It’s getting cold here! Ducks absolutely will NOT use their house!

[AshleyNicole06]

If you make a wide ramp they may get use to using it if they don't like the ramp you can pick them up and put them inside they will come down the ramp in the mornings once they get use to it. Slope the ramp so it isn't so steep too.

Okay!! Thanks!

 

[AshleyNicole06]

We put them in for the night because it was cold. (First time ever..) In the morning they were all fighting over the water dish. Lol
I don’t think they liked it very much!

 

[Miss Lydia]

They will get use to it, don't give up.

Was the water bucket in or out? mine can't have water inside they make the biggest mess ever.

 

[AshleyNicole06]

They will get use to it, don't give up.

Was the water bucket in or out? mine can't have water inside they make the biggest mess ever.

It was outside. Lol so I bet they were thirsty. They are used to having it whenever they want. Lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

Mine will run to the buckets first thing too and act like they are starving too. Piggy's in feathers.

 

[AshleyNicole06]

Mine will run to the buckets first thing too and act like they are starving too. Piggy's in feathers.

Haha! I thought mine were just naughty! I only have 3 of them. They’re my babies. Do you think they could open the door by themselves if there’s a ramp? (We haven’t made one yet)

 

[Miss Lydia]

They don't have hands lol so don't think they can open the door.

 

[AshleyNicole06]

They don't have hands lol so don't think they can open the door.

I mean like push it open. Or figure it out.. Lol it’s a pretty light plastic door..

 

[3bird]

Glad you're getting it figured out! Our guys much prefer being out, but when the temps really fall, we can drop the door and lock them in the duckhouse at night. On the ramp question, our guys have a pretty long ramp. I remember thinking they were never going to learn to use it. Now they love it!

 

[Krazyquilts]

Would something like this work just for night time?? I only have 4 ducks that’ll use it.
Would probably have to help them in and out?? I don’t know...

I wouldn't recommend it because the ramp will have to be either quite steep or very long, and if you are already having problems getting them to sleep in a shelter at night, you don't want to make th process more unpleasant for them.

At our old house, the duck was low enough that until the deep litter bedding starting getting high, the ducks didn't need a ramp and even after, a short low one was enough. Now that we have moved to a farm and have more critters, we have several campers we've turned into coops, including one that the ducks sleep in.

Because of this, we made a set of stairs out of cement blocks for the poultry, including ducks, to use to get up and down into the coop. We didn't think this would be a problem for the ducks because they had used cement block steps before, albeit shorter ones.

Here's a pic:

Th ducks do this sort of rallying jump-fly up the steps every night, and it looks like it takes some effort. In th mornings, they either trip down the steps, jump, or jump-fly down them (depending on their grace and dexterity, some use gravity more than others )

The camper-coops (hopefully) will be fairly temporary and when we design th next duck structure, it will be as close to the ground as possible because while the ducks can manage steps etc, they don't seem to prefer it. This is th experience I've had with my ducks, others may have had more successful experiences with their ducks using steps and ramps.