Is the duck house big enough?

[DaSouthernYankee]

My 2 ducklings are about 3 weeks old and the last few days I’ve been building them a house to start transitioning outside. I live in Louisiana and even our winters are bearable so I really just wanted to make a space to keep them safe until they are grown and can free roam the yard which is fully fenced.

I’ve built a 4x2x2 that as of tomorrow will have a waterproof roof. Once my Pekin and Kahki are adults will this be enough space for times when they need to be confined? Like I said ideally they’ll have free roam but I wanted to give them
Their own little sage space in case...

 

[chickens really]

It should be enough space for them being your letting them out most of the time once bigger...One thing to worry about is predators getting them while they free range the yard..

 

[llombardo]

If that is where they are sleeping at night I would put hardware cloth on the ground all around the pen(apron).

Other then that, it should be fine for 2 ducks.

 

[DaSouthernYankee]

It should be enough space for them being your letting them out most of the time once bigger...One thing to worry about is predators getting them while they free range the yard..

Yeah I started thinking about that... I’ve never seen anything except opossum around my neighborhood and in January our Nigerian draws goats will be born and I’m hoping they’ll keep anything small like hawks away.

Is there anything else I can do to warn off predators?

 

[DaSouthernYankee]

If that is where they are sleeping at night I would put hardware cloth on the ground all around the pen(apron).

Other then that, it should be fine for 2 ducks.

So the cloth goes around the pen on the ground? What exactly does it do?

Sorry if that’s a silly question.

 

[DaSouthernYankee]

So the cloth goes around the pen on the ground? What exactly does it do?

Sorry if that’s a silly question.

Oh gosh, I didn’t realize what hardware cloth was... like chicken wire fencing?? And meaning to put it under the open bottom?

 

[llombardo]

You put it around the whole pen about 18-24 inches out. Connect it to the pen with bolts and use garden staples to hold it in the ground. I wouldn't use anything else but hardware cloth. This is for all the digging predators out there. It's called an apron.

 

[DaSouthernYankee]

You put it around the whole pen about 18-24 inches out. Connect it to the pen with bolts and use garden staples to hold it in the ground. I wouldn't use anything else but hardware cloth. This is for all the digging predators out there. It's called an apron.

Ahhh okay!! Thank you for explaining!

 

[llombardo]

Ahhh okay!! Thank you for explaining!

No problem. It's very simple to do and offers some protection. Otherwise your ducks are literally sitting ducks.