Indoor Duck Pen Ideas for Disabled Ducks?

[marxrab]

I have two disabled ducks I need to bring inside for the winter. One is blind in one eye and seems to have permanent wet feather. No matter what he never seems to have waterproof feathers like my normal ducks so if he gets wet he gets soaked. The other duck is his brother and is blind in both eyes. I have an outdoor setup for nighttime for them both within my big duck coop where my healthy ducks live that works great in warmer weather. I keep them together with my other 12 ducks so they can enjoy duck company but within the big pen they are separated into their own smaller pen so they don't have to compete with the healthy ducks for food and water and aren't bullied. That setup is not going to work with winter creeping in. Pip's wet feather is a serious threat to his health so I need to figure something else out to keep him warm for the winter.

Anyways we had our first below 30 degree night and I've been keeping both in separate plastic totes in the laundry room. They can move around but it's cramped. I'd like to make them a pen indoors where they can be together and have space to walk around. I don't want to put diapers on them and let them run lose in the house. Since they are blind I need to keep them in a limited space where they can memorize their food and water placement and feel safe and secure.

I want to build them an indoor pen right next to the back door for cleaning convenience but I don't know how to do it. I want it to be easy to clean in terms of duck poo and water mess. I hate the idea of dealing with wood shavings or hay in the house so if anyone has any ideas for making a pen efficient for dealing with poop cleanup I really would appreciate the help. I also would love ideas how to build the walls. I tried using these cheap grid-like shelves and zip ties to hold them together to make walls but that was a big fail. After thinking about it the ducks could easily back their butts up to that type of all and poop out of the pen or splash water all over.

Thanks!

 

[Ratchnick]

The only way to get around bedding would require a remodel of that room of your house, cheaper to just get bedding.

 

[Ratchnick]

You cant really explain how to frame a wall in a forum post. Your best bet is to get a carpenter. If you need ideas search for indoor aviaries and see how they are constructed.

 

[Maksquacks]

I used to have to keep a group of 4 ducks in the garage at my moms house while recovering from a lack of feathers and it was too cold to be outside that time of year... I made a make shift pen and lined the bottem with a cheap shower curtain. I gave them a small area for bedding and two heat lamps. Every two weeks or so I would just wrap up the shower curtian like a big diaper and take it outside spray it with the hose and then put it back.... or if I was really lazy I would just throw the whole thing away and use a new shower curtain. Worked like a dream..... I reccomend the textured ones as it helps the duckies with slipping

 

[Weeg]

@Duck mommy 2019 you will be a huge help on this one!

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

blankets could help if they can’t walk as good, but i wouldn’t recommend because they don’t absorb poop as good as shavings so the ducks are just walking in poop all day

we have a large dog cage, with a wooden floor and walls so that the poop doesn’t get onto the actual floor

 

[Ephyra]

I use a dog play pen (I use the Iris brand because it comes in nice colours) with a coroplast base. If you google "coroplast guinea pig cage", you'll see what I mean. It's non-porous, slick and super easy to clean. We bought large sheets of it at Home Depot. The easiest way to understand how to cut it to fit your pen is to watch a YouTube tutorial on how to make a guinea pig cage. It's very easy though! I make the walls higher than guinea pig cages - high enough that they can't poop out the sides. With how big and powerful goose wings are, when they flap them, I found that pine shavings still managed to get outside the pen - and they stick to your socks and anything fabric... maybe this wouldn't happen with ducks though. I like to use spent, dried coffee grounds (you can get them at Starbucks for free but you'll have to dry them yourself) which also smells great! There's also coconut coir (pet grade) which is my second favourite. Both of these you scoop with a kitty litter scoop. I really didn't like straw either in this setup.

I would also really recommend putting their water dish in a tupperware that has high walls, and cut out one side just low enough that they can reach their water with a utility knife or jigsaw. It will catch the spills when they drink and try to play in it and helps with clean up immensely.

I have 2 "housegeese" and we mostly have them in diapers so they have the whole house but sleep in an indoor pen at night. We have had several injured geese and one sick duck stay with us with this setup too.

When we first brought a goose into the house (we hadn't planned on it), it was kind of a nightmare lol. But with lots of trial and error I think we have it down pretty good now! Good luck!

 

[Hbomb13]

blankets could help if they can’t walk as good, but i wouldn’t recommend because they don’t absorb poop as good as shavings so the ducks are just walking in poop all day

we have a large dog cage, with a wooden floor and walls so that the poop doesn’t get onto the actual floor

What would you recommend for a footless duck?

 

[Miss Lydia]

How does your duck get around and why no feet?