Ideas for a Duck House

[CSDeVault]

Hello,

I am looking for ideas for a duck house. I free range my ducks. I want to be a duck house by a pond on my property. Can anyone post some pictures of a duck house? What do I need to think about in terms of designing a duck house? Although I free range my ducks, I would like to be able to have them locked up if I go out on vacation, etc. Thank you for any pictures, ideas or suggestions.

 

[Evadig]

Hi! This is my duck house. It is part of a bigger complex we call the Muddy Run.

When designing a duck house there are two ways to clean the floor: spraying or the deep litter method. If you spray then you want to make sure you have really really good drainage around the coop. Spraying the floor is definitely the easiest way to go, especially in summer. If you do the deep litter method you might want to have the food and water outside the coop because the ducks will soak their bedding overnight. I prefer having it inside in case there’s bad weather while I’m gone. I usually do the spray method in summer and the deep litter method in winter. My ducks do not sleep in the house, but they do use it for laying eggs. My duck house is not perfect by any means, so hopefully other duck lovers will show you some of their setups and add some advice!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

This is mine but I am not sure what you are looking for. I do not have a pond but mine do free range my garden all day. Also, I could not lock mine in and go out of town, their water needs to be changed once or twice a day and their litter cleaned and added too. I pay a duck sitter to come morning and evening. Ducks are wet poopy (but also lovable) creatures. So keep in mind how you will keep them dry. Also, how will you access cleaning and egg collecting. They do not like to climb up into a house, so chicken coops do not work well unless you modify them. Ducks will not always go into the coop when you want them too. So, how will you get them in? I built mine so that when the door is open it hits the fence. This allows me to herd them in if needed, otherwise, I might be circling the coop for hours! Good luck.

 

[CoriM]

If you plan to let them free-range on a pond you'll need to start them out with really good training/incentives to get them into a coop at night. So much about what you end up with depends on your climate and predator situation. I have a lot of predators from land and sky and my coop is entirely predator proof - I lock them in the enclosed portion at night, and the flooring is wood shavings that I scoop wet and soiled parts out of everynight. They need something 6 inches deep, and dry, to stay warm in winter. The outside area is half shavings, which they like to lie in, and then pea gravel around the tiny pool, which I can hose off everyday. I free-range them while I supervise, and also have a portable tractor that they go into for several hours a day, weather permitting, and a larger man-made pond in the yard. For my situation it works great. My neighbor did ducks on her pond for a few years but could never get them to come in at night (didn't really try very hard) and they just got picked off one by one until she ran out, then in spring she'd try again. Kind of sad for the helpless ducks.

 

[Evadig]

View attachment 3731626
This is mine but I am not sure what you are looking for. I do not have a pond but mine do free range my garden all day. Also, I could not lock mine in and go out of town, their water needs to be changed once or twice a day and their litter cleaned and added too. I pay a duck sitter to come morning and evening. Ducks are wet poopy (but also lovable) creatures. So keep in mind how you will keep them dry. Also, how will you access cleaning and egg collecting. They do not like to climb up into a house, so chicken coops do not work well unless you modify them. Ducks will not always go into the coop when you want them too. So, how will you get them in? I built mine so that when the door is open it hits the fence. This allows me to herd them in if needed, otherwise, I might be circling the coop for hours! Good luck.

I love your dog!

 

[CoriM]

I love your dog!

Me too! What a beautiful photo!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I love your dog!

Me too! What a beautiful photo!

Thank you! He is a sweetheart and he helped raise the ducklings. My youngest three ducks run to the fence to greet him.

 

[Evadig]

Thank you! He is a sweetheart and he helped raise the ducklings. My youngest three ducks run to the fence to greet him.
View attachment 3731712

That is the cutest picture I’ve seen in a long time ! Thank you for sharing!

 

[vlp88]

I love your dog!

I really like

Hi! This is my duck house. It is part of a bigger complex we call the Muddy Run.View attachment 3730370
When designing a duck house there are two ways to clean the floor: spraying or the deep litter method. If you spray then you want to make sure you have really really good drainage around the coop. Spraying the floor is definitely the easiest way to go, especially in summer. If you do the deep litter method you might want to have the food and water outside the coop because the ducks will soak their bedding overnight. I prefer having it inside in case there’s bad weather while I’m gone. I usually do the spray method in summer and the deep litter method in winter. My ducks do not sleep in the house, but they do use it for laying eggs. My duck house is not perfect by any means, so hopefully other duck lovers will show you some of their setups and add some advice!

I rea

View attachment 3731626
This is mine but I am not sure what you are looking for. I do not have a pond but mine do free range my garden all day. Also, I could not lock mine in and go out of town, their water needs to be changed once or twice a day and their litter cleaned and added too. I pay a duck sitter to come morning and evening. Ducks are wet poopy (but also lovable) creatures. So keep in mind how you will keep them dry. Also, how will you access cleaning and egg collecting. They do not like to climb up into a house, so chicken coops do not work well unless you modify them. Ducks will not always go into the coop when you want them too. So, how will you get them in? I built mine so that when the door is open it hits the fence. This allows me to herd them in if needed, otherwise, I might be circling the coop for hours! Good luck.

I really love this "quack howse"!! What is that you are using for their water and food in there? I can't quite tell

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I really like

I rea

I really love this "quack howse"!! What is that you are using for their water and food in there? I can't quite tell

Thank you! I have a grandpa’s treadle feeder for food (Amazon) and heated dog’s water bowls on wire shelving for water.