Duck Houses

[Ren2014]

dandefrancis, did your ducks ever adapt to the pond and use the platform?

 

[Ren2014]

I would like to free range my runners and have wondered the same thing ( if they would just run off or if they would stay close to their house and pen.)

We don't have runners but I am trying to move our ducks from the backyard to our stock tank that is about 100 yds away. They always return to the back yard. They free range now and only go to the tank when I herd them. They always stay close to their house and pen.

 

[CraigT]

I acquired 4 adult ducks about 2 weeks ago and built them a 4x8 shack for shelter.. they refuse to go in it as if they are afraid of it! It's flat roofed and has a fair sized opening in the front for them to go in. I saw the lean too style of house and think that might do the trick.. It can get dang hot down here and the last thing I want is to torture my ducks because there shelter scares the hell out of them lol. I was thinking of adapting the lean too concept.. ( slanted roof but open on 3 of the four sides) and make walls on the three sides that would be open and place hinges on the walls so that they all could come down during the day and play the role of ramps into the shelter. It could also double to protect from predators which include Hawks, coyotes and this list goes on and on. Can't wait to put it together and post a pic. Home Depot loves me lol.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Here's a lean to plan.
http://www.hometips.com/diy-how-to/leanto-shed-build.html/lean-to-shed-sunset
In colder climates, one could insulate with 1.5" foam board insulation and cover that with a sheet of plywood. It does assume that you have another structure to add on to. Personally I'm not in love with the way the foundation boards are done there tho. At this time I have no other suggestions, however.

As far as getting older ducks used to a new house, it just takes time. Ducks are creatures of habit, meaning they don't like changes.

 

[chesterthegreat]

Everyone has such lovely duck houses!

I use to keep my ducks in my garage but then I decided to just convert my old childhood play house into my duck house. It was just sitting in the backyard taking up space so I decided to put it to use and my parents agreed with me. They love it! It's a very large play house which gives them plenty of room to spread their wings, plus I enjoy all of the room so I can store their food and extra hay right in there with them. It's in need of a good paint job, but other than that it works out very well. Their happy with it, so I'm happy. They also have a very large fenced in area attached to the house with a very good sized pond right in the middle of it which of course is the biggest hit.

 

[johari]

The new duck house I just built.

 

[johari]

New chicken coop and duck house in action. Though the ducks still prefer to coop up with the chickens. Sigh. I have to move them to their house almost every night. Though occasionally they will go to their house.

 

[mchammer265]

I want to keep my two ducks outside I was wondering if I bought a large dog house put some hay and a door on it. Or if I need to build a coop. I live in ga and we have been having a rough winter what would be their tolerance to cold.

 

[jelwell1982]

Would the doghouse be just a place to stay at night?

 

[Amiga]

A dog house with a sturdy door and good ventilation works well at night when it is not brutally cold. Half inch metal hardware cloth is a great invention. When mine were in a house outside I used that, and two strands of equine electric fence, at 6 inches and 15 inches above the ground. It worked well in mild weather. Hot summer nights, because we had attached a porch covered top bottom and sides with hardware cloth (metal, half inch), I could give them big drinking pans they would sometimes jump into to cool down.

In my experience, even cold-hardy ducks may not be up for extreme cold. We have a few in the flock of runners that just don't hold up well. I want them to thrive, not just survive (too corny sounding, but that is my feeling).

Some of the bigger ducks with thick feather jackets do pretty well as long as they have cuddle buddies and are in well insulated shelter out of the wind, with dry and relatively clean bedding. I used very deep bedding - a foot and a half of shavings, with some straw on top - I also installed a sliding drop ceiling of plexiglass panels so I could reduce the volume of air to try to keep warm while still having decent air circulation. It was not working for a number of the ducks, though.

Meanwhile, I had cleared an area in the walkout basement as a storm shelter. We can get some ripping storms here, and there are trees around - which is great - so flying branches are a concern. And, like this winter, we can get some extended sub-zero weather patterns. So we moved them into the storm shelter for the winter nights. Eventually, because of the weather (our first winter together we had 3 feet of snow on the ground by the end of January) I saw so many advantages to having them in the storm shelter longer term, that I put in some studs and a base and attached plastic poultry fence as "walls" and that is the night pen. I can hear them, the risk of predator incursion is extremely low, it stays above freezing even though it's unheated, they have natural light from a large window, it is working out.

Very few people will have the same situation as I do. So I just want to say that I would rather think ahead to worse case. Arctic cold for weeks on end, multiple feet of snow, high winds, 100˚F sunny days, how will you keep their body temperatures in the healthy range?

I do not have to shovel a path 50 feet just to get to the duck house anymore. So thinking ahead about access should it snow (I know Georgia has seen more snow in the last few years than I ever saw growing up there) would be good. And I recall the wicked ice storms. Access to water, to electricity if you need it, within sight and sound so you can help out in case of trouble, all things to think about.

Also, some little slope around the swim area - even 2% helps water move out of their pen. I have a shallow channel that carries water to a garden area.