Free Ranging Ducks

[Muddy Fork]

To make the whole ‘getting free ranging chickens’ idea better for my wife we had to get a duck. When we went to buy the 20 chicks and one duck the guy selling them said I needed two ducks and now that’s what we have. They are getting too big for my chicken coop and one of the ducks is getting picked at by the chicks so now I need to separate them. I have a pond that I could put them on, but I'm not sure I want them on the pond. If I have ducks I want some eggs so how do you get eggs if they're on a pond? Can I buy a dog house for a nesting box and if so do I float it or set it along the shore? If you have free ranging ducks I’d like to know what you do with them.
Thanks

 

[chickboss]

Ducks spend a lot of time on water, but nest on land. A house, such as a large dog house with a door or some other predator proof, but somewhat small, building would do fine, as long as you can get them to go in at night. Hopefully they will lay at some point in the early morning, and you can let them out. However, if it is going to be a small house, you need to put them away late, and let them out early because they will not be at all happy having to spend extended periods of time in such a small space. Otherwise, you could build a run, place the dog house in the run, so that they can have more room while being confined, and then let them out of the run to free range after they have finished laying. Keep food and water in the run, so that they have reason to be in there. If left to free range 100% they will nest and lay eggs where ever they like, and may move the nest once you begin to collect the eggs. Congrats on your ducks!

And

 

[ChickenToes]

To keep them from wandering away, the safest thing to do would be to fence in a space for them. A doghouse would work just fine as a coop. The biggest problem with ducks is that they don't like to go into a coop at night unless they are trained to do so. If they are out on your pond at night, they are just that much more susceptible to a predator attack.