DUCK HOUSE

[Betsy57]

We got enough money back in our tax refund that I can finally get some ducks (YAY). I've been poring over everything I can find about making a secure shelter for them. We live in a rural area near a river and probably have every potential predator there is in the area (someone shot a bear that attacked the dogs in their yard less than 15 miles from us this weekend!) but I think the main ones we will need to worry about are foxes, skunks, dogs, weasels, hawks, eagles and owls. We also have pretty cold winters- it's not uncommon to see nights in the single digits for at least a month or so, and several feet of snow. I'm planning to get 10 Khaki Campbells. I thought a shelter about 4x5x4', with a hinged shed roof so we can access the inside easily, and about 8' square yard for when I can't let them out. I can't decide whether to let them free range or use a tractor during the day. For the yard, I was thinking of using 5' welded wire fencing, and sinking a foot of it underground to discourage digging predators, and more welded wire on top to protect from flying ones. We have a dog who I think can be trained to accept the ducks as part of the family, but she isn't outside at night- prefers to sleep by our bed- so she won't be out there to give an alarm or chase predators away.
If I use plywood for the sides and roof of the shelter, how thick should I go? Would 1/4" be good enough or should I go with 5/8 or even more? Will welded wire hold up ok or should I go with non-climb? or hardware cloth?

I used 1/2" plywood and the hardware cloth. Not sure where you live, but if you have coons or smaller animals like that, they can reach in and grab your birds.

 

[inkedlady]

This is our duck house and pen the ducks are only 3 weeks old so pen is a makeshift one till we build the bigger one ,
The ducks not slept in the house yet they have a look in it in the day they not quiet sure of it yet , they getting too big to stay indoors so very soon they will be out! They should be ok here in the uk as its not too cold here n summer on its way

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
Wow- great structures, everybody!
I have a few coops/broody/grow-outs similar to this. The lower height makes them perfect to grow plants on top of. I have yet to make any real "green roofed" ones, but I cram every pot or flat I can fit on top. Just the right height that the chickens don't get into them.

Love the floating house Tater Tots! Wish we had a deep enough pond to do that.

 

[Britesea]

I crunched the numbers on our initial idea for duck house and yard and it ain't pretty.... Since we don't have anything we can recycle, we will have to buy everything and it looks like a bottom line of $400

So now I'm having to rethink this... I had hoped to have the yard secure enough that I could leave the door open to the house, so the ducks could go in or out as they chose. Now I guess I'll have to lock them in at night and open it in the morning.

We had chickens in our old farm and didn't have that secure an area-- the chicken's had a roosting area indoors, but they could go in and out with no problems. The door had a little "porch" that gave the entrance an "L" angle-- that helped keep some predators out. The yard had non-climb fencing about 5' tall but no top, even though we had plenty of hawks in the area- Instead we had some old gas-fired brooders that we ripped the burners out of and used them for shade (and the chickens could hide from hawks). Somehow, we didn't lose chickens or eggs. Maybe I'm over-engineering things...

 

[cosbackyard]

Depending on what the predators are like in your area you're probably not over-engineering. If you have raccoons and nothing else then you'd still need to build a fort. Around $400 sounds about right, unfortunately. Here's a pic of the mine before it was finished.



Six feet long, three wide and four tall. Didn't use any plywood for the sides, not necessary in my opinion. Just used the least expensive siding I could get from home depot and that's nearly 1/2" thick. Those sheets are kind of pricey at 30 bucks a pop, and I needed three. Lumber is of marginal cost. I used corrugated metal roofing, which is a bit more pricey than some options. Perhaps the biggest expense was all of the wire. 1/2" hardware cloth for all sides of the run and roof. Plus welded wire for the bottom two feet of it. And some buried, skirting out from the run to deter digging. That stuff added up fast. But I built the run extra tight so I could leave the coop door open to it all night. If I were to let them in the run only during daylight I might have gone with just chicken wire, but probably not since I've lost so many to raccoons.

You can definitely get away with building something simpler, many examples of which have been posted in this thread. But you can also accomplish alot for $300-$400.

 

[Betsy57]

Depending on what the predators are like in your area you're probably not over-engineering. If you have raccoons and nothing else then you'd still need to build a fort. Around $400 sounds about right, unfortunately. Here's a pic of the mine before it was finished.



Six feet long, three wide and four tall. Didn't use any plywood for the sides, not necessary in my opinion. Just used the least expensive siding I could get from home depot and that's nearly 1/2" thick. Those sheets are kind of pricey at 30 bucks a pop, and I needed three. Lumber is of marginal cost. I used corrugated metal roofing, which is a bit more pricey than some options. Perhaps the biggest expense was all of the wire. 1/2" hardware cloth for all sides of the run and roof. Plus welded wire for the bottom two feet of it. And some buried, skirting out from the run to deter digging. That stuff added up fast. But I built the run extra tight so I could leave the coop door open to it all night. If I were to let them in the run only during daylight I might have gone with just chicken wire, but probably not since I've lost so many to raccoons.

You can definitely get away with building something simpler, many examples of which have been posted in this thread. But you can also accomplish alot for $300-$400.

Ya, it is expensive to buy new materials to build anything these days. The little duck house I just built cost about $175. I was hoping to make it $100 but like you said, three pieces of 1/2" treated plywood is $28 a pop. Doesn't take long to add up! I've found out that raising ducks and chickens for eggs is very expensive when you consider the costs for fencing and structures. You don't do it for cheaper food but for quality, fresh food and the enjoyment of raising these critters.

 

[Britesea]

Depending on what the predators are like in your area you're probably not over-engineering. If you have raccoons and nothing else then you'd still need to build a fort. Around $400 sounds about right, unfortunately. Here's a pic of the mine before it was finished.



Six feet long, three wide and four tall. Didn't use any plywood for the sides, not necessary in my opinion. Just used the least expensive siding I could get from home depot and that's nearly 1/2" thick. Those sheets are kind of pricey at 30 bucks a pop, and I needed three. Lumber is of marginal cost. I used corrugated metal roofing, which is a bit more pricey than some options. Perhaps the biggest expense was all of the wire. 1/2" hardware cloth for all sides of the run and roof. Plus welded wire for the bottom two feet of it. And some buried, skirting out from the run to deter digging. That stuff added up fast. But I built the run extra tight so I could leave the coop door open to it all night. If I were to let them in the run only during daylight I might have gone with just chicken wire, but probably not since I've lost so many to raccoons.

You can definitely get away with building something simpler, many examples of which have been posted in this thread. But you can also accomplish alot for $300-$400.

I don't actually have proof of raccoons in our area, but was kind of assuming they might be here. In 10 years, I've never seen them around our property, nor have they gotten into the garbage. The predators I have seen either on our property or the neighbors' are foxes, skunks, crows and ravens, hawks, owls, eagles (we have the largest population of bald eagles in the lower 48) and the occasional stray dog or cat. Someone shot a bear on their property last week (only time in 10 years) and there were reports of a lion that attacked a horse when we first moved here. (oh, and the old-timers told me a story of a supposed big-foot right in front of our property one night about 25 years ago

) I'm not going to worry about bear and lion and big foot however-- if they want my ducks there's very little I can do to stop them short of my kitchen gun. I've decided to make the shelter itself as critter-proof as possible, and then lock them up at night. The foxes and skunks shouldn't be too much trouble in the daytime, with people and dog wandering around.

 

[cosbackyard]

I don't actually have proof of raccoons in our area, but was kind of assuming they might be here. In 10 years, I've never seen them around our property, nor have they gotten into the garbage. The predators I have seen either on our property or the neighbors' are foxes, skunks, crows and ravens, hawks, owls, eagles (we have the largest population of bald eagles in the lower 48) and the occasional stray dog or cat. Someone shot a bear on their property last week (only time in 10 years) and there were reports of a lion that attacked a horse when we first moved here. (oh, and the old-timers told me a story of a supposed big-foot right in front of our property one night about 25 years ago

) I'm not going to worry about bear and lion and big foot however-- if they want my ducks there's very little I can do to stop them short of my kitchen gun. I've decided to make the shelter itself as critter-proof as possible, and then lock them up at night. The foxes and skunks shouldn't be too much trouble in the daytime, with people and dog wandering around.

I had a bear get to one of my free-ranging chickens a few weeks ago. Like you said - not really much you can do to stop them. He didn't even try to get into the pen, anyway.

Sounds like you've got a good plan, overall

 

[chicken pickin]

I am loving all these pics and ideas! I haven't gotten much done on my duck area so this gives me motivation. I have a temperary set up that the ducks finally abandoned and they are now 100% free ranged. My DH loves that they are free ranged I don't like that they are 100% free ranged it makes me nervous they will get eaten hit by a car or wander off and not come home. They do leave sometimes and don't come home all day. So I need to get my butt in gear and go outside and work on the house. It is a old chicken house passed down from a friend. I took off the outside walls removed the roosting poles and started cleaning it out. It needs to get thoroughly cleaned and disinfected and new walls put on with a window a door and vents. The little house has nest boxes but I hear ducks don't use nest boxes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am loving all these pics and ideas! I haven't gotten much done on my duck area so this gives me motivation. I have a temperary set up that the ducks finally abandoned and they are now 100% free ranged. My DH loves that they are free ranged I don't like that they are 100% free ranged it makes me nervous they will get eaten hit by a car or wander off and not come home. They do leave sometimes and don't come home all day. So I need to get my butt in gear and go outside and work on the house. It is a old chicken house passed down from a friend. I took off the outside walls removed the roosting poles and started cleaning it out. It needs to get thoroughly cleaned and disinfected and new walls put on with a window a door and vents. The little house has nest boxes but I hear ducks don't use nest boxes.

Ducks left un protected at night especially will eventually be killed and eaten. Just the facts of life.