Moving to area where lake is outside, help with a duck pen

[Macjjo]

Hi, so I’m currently moving to an area where we live right next to a body of water, and I don’t want to leave behind my ducks. What would you reccomend for building a pen for them out there. I should mention a decent amount of the area is slanted.
I also have 4 ducks, all female. One has a broken leg though.

 

[KathiQuacks]

I’ve a very similar property lay out, though not as dramatic of an incline.

I suppose you could build a foundation for the coop to rest on, or maybe even dig into the slanted ground to level it out. Can your broken-legged girl walk at all? If so, I’d probably build the coop fairly close to the water so she doesn’t have to go so far.

Also, make sure your ducks know to return to the coop at night - I’ve had days my ducks didn’t want to return from the lake, and it was rather stressful not being able to get them back For this, I recommend only having their feed in or near the coop.

 

[ruthhope]

Also, make sure your ducks know to return to the coop at night - I’ve had days my ducks didn’t want to return from the lake, and it was rather stressful not being able to get them back For this, I recommend only having their feed in or near the coop.

I agree: feed the ducks in the coop an hour or so before dark so they come back there at night

 

[Jenbirdee]

How big is the lake?
Perhaps you can fence in just a little part of the lake . Build their coop close to the lake with a fenced in pen that includes maybe 1/4 of it being their little piece of the lake.
I do not know how people build a fence in the water but I know it has been done.

 

[Sosalty]

Knowing your water predators would be helpful; what region and what sort of lake, private or public? Can you get approval to fence into the lake? Do you want to fence out snapping turtles, otters, egg eating snakes, ect. . ? Do eagles frequent the lake? General guidelines include having brush cleared back so sneaky 'coon, foxes, and bobcats don't have an easy approach while still having bushes and/or willows for your duckies to escape from birds of prey. Hope you have some time and $$ resources as living on a lake would be bees knees for pet ducks

To quote Kathiquacks, "Also, make sure your ducks know to return to the coop at night - I’ve had days my ducks didn’t want to return from the lake, and it was rather stressful not being able to get them back : hmm For this, I recommend only having their feed in or near the coop." If your ducks have only a kiddie pool now, most ducks are passionate about a natural body of water. At sunset, they'll snicker at you and stay 20 ft out even if hungry, owls have plucked off their sisters from beside of 'em, and alligators are sleuthing about. Get them into a comfortable habit of going in to your coop around sunset.

Nice drawing, draw us another and do tell what you learn in your new setup.

 

[Macjjo]

Knowing your water predators would be helpful; what region and what sort of lake, private or public? Can you get approval to fence into the lake? Do you want to fence out snapping turtles, otters, egg eating snakes, ect. . ? Do eagles frequent the lake? General guidelines include having brush cleared back so sneaky 'coon, foxes, and bobcats don't have an easy approach while still having bushes and/or willows for your duckies to escape from birds of prey. Hope you have some time and $$ resources as living on a lake would be bees knees for pet ducks

To quote Kathiquacks, "Also, make sure your ducks know to return to the coop at night - I’ve had days my ducks didn’t want to return from the lake, and it was rather stressful not being able to get them back : hmm For this, I recommend only having their feed in or near the coop." If your ducks have only a kiddie pool now, most ducks are passionate about a natural body of water. At sunset, they'll snicker at you and stay 20 ft out even if hungry, owls have plucked off their sisters from beside of 'em, and alligators are sleuthing about. Get them into a comfortable habit of going in to your coop around sunset.

Nice drawing, draw us another and do tell what you learn in your new setup.

Of course, I plan on keeping them near the house at night. I had seen that foxes were seen roaming the house at night though. It’ll likely be a smaller pen, but I want to make sure they don’t go too far into the lake