Duck Housing for Muscovies

[sky's the limit]

I trying to figure out the best housing set up for Muscovies. I am new to having ducks and have a trio, but am not happy with the housing I have - would like to make sure I set them up with a good coop. Anyone with ideas and/or pics they can share?
Thanks!!

 

[Kats]

sky's the limit :

I trying to figure out the best housing set up for Muscovies. I am new to having ducks and have a trio, but am not happy with the housing I have - would like to make sure I set them up with a good coop. Anyone with ideas and/or pics they can share?
Thanks!!

I disagree with those who say leave them out. We have a zillion predators who are active at night. This is our duck barn. It is a shed that was once used to store apples.

Straw on the floor. Turn it over and add more straw if it gets smelly.

That cage structure the kids are in (which is not finished in that photo) is so that we can put water outside the barn, but accessible to birds in the barn if there's a bunch of ducklings in the barn. (Adults don't need water at night.) There are 2 windows you can't see on the right side of the barn with hardware cloth over the openings so they can be left open at night.

I get them in by rattling dog food in a tin can and then sprinkling it in the barn. For some reason they love it and come running from all over to be locked up. Mark you, I started this when our first Muscovies were only a couple of months old, so they have all been trained up to it.

Another reason for locking them up at night is that hens seem to lay at about 9 am more than any other time and I want to be able to find the eggs, so I leave them in until 10 am.

I love, love, love my Muscovies. Good luck with them. But I do advise training them up in good habits from the start.​

 

[chickensioux]

As I recall, I didn't have to do anything with their poop outside of their little house. Just changed their bedding in their house as needed. Which, with ducks, is often. I now have 23 ducks and a very large enclosure. Which we clean very, very often still. Welcome!

 

[MDC]

I would wonder why you felt a coop was a necessity, first, then find out about the environment in which you plan to raise your ducks before making any suggestions. I know that sounds 'harsh', I don't mean it that way, I'm just not a *flowery speech* type of person, sorry.

Having said that, I mean that ducks do not really *need* a coop like chickens do. Ducks are active at night and rarely will choose to go in one unless they're trained to do so.

Muscovy, in particular, are extremely territorial so if your coop is not large enough there is potential for substantial fighting going on at night. The same can be said for their pen, as well.

If a coop is your way of keeping them safe from predators, the same can be accomplished with a secure pen.

What are your winter considerations? Usually ducks do well with an area they can get out of the wind/snow that has a nice deep layer of bedding to keep their feet warm; they will snuggle their bills under a wing to keep their faces protected. There is possibility of frost bite on the caruncling of Muscovy with very low temps/windchills so maybe that is a good reason for a run in or a coop?

All of that to say that ducks do not *need* a coop but sometimes the environment in which they're managed warrants one.

 

[jmc]

What muscovy said.

Yes. Even a good tight cage is sufficient, with boards around to keep out nasty weather--not even screwed on.............

 

[sky's the limit]

What are your winter considerations? Usually ducks do well with an area they can get out of the wind/snow that has a nice deep layer of bedding to keep their feet warm; they will snuggle their bills under a wing to keep their faces protected. There is possibility of frost bite on the caruncling of Muscovy with very low temps/windchills so maybe that is a good reason for a run in or a coop?

We can have some nasty winter weather here (from the east coast of Canada). We get a fair amount of snow. and it can get quite cold.

Is it the drakes that will fight, or will the hens fight as well if the housing is too small?

Don't worry, not looking for flowery speeches

- am glad to have the input!

There's not a lot of predators here, but there's a few, and I don't want them to become lunch for someone! Will they go into a pen at night, and how do I train them to?​

 

[Trenary Duck Farm]

sky's the limit :

... Will they go into a pen at night, and how do I train them to?

Everybody's situation is different. Our breeders prefer to roost on stumps and downed logs at night in our large pond. Just as well, because at 6:00 in the morning they can be seen foraging for food along the pond's edge, and I don't like getting up that early. We also have open brooding pens set up along the pond's edge, and when they go broody these pens are closed and moved within the electric netting.

The ones designated for market are raised inside electric poultry netting with access to cover, and will soon gain the benefit of a Great Pyrenees LGD.​

 

[Chick_a_dee]

We have a duck coop! We have a trio of Buff Ducks, not muscovies BUT they're still ducks..Currently we lock ours up at night, and they come out for short periods...they still haven't figured out quite how you use the ramp which is funny because halfway down they just kind of fall off LOL...they're 5 weeks old now, and are starting to understand they have to go in at night as they will hunker down right near the end of the ramp. i'll get photos of the inside of the duck house for you, keep in mind its not finished yet ..i have to plywood and paint the walls still and the nest box needs painting but they pooed all over it LOL. Our duck house is about 6ft by 4ft. i can't understand you being leery about leaving your ducks out and with the weather too..i live in eastern Ontario and i feel you when you talk about nasty winter weather!

here is a photo of the outside of my house so far, and tomorrow i'll get you some inside pics.. be sure to insulate, ducks may not care, but it means they'll be toastier in the winter, and plus you won't have to heat if you ever feel a little bad for them for being out in that cold.

 

[Emzyyy]

I didn't have muscovies but some other ducks and I just had one of those black plastic ponds that you put in the ground but I just flipped it over and sawed a door in it and filled it with hay and they stayed in there at night.

 

[MDC]

You really do not have to insulate their coop - ducks have their own built in insulation - down! If anything I'd just give them a nice deep layer of straw. I like to let Mother Nature take care of her critters and if they're in good condition they build up enough down to take care of themselves long before winter gets here. The feet, being bare flesh, is about the only thing I worry about.

Basically to train them you just have to create and stick to a routine. Even adult birds can be trained to go in where you want them, it could be as easy as providing a night-time treat in the area you want them to go so that they equate going to their pen/shelter at night as getting a treat or even just being herded to the place you want them to go. If you keep a routine they'll learn it and soon they'll do it regardless of whether you're there to lock 'em up or not. They're creatures of habit so for the most part they'll adopt your routine although as with everything there are individual birds that may have a mind of their own!