Getting Ducks in a coop

[PirateGirl]

I herd mine in every night. Not a chance in hell they would go in on their own. They would stay out 24/7 if allowed.

In nice weather I let them stay out later(in the run) while up out there.

oh, mine definitely do not put themselves to bed, but they are comfortable with the house and choose to hang out in there sometimes

 

[thumper650]

Mine are somewhat trained to go in their house. If I get one in, the rest will follow. At first I picked them up and put them inside, then gave them treats.
I leave their houses open during the day, and they too will occasionally hang out in them.

 

[Jpat]

View attachment 1568164 Mine are somewhat trained to go in their house. If I get one in, the rest will follow. At first I picked them up and put them inside, then gave them treats.
I leave their houses open during the day, and they too will occasionally hang out in them.

 

[llombardo]

Don't get me wrong, they like their house, but they enjoy being out of it. It seems to be much like a crate is for a dog. Their safe place. If they want to get away from something that is where they go. Generally if one goes, they all go, because Ducky see ducky do

 

[thumper650]

View attachment 1568259

That's great @Jpat ! We got a good laugh out of that one!

 

[thumper650]

Don't get me wrong, they like their house, but they enjoy being out of it. It seems to be much like a crate is for a dog. Their safe place. If they want to get away from something that is where they go. Generally if one goes, they all go, because Ducky see ducky do

View attachment 1568288 View attachment 1568290

Exactly! For example yesterday the wind was freaking them out and they went inside.

 

[Callender Girl]

My ducks love anything and everything edible. When I want them to go into their shelter/run, I yell, "House, house" and shake a container of feed. Or corn. Or, very likely, rocks -- as long as they hear something rattling in the container. They RUN inside to await their dinner. In fact, I have an adjacent modified dog house for the three youngest (the two hens and the supposed-to-be-hen) who dash into their house to await treats after the older ducks have gone "house, house" in the bigger shelter.

 

[Brahmb]

Hmm. I’ve tried treats, but they ignore them. They also DON’T like straw. They root around in it when I put it down on the ground for them, but they push it aside and sleep on either the plywood board I laid down first, or on their food and water mat...which is wet and has no straw - even in below freezing temperatures the past few nights! I don’t get it. This behavior confuses me.

 

[Jessi.Smith]

I lure mine into their coop with dinner. Very routine, feed the dogs at 6:30, feed the ducks at 6:45. I found that if I wait until after dark the ducks make me chase them, usually multiple people are needed to get them all into the coop. But when the sun is still out, easy peasy.

 

[Brahmb]

Well... I did it. I physically put them in the doghouse and after the first one popped back out, they stayed in, at least until I shut the main kennel door. I won’t close them in the doghouse because I don’t think it’s vented enough. I really don’t think they care that much about the cold, either. It’s 34 degrees right now and they were soaking wet from sitting in their water dish. I removed that as well. We’ll see if they are still in the doghouse by morning.