Duck run

[southernsmall_flock]

Hi am currently building chick coop and plan on getting ducks in future. Anybody have advice on keeping them together ..and setup , pics would be appreciated. Keeping separate coops but run together

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

Welcome to the forum .

I do that; my ducks roam in a yard with the chickens during the day but they have separate coops. I have small pens around the duck coops inside the big yard, and a couple of hours before dark I pen the ducks up and feed them in there separately from the chickens. That way they easily learn go in their own coops at night while the chickens go in theirs and I can also make sure they eat their own food. They tend to back off and let the chickens have the food if the chickens are eating, though I've heard others say they have the opposite problem where the ducks are the food hogs.

If you plan to have drakes, you should have 4+ female ducks per drake so they aren't inclined to mate with your chicken hens. If they do, the chickens can be injured or even killed by it. If you end up with a drake who does, he'd need to be permanently separated from the chickens.

I have a 1,000 gallon stock tank for the ducks to swim in, and we lost one chicken to drowning . So that's a risk. Only the ducks have access to it now through their pens, and the chickens do fine with the shallower duck pools.

We've had a lot of rain so the yard is a muddy mess right now and not the best time for pictures . But I'll try to get some soon in the daylight.

I'm sure others have a lot more suggestions and advice!

 

[southernsmall_flock]

Thanks for the advice whitetree, it's really wet here right now too, that's got me reconsidering my runs ,the area is mud and muck right now and it's on the top of a slope. Worried if I can't keep it dry enough for the chickens with all the mess people say ducks make.

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

Thanks for the advice whitetree, it's really wet here right now too, that's got me reconsidering my runs ,the area is mud and muck right now and it's on the top of a slope. Worried if I can't keep it dry enough for the chickens with all the mess people say ducks make.

That probably depends on how much space the flock has. Your yard sounds similar to ours; we're also on top of a slope. The areas around the coops and waterers are the worst, but there are areas farther out that dry up better. I use the old pine shavings from the coops to cover the mud on coop cleaning day.

Here are a couple pictures of the small duck pens that open into the big yard.

 

[southernsmall_flock]

Thanks for the ideas , I like your setup. Your rooster is a beauty!

 

[southernsmall_flock]

Welcome to the forum .







I do that; my ducks roam in a yard with the chickens during the day but they have separate coops. I have small pens around the duck coops inside the big yard, and a couple of hours before dark I pen the ducks up and feed them in there separately from the chickens. That way they easily learn go in their own coops at night while the chickens go in theirs and I can also make sure they eat their own food. They tend to back off and let the chickens have the food if the chickens are eating, though I've heard others say they have the opposite problem where the ducks are the food hogs.







If you plan to have drakes, you should have 4+ female ducks per drake so they aren't inclined to mate with your chicken hens. If they do, the chickens can be injured or even killed by it. If you end up with a drake who does, he'd need to be permanently separated from the chickens.







I have a 1,000 gallon stock tank for the ducks to swim in, and we lost one chicken to drowning . So that's a risk. Only the ducks have access to it now through their pens, and the chickens do fine with the shallower duck pools.







We've had a lot of rain so the yard is a muddy mess right now and not the best time for pictures . But I'll try to get some soon in the daylight.







I'm sure others have a lot more suggestions

That probably depends on how much space the flock has. Your yard sounds similar to ours; we're also on top of a slope. The areas around the coops and waterers are the worst, but there are areas farther out that dry up better. I use the old pine shavings from the coops to cover the mud on coop cleaning day.



Here are a couple pictures of the small duck pens that open into the big yard.







and advice!

 

[WhiteTreeOfGondor]

Thanks for the ideas , I like your setup. Your rooster is a beauty!

Thanks!