Maine

[3bird]

Hello 3Bird, and Welcome to the BYC Maine thread!

I do not personally own ducks at the moment, but I have fond memories of my mother keeping them when I was a child. I'd love to have some again at some point.
Appleyards are a good choice, you'll really love them. There is a duck thread here on BYC with some very knowledgeable folks who are duck-experts.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/737292/the-duck-thread


With building a duck house, or any fowl housing, do build as good a structure as you can. Electricity is very helpful- it is great for heated waterers to keep the water from freezing during the wintertime, and also useful for any other device which may be needed down the line.
I personally do like insulation. I have one coop which is insulated and one that is not, and the difference between them is very apparent. 10-15 degrees F warmer in winter, and much cooler in the heat of summer. Make sure you have ventilation as well. There is actually a whole page here on the importance of ventilation which is very useful, as well as several pages on coop building and design. Here is one specifically for duck housing:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/waterfowl-housing-coop-run-designs-plans-for-ducks-geese-etc


Predator-proofing is also a big consideration when building our bird housing and run area. Several posts back, some folks were talking about the nuisance of weasels. They are pretty common in Maine, and capable of squeezing into areas that seem no bigger than a cell phone could fit through. Hawks, raccoons, coyotes and foxes can also take birds. Then there's the occasional stray dog or runaway dog, which might become a predator if given the chance. Many people bury hardware cloth/wire mesh under the run and coop area, to help prevent digging predators.

Ducks are great slug catchers too. There was an apple orchard we visited last fall which used a flock of ducks as a natural pest-control option. Wish I had a photo, but they did a great job weeding and making sure there were very few bugs around. I'm sure you will really enjoy your ducks- come on back and update us on how they are doing- we'd love to hear from you!

Thank you so much for the thoughtful and informative reply. I suspect we will insulate and add electricity (luckily the duck house will likely be situated on the southeast side of the barn, requiring a very short run). We plan to build a predator-proof bunker, and one that will be somewhat larger than we need in case we grow the flock in subsequent years. We'll certainly post pictures! Thanks again.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Ok I'll chime in with my super awesome Maine duck house. So one day I brought home a couple goslings. I had no where to put them, so we threw together an approximate 4x3 enclosure with no bottom to house them until we could figure out what to do with them. Literally took a half hour, all scraps, some of it not even, but predator proof-ish.
The geese didn't work out (the feeling was mutual).
So then I brought home ducks.
I repurposed the goose house to a duck house. It's been happily storing ducks since.
In the rainy and cold season it has a tarp. If it's nice the tarp comes off. If it's nasty they get a quilt over the front along with the tarp.
Eventually we had rats burrowing under the duck house and so I covered the bottom with thin spaced wire fencing.
If I had it all to do again I wouldn't really change anything. It isn't pretty, but it's very functional. The ducks do very well in it. My wedding quilt was repurposed (I'm happily divorced) and the ducks are appreciative of it.
I have big ducks (pekins) and they do absolutely fine in winter with some hay to bed down in. I do run an extension cord in winter to a heated dog bowl for water.









See... not even the plywood was cut to fit. Just thrown together. It isn't sightly, but it works.

 

[combatfuzzball]

Hello. Anyone interested in trading or purchasing possibly 2 EE's in the next week or so? I Also most likely have will have 2 black Australorps a bit later on. These will all be roosters. One of the EE's appears to be developing into a nice wheaten color scheme and the other most likely will be a silver type scheme.

 

[3bird]

Ok I'll chime in with my super awesome Maine duck house. So one day I brought home a couple goslings. I had no where to put them, so we threw together an approximate 4x3 enclosure with no bottom to house them until we could figure out what to do with them. Literally took a half hour, all scraps, some of it not even, but predator proof-ish.
The geese didn't work out (the feeling was mutual).
So then I brought home ducks.
I repurposed the goose house to a duck house. It's been happily storing ducks since.
In the rainy and cold season it has a tarp. If it's nice the tarp comes off. If it's nasty they get a quilt over the front along with the tarp.
Eventually we had rats burrowing under the duck house and so I covered the bottom with thin spaced wire fencing.
If I had it all to do again I wouldn't really change anything. It isn't pretty, but it's very functional. The ducks do very well in it. My wedding quilt was repurposed (I'm happily divorced) and the ducks are appreciative of it.
I have big ducks (pekins) and they do absolutely fine in winter with some hay to bed down in. I do run an extension cord in winter to a heated dog bowl for water.

Thanks so much!

 

[lazy gardener]

Well I have 3 Easter Egger roosters out of my 8 . I'd like to see about trading for brown egg laying pullets if anyone is interested. Both will be 6 weeks old this Tuesday.

I think #1 is a roo, but #2 is a pullet. Pics of the 3 cockrels in question?

Hi, All!

We're new to BYC as members but longtime readers. Since moving to Midcoast Maine in 2012, we've been talking about taking the plunge with birds. Recently, and for a variety of reasons, we've been leaning toward ducks. Currently we are on a list to receive six silver Appleyard hatchlings at the end of May-ish.

Our wee farm is...well...wee. These several acres close to town were established as a farm c. 1870, but livestock have not been part of the mix in quite some time (the last outdoor animals were donkey's we've been told, and they had to go owning to code and noise nuisance...at least that's the word on the street). We know in 1880, the farmer ran a flock of 15 birds along with his milking cow, his one swine and his one horse (we love that kind of trivia!).

To become duck ready, we first need a proper duck house and run, so thatis the first order of business, and we'd love to know what people have to say about a Maine duck house (insulation, ventilation, electricity, etc.). We've read a ton of great information here already (some of it contradictory, which is fun!), and we're inviting any direct comments, mentorship, etc. The plan is to take the opportunity of siting and building the duck house as a chance to expand the garden, move the compost and begin to think a little broader about a permaculture duck system.

Our hope is that our ducks will be good foragers that we can rotate around the property and through the gardens to assist with slugs, snails et al.

Anyway, that's our story...for now.

Cheers!

Welcome! I have no input for you other than: ducks are messy. And baby ducks, while they can swim for a while, they are not water safe until fully feathered, and I'm sure you know that they need to be able to immerse their nares in water. I have no info for you regarding housing. I have a friend who wintered ducks in an old dog house. IMO they are hardier than chickens in the cold weather. I'd love to have some, have had them in the past, but never wintered them over.

 

[lazy gardener]

3B: I have no information for you other than: ducks are super messy. baby ducks are not water safe until they are fully feathered. And I'm sure you know that they need to be able to immerse their nares! I've had ducks in the past, but never wintered them over. I have a friend who wintered them in an old dog house. IMO, they are hardier than chickens in the winter. Welcome to BYC and the Maine thread.

CFB: IMO, #1 is a cockrel. #2 is a pullet. Pics of the 3 cockrels in question??? Including close up shot of comb from above. Cheap building supplies can be had at Habitat for Humanity, Mardens, and at least for me, local town dump. Also spring clean up day, road side scavenging! Local remodeling or roofing companies often have wonderful stuff available.

 

[combatfuzzball]

3B: I have no information for you other than: ducks are super messy. baby ducks are not water safe until they are fully feathered. And I'm sure you know that they need to be able to immerse their nares! I've had ducks in the past, but never wintered them over. I have a friend who wintered them in an old dog house. IMO, they are hardier than chickens in the winter. Welcome to BYC and the Maine thread.

CFB: IMO, #1 is a cockrel. #2 is a pullet. Pics of the 3 cockrels in question??? Including close up shot of comb from above. Cheap building supplies can be had at Habitat for Humanity, Mardens, and at least for me, local town dump. Also spring clean up day, road side scavenging! Local remodeling or roofing companies often have wonderful stuff available.

Thanks. I'll get somewhere with the building supplies. I scored a coated wooden Lobster Pen from an area restaurant that was remodeling for florring which is awesome. It'd been in place for years and no rot so will be great for flooring. I thought 2 was a pullet as well until the comb really started in. IT's a triple layer comb like the first. I'll try and get a picture this weekend . If it is a cockerel it's going to be a boring colored one.

 

[buckabucka]

We have another mink! Chickens are still in their safe NYC-style quarters while DH secures the hoop coop.

First he saw tracks out there, all around the coop perimeter (easy to spot in the new snow). He set the trap out, but it only has an ancient chicken head in it. Then he was digging and laying out hardware cloth and the mink kept coming by. The mink was not timid, - DH had music playing, the mink clearly knew he was there. So he went and got the gun. He fired at him four times (missed). We needed sharp-shooter SCG here! This was only the 4th time DH has used the gun.

We need to put some better bait in the trap. I was exhausted when I got home, but added a small piece of moldy raw chicken (saved in the frig from the last trapping) and a slice of salami. I haven't been out there this morning, but between the gun shots and the moldy meat, I'm not too confident there will be anything in the trap. We'd hoped to move the chickens home this weekend, but now we need to get that mink!

 

[DwayneNLiz]

So frustrating!! Good luck getting that mink!!!

 

[enggass]

Just a heads up for anyone interested. I hatched a bunch of chicks 2 weeks ago and will have some Roos available:
Bev Davis Line Wheaten Marans
John Blehm Line Silver Ameraucanas
Dick Horstman Heritage Single Comb Rhode Island Reds
Jaime Duckworth Heritage Barred Rocks

Anyone interested please PM me and I can communicate through PM what's available and when. I need some time to determine the roos and what I am not keeping.
At this time all I plan to keep is one Wheaten Roo, and one Silver Roo.

Steve