Duck Run

[CHlCKEN]

Also I am hatching some Pekins

Perfect I love them!

 

[Trisseh]

If you’re looking at heavyweights and are going to lock them up at night and don’t need a super secure pen, recycled pallets work well. I’ve also used the old style wooden snow fencing, which also works well. I had mine set up in sections so I could reconfigure whenever I needed to. Used steel step in posts to secure it.
I haven’t had any issues with predation although I did have a rash of skunk visits this fall for the first time, which has shown me weak points in my set up. I have electric wire on the outside to keep out other predators and it’s worked fine - haven’t lost any birds and other than those skunks, no breaches of the fence. And after shoring up those weak areas I haven’t had any more issues. plus, most of the time pallets can be found for free! I painted mine white to fit the rest of the setup too, but I don’t think they look bad on their own, just rustic. Lol.

 

[CHlCKEN]

If you’re looking at heavyweights and are going to lock them up at night and don’t need a super secure pen, recycled pallets work well. I’ve also used the old style wooden snow fencing, which also works well. I had mine set up in sections so I could reconfigure whenever I needed to. Used steel step in posts to secure it.
I haven’t had any issues with predation although I did have a rash of skunk visits this fall for the first time, which has shown me weak points in my set up. I have electric wire on the outside to keep out other predators and it’s worked fine - haven’t lost any birds and other than those skunks, no breaches of the fence. And after shoring up those weak areas I haven’t had any more issues. plus, most of the time pallets can be found for free! I painted mine white to fit the rest of the setup too, but I don’t think they look bad on their own, just rustic. Lol.

I need super secure since predators are bad. All my previous ducks were killed because I didn’t have a very secure run. Electric fencing has never worked well enough for me. Thanks for the suggestions though!

 

[Trisseh]

I need super secure since predators are bad. All my previous ducks were killed because I didn’t have a very secure run. Electric fencing has never worked well enough for me. Thanks for the suggestions though!

That really sucks. what kind of predators are you targeting? That’ll make a difference in your setup... And I guess what you have available to you by way of building materials would play a role too.

For me, it’s primarily skunks, coyotes, foxes, neighbours dogs, that kind of thing. My setup works for them but does nothing for hawks or raccoons, which haven’t been an issue (yet.)

If you ever do want to try electric again, I use a positive/negative fence, like they do around bee hives for bears. That way you don’t need super awesome grounding for it to be effective. The ground here is too sandy and doesn’t hold moisture for very long so traditional electric doesn’t work well here either. I also bait the wire for the first little while after setup or if I have an individual animal hanging around that needs a reminder. Licking the wire is very effective. Lol.

 

[CHlCKEN]

That really sucks. what kind of predators are you targeting? That’ll make a difference in your setup... And I guess what you have available to you by way of building materials would play a role too.

For me, it’s primarily skunks, coyotes, foxes, neighbours dogs, that kind of thing. My setup works for them but does nothing for hawks or raccoons, which haven’t been an issue (yet.)

If you ever do want to try electric again, I use a positive/negative fence, like they do around bee hives for bears. That way you don’t need super awesome grounding for it to be effective. The ground here is too sandy and doesn’t hold moisture for very long so traditional electric doesn’t work well here either. I also bait the wire for the first little while after setup or if I have an individual animal hanging around that needs a reminder. Licking the wire is very effective. Lol.

To be honest I’m not completely sure. I know I have raccoons bobcats coyotes skunks opossums hawks and maybe weasels, but what really targets them (other than hawks) is unclear to me. But I take high precautions and make sure my chicken run is extremely safe. Our grounding where I last had my electric fence was not ideal for the job. It was loose dirt which when wet would turn to soft mud- easy for a predator to just lift the fence stakes out of the ground which is what happened. I had a poor quality one meant for poultry though. It was solar powered and, you know, that does nothing on a rainy day. I have a really bad hawk issue so covered runs are required ( I also have climbing raccoons so covered runs keep them out too)

 

[Alaskan]

I like my duck coop... made from junk.

Front is all old busted up ripple plastic that I layered just right so there were no holes.

entrance side. The fenced porch area isn't very secure, but this entire thing is inside another fence... so it is the second line of defense.

Inside. Back left is a box that sticks out for laying/ nesting.

Since these are muscovy, the ledge is for the girls to jump up on... the boys are too big... and so the girls can avoid them.

 

[Runner duck mom]

I’m thinking of perhaps buying ducklings soon, but I don’t know what kind of run I should build/buy. I need something simple that will house 5 ducks or so. Any suggestions? Feel free to share your own coops and runs.

We modeled our run off of this one because our yard is on a slope.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/occupy-the-backyard.63493/
It's 8' x 16' for 5 runner ducks.
If you can I would suggest building over buying. You can make it just how you'd like it and probably have more square footage for the cost.

 

[3bird]

For our run, we put 6x6 timbers in the ground (on gravel) for a foundation, and then just constructed the walls with 2x4 framing braced at the corners and covered with hardware cloth. We installed a predator apron around the outside and a roof. We incorporated the duckhouse into the design.

 

[Gkundern]

I posted a video to My facebook a while back showing mine. Hopefully the link works.

 

[Runner duck mom]

I posted a video to My facebook a while back showing mine. Hopefully the link works.

Nice! We have the same drain setup for our pool as well. Nice to just open the valve and have the water drain outside the run.