Free Ranging Ducks possible on this plot?

[Andysol]

Apologies in advance for the ignorance of this post. I live smack dab in the middle of suburbia, TX. No farmland around and only residential homes; however, I do live on a unique property and have made the most out of my area.

I have 4 chickens with a coop and eggbox discreetly built into my deck. They free range all day everyday; I have automatic feeders, automatic doors- I could leave for a week and they're fine (outside of collecting eggs). Have only lost one (a 10 mo old Dominique) to a hawk in the winter when the leaves were gone. Do have the occasional bobcat/coyote/racoon I'll pick up on my cameras.
I have bees and sell honey- nothing has ever messed with my hives (across the creek on an island and accessible via a bridge I have).
I grow mushrooms on my tiered backyard and sell excess (on a small scale).

I'm almost all shaded land- and again, I'm in the middle of a city/HOA/etc.

I'm interested in ducks due to the fact I have a slow running creek behind my house (with a deep section right behind me); and have read a decent amount on them. But like anything, I don't want my biases to come into play. i.e.- "I want ducks, so let me find that one store of someone in my situation who did it successfully and ignore the other 300 who didn't."

Pics of my small chicken coop:

Last pic shows the cutout where they can free range wherever they want. They stay out of my gardens and deck- fence keeps them from garden 99% of time and dog has trained them to stay off deck.

Here is a current pic of my 3 tiered backyard setup I have that overlooks a creek. I have some new retaining walls going in currently to replace my old timbers; which stimulated my mind to add some ducks to the bottom tier of my property. Chickens hang under the deck and forage the top 2 tiers pretty regularly. Top 2 tiers are also where my mushroom log cultivation happens (all moved for construction currently happening).

Here is a pic of what it looks like back there 9 months out of the year (note fireplace from other pic for positioning) The tiers are hard to see due to foliage (which is also why I have almost zero hawk dives) and the bottom tier is now leveled and will have pavers on it (though tons of foliage elsewhere):

And where I'm considering putting a duck coop:

Level area where pavers will be:

Always flowing creek. It is essentially a trickle flow at all times (so very slow) though it will absolutely rush with rainfal. The area pictured is ~4' deep.

Sorry for all the pics but wanted to get a full picture of everything.


I have a full time job and also enjoy traveling with my family several times a year. So everything I do is pretty low-tech. Bees I only have to check on once every couple weeks; chickens can go 5-10 days (depending on weather) with my food/water setup and I'll clean their coop every week or two, Mushrooms are pretty "innoculate and forget" outside of cultivating when they bloom, etc. But if ducks can't be taught to put themselves up at night w/ an automatic door and/or can't free range with an automated feeder and require daily care; they're likely out of the running on my place.

If it's possible, what would I need to build. Ideally I would only go coop w/o a "run" area and just allow them to range freely. I could rig up an automatic feeder to feed 1x/day. Unsure if I'd need a waterer? Potentially for when it's raining and the creek is inaccessible? Also- during a downpour- the water level never gets within 2-3 feet of the top of the bags there- so no potential for a washout.

 

[Quatie]

I don't have an automatic opener. Sometimes my ducks put themselves to sleep, often they don't. But people may have success with automatic doors.

The main concern I would have is the steep drop. Domestic ducks could drop off that and hurt their legs. I would lean towards a breed that can fly. But a duck like a pekin, would likely break a leg. Someone may have good suggestions for a breed that would work. I feel like it is going to be muscovy, and you may not like your native duck.

 

[Andysol]

I don't have an automatic opener. Sometimes my ducks put themselves to sleep, often they don't. But people may have success with automatic doors.

The main concern I would have is the steep drop. Domestic ducks could drop off that and hurt their legs. I would lean towards a breed that can fly. But a duck like a pekin, would likely break a leg. Someone may have good suggestions for a breed that would work. I feel like it is going to be muscovy, and you may not like your native duck.

Thanks for the response. Re: the drop, the other side of this wall actually slopes straight into the creek. So access in/out would be relatively simple. Though they’d have to walk 20ft to access the deep part of the creek.

Purple would be approx coop location and red is the slope and walk to creek. I’ll have 8” steps there as well made of concrete bags.

If I could get them to use an automatic door- I’m golden. That and I’m guessing there are breeds less prone to hawk attacks due to size or coloring (similar to chickens?) While my hawks are generally very small and the foliage and over story is very thick- I do get the occasional red shouldered hawk (nothing as big as red tailed). Cardinals alarm pretty well: as do the squirrels, but a loss could still occur.

My main concerns are:
-automatic door use
-predators
-need for water supplemental to creek (as I don’t have easy hose access that far down)

 

[Quatie]

While ducks will love a creek, you may need to keep them enclosed away from it till they know you are the food provider. Some ducks will float down creek. If they are well fed, they will stick around.

You may not need to add extra water if the creek doesn't dry up and maintains a decent level of water. They will need it deep enough to dunk their heads.

If the ducks stay on the lowest level, I think it should work out ok.

Hopefully someone else will chime in and provide some more info, and if they have gotten ducks to work with automatic doors.

 

[Ratchnick]

I don't have an auto door but i did train my ducks to go in at night. It was fairly sucessfull when i didnt have a duck house, just a chain link dog run with a tarp over one end. Two sides of the run were wood picket fence and two chain link. I do have a more solid house now but they won't go in it at night by themselves like they did in the covered run. In the end i regret building the house at all! They had all the shelter and protection they needed from the covered run. It did take a few months of training.

 

[Pollo Blanco]

I have an Omelet automatic door and I love it! Great quality and value.
My Indian Runners put themselves to bed and get up themselves in the morning. I am currently running the photo eye option so it's adjusting automatically to the lengthening of the day. Your plot looks well suited for ducks.

 

[Andysol]

While ducks will love a creek, you may need to keep them enclosed away from it till they know you are the food provider. Some ducks will float down creek. If they are well fed, they will stick around.

You may not need to add extra water if the creek doesn't dry up and maintains a decent level of water. They will need it deep enough to dunk their heads.

If the ducks stay on the lowest level, I think it should work out ok.

Hopefully someone else will chime in and provide some more info, and if they have gotten ducks to work with automatic doors.

I don't have an auto door but i did train my ducks to go in at night. It was fairly sucessfull when i didnt have a duck house, just a chain link dog run with a tarp over one end. Two sides of the run were wood picket fence and two chain link. I do have a more solid house now but they won't go in it at night by themselves like they did in the covered run. In the end i regret building the house at all! They had all the shelter and protection they needed from the covered run. It did take a few months of training.

I have an Omelet automatic door and I love it! Great quality and value.
My Indian Runners put themselves to bed and get up themselves in the morning. I am currently running the photo eye option so it's adjusting automatically to the lengthening of the day. Your plot looks well suited for ducks.

Thanks all.

So auto door
Plot of land

Would I need to offer them fresh water outside of the creek water or would the creek water be sufficient?
ETA: Creek never dries up though on second thought- when it rains even mildly hard, the creek is far too fast to get in (I’m assuming ducks are intelligent enough to know to not get into a raging rapid). So ironically I’ll likely need to offer them water during a rain event.

Food: I would build a pest-proof auto feeder with two timed releases for morning and afternoon.

 

[Quatie]

Would I need to offer them fresh water outside of the creek water or would the creek water be sufficient?
ETA: Creek never dries up though on second thought- when it rains even mildly hard, the creek is far too fast to get in (I’m assuming ducks are intelligent enough to know to not get into a raging rapid). So ironically I’ll likely need to offer them water during a rain event.

You could create a gravity fed waterer for them. On your property it would be fairly easy. Put a small water tank up higher and feed an auto water down below.

 

[Ratchnick]

You probably want to be able to keep them out of the creek on occasion. A gravity water system would be perfect.

 

[Pollo Blanco]

(I’m assuming ducks are intelligent enough to know to not get into a raging rapid). So ironically I’ll likely need to offer them water during a rain.

Interested to see what you come up with.