I inherited 5 ducks! Can someone show me pictures of duck run coop

[Studabird]

I now have five ducks due to a storm and the owner/s can’t keep them can you all show me a good duck run and coop? Than you all in advance.

 

[LT71689]

Ducks dont roost and often dont care much for nesting boxes, so their coops can be pretty simple plain boxes - your main concerns are predator proofing, good ventilation, and enough space. Otherwise, nothing terribly fancy is needed. Something to keep them safe, dry and out of the wind and rain is really it.

A common recommendation is around 4sqft per bird MINIMUM inside the coop. More is always better, for everyones comfort. The more space you give them the more content everyone's mood is and the drier their bedding stays because they can spread out more.

Your actual dimensions will depend on the space you actually have, if you plan to ever add any more birds, and YOUR wants/needs (do you want to be able to stand up inside of it to clean it out, collect eggs, replace food and water, etc? How do you want to clean it out? Some people make a whole wall on hinges that opens up and they can just push all the old bedding out onto the ground, others basically build a shed - or just use a pre-bought shed - they can get inside of themselves and then have to scoop out the bedding into some kind of container to move it away. Do you want to do a deep litter method which means your coop should be tall enough to accommodate, etc)

Construction and insulating and and such depends on where you live and the kind of weather you get. No matter what you want to make sure it's well vented - ducks generate a lot of body heat and breathe out a lot of moisture and splash their water around, you dont want anything getting musty or moldy. All windows and vents should be securely covered in hardware cloth to keep out predators, and you of course want to make sure theres no large gaps or loose boards or anything like that they could weasel their way into.

Unlike chickens, ducks dont do great with steep inclines or long ramps, so you may or may not wish to put it up on stilts. (depends on why youd want to do it in the first place, some folks want to use the space underneath to discard old bedding or as a place to pen a bird who needs a time-out but can still be near the rest, some folks pull their houses off the ground if flooding is common in the area, some folks do it so that the openings are waist-height for them which makes food and water and egg collection easy if they just open a door up and reach in. Others just sit their houses right on the ground.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

This is what my husband built for me and I love it! The actual coop part isn't a walk in as you can see from the side pictures, but my ducks seem to prefer the cozier feel with the lower ceiling and use it more than the walk-in shed we originally used. The roof for the coop is on gas shocks which make it light enough to lift with one finger and ensures that when opened it's not going to come crashing down on you. Cleaning and gathering eggs are a breeze as I just lift the lid and don't have go in. We now have a nesting box attached to the one side which adds a little bit more space, but I don't have a picture with the nesting box yet. I grew up on the farm and have used just about every type of coop, but this design is my favorite so far. We live where it is hot and humid for a good part of the year with mild winters so I wanted it as airy as possible. My husband is starting to build another one on the other side of our property with the same design so I can separate my breeders from my table egg laying hens. It cost $1500 to build and I know it may not be what you're looking for, but it may help spark some ideas.

 

[Studabird]

Thank you all some much for the advice! I live in Louisiana and it is hot for most of the year. We recently went through a hurricane and I got a duck as a refugee because I have a reputation as the bird guy. However, I only know a very little about chickens and a little bit less about turkeys. My neighbor brought a single duckling to me a week or so ago and asked if I could put it with my turkeys because they were young as well. I said sure then when she left I ran to this website (Even though I think of you all more of a community at this point) and asked what a duck needs and of course duck lovers came to my rescue. Last night I was informed the fostering had become an adoption. So I called around and found some ducklings. Let me say this. I have been around animals my entire life but never have I ever seen animal do a change like this. As soon as I put those baby ducks in the pen the refugee came to life it started cleaning itself and was the most animated I have seen it. Now they are all sleeping together after the older duck showed them where to eat and drink. Now I see why people have ducks. They have a quality that chickens and turkeys don’t have and it is a tear jerking and endearing quality that I most appreciate. Sorry for the rambling just really wanted to say thank you

 

[LT71689]

Ducks are very social birds, with a lot of personality (or maybe we just read into it a bit - they do always look like they're wide-eyed and smirking at you)


I'm guessing you've got some hot summers and fairly mild winters? hows the humidity? Natural disasters aside, does the area you want to put your coop and run stay fairly dry/drain well?

For your run, you've got a bunch of things to think about - again some of it related to how YOU want to manage things and what makes your life easiest/what makes the most sense for your environment. Dont take my word for it but I think I've seen people recommend 6ft per bird in the run and again, bigger is always better for keeping everyone happy and cleaner. Do you want just a dirt run, straw, pine shavings, etc? Are they also getting any free-ranging/foraging in the yard or are they spending all their time in the run? What kind of water source for bathing do you want to supply and do you want it in the run 24/7 or will you let them out for swims (if you keep your water in the run it might make keeping the run dry a challenge, but people have found their ways with some creative problem solving) Remember that any objects you put in the coop or run take up space so if you've got a 10x10 box and then you put a 4x4 kiddie pool in it...you cant expect a bird to be in the pool at all times, you have to give them a bigger unobstructed space.

Predators are gonna be a big thing probably. Dont skimp on the run protection, you're probably going to want a foundation of some sort or a predator apron to guard against anything that digs.

 

[nao57]

So.... a few notes about duck coops and management.

The good news is that ducks can be less restrictive than chickens. So this means more opportunity.

They grow faster than chickens. They can interact with you more also. And they are smart. They are easier to control, and less likely to get out of pen areas. Ducks don't really try to leave their pen areas unless there is no food. People are more tight about rules on chicken roosters than they are for anything duck. Most city ordinances don't have much for ducks which is good also. And as long as you don't get noticed its easier.

But a few things you want to be more aware of with them; ducks can have more problems with too many males. Also you need probably double or triple the drinking water sources compared to what you'd need for chickens.

This means probably having extra water buckets in your pen. Any 5 gallon bucket will do.

The idea of needing a pool or pond for ducks is false. But they do like a shade area in their day activity zone.

 

[LT71689]

oh, also noticing the 5 you just picked up are still babies - presumably unsexed? You might have gotten lucky and gotten a bunch of girls, or you might have a couple boys, which means either rehoming/culling some in the future or growing your duck population to an adequate gender ratio. On the LOW side, its 4 females per each male, so if you've got any more than one male in your bundle, you're in trouble. You'll either have to remove one or more males, remove one or more females (if you've got more boys than girls it might make more sense to keep the boys instead of keeping the girl, removing the boys, and still having to find more girls after) or add more females and make a bigger flock

Depending on how you want to handle that possibility might adjust your coop and run size substantially.

 

[DucksOhio]

This is what my husband built for me and I love it! The actual coop part isn't a walk in as you can see from the side pictures, but my ducks seem to prefer the cozier feel with the lower ceiling and use it more than the walk-in shed we originally used. The roof for the coop is on gas shocks which make it light enough to lift with one finger and ensures that when opened it's not going to come crashing down on you. Cleaning and gathering eggs are a breeze as I just lift the lid and don't have go in. We now have a nesting box attached to the one side which adds a little bit more space, but I don't have a picture with the nesting box yet. I grew up on the farm and have used just about every type of coop, but this design is my favorite so far. We live where it is hot and humid for a good part of the year with mild winters so I wanted it as airy as possible. My husband is starting to build another one on the other side of our property with the same design so I can separate my breeders from my table egg laying hens. It cost $1500 to build and I know it may not be what you're looking for, but it may help spark some ideas.

Wow, that’s great. And pretty as well.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Wow, that’s great. And pretty as well.

Thank you!