Floating duck house

[LT71689]

Most land predators of ducks can and will swim, and you’ve got birds that can’t fly. They’d still be in danger out on the pond at night and would be best locked in their house at dusk same as if they were on land. Which begs the question of why bother put it on the pond making your cleaning and maintenance more difficult.

 

[monica_youngblood]

I don't know how practical a floating duck house would be from a maintenance standpoint. You'd have to bring it in every few days to clean. You would either need an automatic door that won't be affected by splashing, or you would need to haul it in every night and every morning to open and close it up. That is to make sure that swimming land predators and water predators couldn't get into the duck house. You would also need to fence basically the entire pond. I think that having a thing that starts on land and extends into the water would be much more practical.

Not any predators that would go into water. So far no gators or snakes. We'll keep that in mind though.i saw one that ducks were in a fenced area that extended into pond and they could bob under the edge of the fence to leave enclosure. We may have to go that route.

 

[monica_youngblood]

Most land predators of ducks can and will swim, and you’ve got birds that can’t fly. They’d still be in danger out on the pond at night and would be best locked in their house at dusk same as if they were on land. Which begs the question of why bother put it on the pond making your cleaning and maintenance more difficult.

True. Just thought they may be happier.

 

[monica_youngblood]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

You are not the first person to come up with this idea, and sadly, I've yet to see one single case where it's actually worked. Most people tend to say the ducks never use it. Plain and simple, however good it may look, its impractical, and also effective at keeping predators at bay, as a raccoon will gladly swim a little bit to feast on a few ducks.

One option we saw ducks were in a fenced area that extended into pond and they could bob under the edge of the fence to leave enclosure. We may have to go that route. Do you think that would work?

 

[black_cat]

Not any predators that would go into water. So far no gators or snakes. We'll keep that in mind though.i saw one that ducks were in a fenced area that extended into pond and they could bob under the edge of the fence to leave enclosure. We may have to go that route.

Foxes and raccoons would be happy to take a little swim to feast on some ducks. I've never had ducks, but I don't see the point of the walls there if predators and ducks can both just duck under (no pun intended) and go where they please. Maybe a secure space that fences part of land and part of pond all the way (Maybe with netting below water?) and having the duck house on land. You don't even need to roof it, just having some netting to block hawks would work. That would make it so ducks have safe access to water, and you have easy access to their duckhouse for cleaning and closing and such.

 

[Fuchsia]

We used to have one (when I was four so not recently) and it worked great! We had it for about a year and then had to rebuild it because it was too small and after we rebuilt it we had it for two years. It worked really well! I would love to do it now but I don't know if we have snappers in my pond so I don't want to chance it.

 

[monica_youngblood]

Foxes and raccoons would be happy to take a little swim to feast on some ducks. I've never had ducks, I don't see the point of the walls there if predators and ducks can both just duck under (no pun intended) and go where they please. Maybe a secure space that fences part of land and part of pond all the way (Maybe with netting below water?) and having the duck house on land. You don't even need to roof it, just having some netting to block hawks would work. That would make it so ducks have safe access to water, and you have easy access to their duckhouse for cleaning and closing and such.

Not what we wanted, but from the sound of it it seems best for the ducks.

Thank you.

 

[black_cat]

Not what we wanted, but from the sound of it it seems best for the ducks.

Thank you.

I don't mean to pressure you into doing anything, sorry if I sounded kinda harsh/bossy in those posts. If your ducks will use a floating duck house and you're willing to do the extra maintenance, feel free to do it! I'm not in charge of you Just offering my 2¢ on the matter.

 

[monica_youngblood]

I don't mean to pressure you into doing anything, sorry if I sounded kinda harsh/bossy in those posts. If your ducks will use a floating duck house and you're willing to do the extra maintenance, feel free to do it! I'm not in charge of you Just offering my 2¢ on the matter.

Oh no...not harsh at all. I was looking for honest advice. I'm going share all ideas with my husband and daughters and see what they think will be best given our situation.

 

[black_cat]

Oh no...not harsh at all. I was looking for honest advice. I'm going share all ideas with my husband and daughters and see what they think will be best given our situation.

Sounds like a great idea! Your ducks are adorable and I"m sure that whatever you work out for them will work phenomenal.