Mobile duck schooner...?!

[Miss_Lavransdatter]

Hi all! I'm asking a question for a friend. He has a flock of Welsh Harlequin ducks that currently free range, but he'd like to start breeding them using a clan mating system. Obviously, this would require keeping them locked up during breeding season. He uses large hoop schooners for his chickens and turkeys and likes that model, so we're trying to figure out if it's feasible for the ducks too. They are sturdy frames with wire mesh and no floors. The walls are covered by tarps but there's not a separate enclosed shelter inside. It is both coop and run. As a side note, he also has guard dogs and predators aren't a big issue here.

The clans would be about 1 drake and 5 ducks each.

First off, what kind of square footage would the ducks need in a situation where house and run are one and the same? They would be moved to fresh pasture regularly. The current schooners are 288 square feet but can be divided in half. Is 144 square feet sufficient for 6 ducks? Could they go smaller?

Secondly, how could their water needs be met in an entirely mobile coop? The chickens and turkeys use hanging waterers but I don't think the ducks could dip their whole heads in those. Would separate buckets/tubs of water just have to be removed and returned each time the schooners are moved?

Thanks in advance for any insight! And if anyone's done something like this before, let me know how it went.

 

[ruthhope]

Hi all! I'm asking a question for a friend. He has a flock of Welsh Harlequin ducks that currently free range, but he'd like to start breeding them using a clan mating system. Obviously, this would require keeping them locked up during breeding season. He uses large hoop schooners for his chickens and turkeys and likes that model, so we're trying to figure out if it's feasible for the ducks too. They are sturdy frames with wire mesh and no floors. The walls are covered by tarps but there's not a separate enclosed shelter inside. It is both coop and run. As a side note, he also has guard dogs and predators aren't a big issue here.

The clans would be about 1 drake and 5 ducks each.

First off, what kind of square footage would the ducks need in a situation where house and run are one and the same? They would be moved to fresh pasture regularly. The current schooners are 288 square feet but can be divided in half. Is 144 square feet sufficient for 6 ducks? Could they go smaller?

Secondly, how could their water needs be met in an entirely mobile coop? The chickens and turkeys use hanging waterers but I don't think the ducks could dip their whole heads in those. Would separate buckets/tubs of water just have to be removed and returned each time the schooners are moved?

Thanks in advance for any insight! And if anyone's done something like this before, let me know how it went.

I'm not clear what these schooners look like -- might you post a photograph.

But in answer to your question, ducks need 4sq ft open floor space at night. Actually, my pekins sleep in dog crates in the duck house that are a little under 4 sq ft, and are happy. Outdoor enclosures should be a “minimum of 16 sq. ft. (1.48 sq. m) of dry substrate per bird". I give my ducks far more than that. My son's have had to be confined to a run because of a problem dog climbing his 4ft perimeter fence. He has 10' x 20' [200 square feet] for 5 pekin ducks. Their wading pool and their overnight duck house are inside the pen. They are happy, but are also happy when any of us can be there in the back garden and let them free range throughout!!

My ducks free range throughout my back yard. The smallest space is when a drake is in jail and that is 50 square feet