about a year with this setup and as soon as the ground thaws we are expanding.

Also deep litter with ducks is difficult. It's often too wet for proper composting and you will need to manually turn the compost/litter regularly as ducks do not turn the bedding/soil the same way chickens do, ducks just tend to mash everything down.

Ducks are not picky when it comes to housing and are often just as happy on the ground. I looked at the link you posted and to modify for ducks instead of chickens I would remove the roost bar, maybe make a longer/less steep ramp, maybe use the larger door as the duck access door instead (you can judge once your ducks grow to their full size if the smaller door seems too small), maybe remove the dividers from the nest boxes (again, you be the judge once they are grown).

Due to the small size of your fenced area, I would put the house OUTSIDE the fence with the duck door leading to the inside of the fence to maximize their usable run space. I have done this and LOVE that I can open the house up and collect eggs WITHOUT walking in the poopy muddy duck pen myself.

 

[Jpat]

I agree with @Jpat here. I started with the same number of ducks in the same size run. My ducks are in their run 24/7 due to town regulations as well as predators. It is a nightmare of a mess more often than not. It's been about a year with this setup and as soon as the ground thaws we are expanding.

Also deep litter with ducks is difficult. It's often too wet for proper composting and you will need to manually turn the compost/litter regularly as ducks do not turn the bedding/soil the same way chickens do, ducks just tend to mash everything down.

Ducks are not picky when it comes to housing and are often just as happy on the ground. I looked at the link you posted and to modify for ducks instead of chickens I would remove the roost bar, maybe make a longer/less steep ramp, maybe use the larger door as the duck access door instead (you can judge once your ducks grow to their full size if the smaller door seems too small), maybe remove the dividers from the nest boxes (again, you be the judge once they are grown).

Due to the small size of your fenced area, I would put the house OUTSIDE the fence with the duck door leading to the inside of the fence to maximize their usable run space. I have done this and LOVE that I can open the house up and collect eggs WITHOUT walking in the poopy muddy duck pen myself.

X2

I have about 50 feet by 40 feet for 4 ducks and just empty the house into the run and rake it around. Theres enough room and rain that the poop never builds up, Just becomes soil again

 

[Bill83]

So i just stumbled on this video and i think this is what you're talking about with the layout. I don't think i need it to be as large as this but i am liking this idea a lot more than my original idea. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[PirateGirl]

I can't watch the video now, but can see the cover photo, and yes, have the house with the fencing attached, but not the house fully inside the fencing. So you can get in/out of the house (or just reach in) without walking through the messy muddy fenced area (ducks love to make things muddy),

 

[PirateGirl]

but make sure there is still human access to the fenced area too!

 

[Jpat]

I have my house inside the fence. What a pain when i wanna hug them. athey run around and around the house and call me an idiot haha

What i mean is its alot easier to corner them inside with the house outside the fence

 

[Bill83]

alright guys i really appreciate the help. I am going to go back to the drawing board here and hopefully get some frame work done here soon. I am sure ill have more questions when the time comes but the house outside but attached to the run 100% seems like the way to go. What do you guys recommend for bedding inside the house and in the run ?