Ducks in the woods?

[Gwhite3678]

We are thinking about adding ducks this coming spring. I already have a small flock of chickens which are in a somewhat wooded setting. I would like to have the duck house next to the chicken coop in the same area. There is no grass up there mostly small trees and some brush, the chickens seem to do well and enjoy foraging in this setting but am unsure if it will be ok for the ducks. I am planning on getting welsh harlequins. I’ll add a photo of the chicken coop placement to show about where the ducks would be.
Thanks so much!!

 

[cavemanrich]

You keep them where you can.. Not possible to provide an IDEAL environment for everything.
I see that you do have a secure run for your chickens. Will the ducks be using same run as well??? (just separate coop??)
I would suggest extending the run, and keep the ducks, and chickens separate. Reason;; If you have drakes,, they can cause harm to your chicken hens.
Ducks do like to have water available. A small kiddie pool will do as a minimum. You will need to change water quite often, since it gets soiled quite fast.
You can also make something similar to pix below,,

and plant some Annual rye grass. Annual grasses will grow more prolifically, than Perennial types. You can also look into planting other fodder plants as well. There are feed lot seeds available, so maybe those would be a good choice .
Need to be re-seeded each year. Grass will grow thru the hardware cloth. Tops will get nibbled by your ducks, if they such desire. The hardware cloth frame keep the grass/plants from being destroyed. Use your discarded water from kiddie pool to water the grass.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Aunt Angus]

My ducks are in the woods and do great! I use a kiddie pool for now (will be switching to a huuuuge stock tank eventually). They have 2 buckets for drinking, and I'm adding a few grazing boxes, as described above. My girls share the coop with the chickens. I built them a house next to the coop, but the duckies don't use it.

 

[Yardmom]

Ducks will be fine in a wooded area. They will search through leaf debris for insects. Ducks will need water for bathing and be a bit messier if left in a penned area, but their overall needs are similar to chickens.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If my ducks were allowed to forage in the woods around our home they would be gone in a week most likely. We fenced off a little more than half an acre for them to be in during the daytime. Woods are surrounding us but at least this gives them some security. I've never lost a duck to a predator but a few chickens who flew over the fence never made it home.

 

[Gwhite3678]

Thanks all, the ducks will be fenced in separate from the chickens. I’m planning on a kiddie pool for bathing to start with hopes to do something a little nicer down the road. The ducks I’m planning on don’t fly so hoping to use poultry netting to contain them.

 

[Isadora]

Any thorns or briars in the woods?
Ducks can be prone to bumblefoot so removing as many obvious things that can cut their feet goes a long way towards preventing it.

 

[Gwhite3678]

Any thorns or briars in the woods?
Ducks can be prone to bumblefoot so removing as many obvious things that can cut their feet goes a long way towards preventing it.

Not that I’ve ever seen so I don’t think that will be an issue, didn’t even think of that though

 

[Isadora]

Not that I’ve ever seen so I don’t think that will be an issue, didn’t even think of that though

I have some woods across the creek that I would love to move the ducks to, but there's a ton of thorns I would have to get rid of first.