As of now I have 5 khakis and 4 scovies. I need to get more khakis because I have to many boys at this point and would like to add a few more girls rather then rehome the extra boy. So my question is how many ducks can fit comfortably in an 8X8 house? I have had as many as 13 living in it before but they were younger and smaller. They free range all day and are only locked in at night.
an 8x8 house is 64 sq ft. typically each duck needs 10Sqft of run space and 4sq feet of coop space, makinf t around 14sq ft per duck. at 63 feet, i would say no more than 4 or 5 dcks in the pen to be comfortable. maybe you could add a another or so if they got to free range. maybe up to 8-9?
An 8x8 house will accomodate 16 birds over night, but really no more than 16 adult birds is recomended. That gives 4 sq feet per bird. I, personally, would stick to no more than 12, this leaves space for nest boxes and a bit more personal ducky space, especially since you have scovies and they can be a bit agressive in close quarters. As long as they will NOT be cooped during the day, they will be fine. My house is 8x16 and I keep 20 adult ducks quite comfortably over night. We have 4 nest boxes, and my 4 scovies have their own seperated 5x4enclosure in the house with my 16 Anconas taking the rest of the space. They dont make too big a mess and they all have enough space to be happy for the time they are in there. Good luck with the new little ladies!
My ducks free range 2 acres all day from morning until dark and have a small pond . They are only ever in the house at night. I am thinking of adding no more then 4 female ducks and am taking building the scovies their own little sectioned off area into consideration so that everyone is happier. Thanks for the answers!
I think you'll be just fine. I have a 7X8 coop with 20 ducks sleeping in it at night, and they all sleep huddled together in one corner. The hens have a couple of nests behind a hay bale, and they go back there and lay and then rejoin the flock. Like you, Bufforp, mine only use the house at night, and free-range the rest of the day.
I had 5 ducks in a 2 by 6 raised pen till recently. Then we built a 4 by 8 raised pen for the 5.. trio WH's and pair of cayugas... Now just have the trio of WH's .. There was plenty of room for them except that the drake cayuga was giving the drake WH trouble... Had to rehome the pair of cayugas to keep hubby happy..
I keep 6 to 8 ducks in my 8X8 pen, and that is messy enough. The more ducks the more mess. Depends on how much work you want to do cleaning out poo.
