New to Ducks! Housing question/breed ID

[edgebrook]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum (and to ducks in general!). I had a few ducks growing up but we ended up giving them away once they were grown. This will be my first attempt with ducks on our own property. We currently have a 5 week old Pekin (I believe female, straight run from TSC) and a 3 week old mystery male duck. Breeder told us it was a blue cayuga but the pictures I've googled makes me think it's a Swedish Blue. He did sex the duck for us and told us it's a male.

Anyway they've been living in a pet taxi and now a plastic bin in my closet at night/bad weather days and a dog pen we've set up in the backyard during nice days. This weekend we want to start to work on a duck coop. We have a small pond we intend on letting them enjoy during the day but we will have a coop/run for them to be put up at night (I have a working border collie who can help me put them away if we can't get them off of the pond with food etc). Any suggestions on accessibility? The pond is not fenced and is in an open-ish field so there won't be any cornering etc to put them away at night. I'd like something big enough that on rainy days they can comfortably/happily stay in their coop/run.

Would like the coop to be as low maintenance cleaning wise as possible. I have 14 horses that take up most of my day

Attached is our mystery duck. Can anyone confirm breed for me?

 

[Kevin565]

I don't have any coop suggestions but it does look like a Blue Swedish to me.

 

[Amiga]

Stoney's Guide to Raising Ducks has a nice basic duck shelter design. And Going Quackers has a nice design, too. Simple.

Predators will go after ducks - if the day pen is an open-topped chain link dog pen, predators can come in over the top, or if there is a one inch gap at the bottom, they can grab the duck and pull it through. I know this from a friend's experience. Raccoons can and will grab a duck and pull parts through the fence. Ducks often will fall asleep resting against the fence.

So.

Half inch metal hardware cloth is a big help - place that along the bottom two to three feet of the duck fence. Get something across the top. If they will be inside a shelter at night, you probably can do okay (no guarantees when it comes to predators) with a mesh or netting on top of the pen.

If your herding dog is happy swimming, that may indeed work out for getting the ducks in.

If you give your ducks delicious treats whenever they go into their shelter, they are much more likely to go in without a big argument.

 

[edgebrook]

Thanks! We ended up getting this rabbit hutch that we intend to modify for the ducks. Additions include hardware wire to replace the current wire plus adding wire on the bkttom, sealing the wood, possibly widening the doorway, reinforcing the floor/latches, and adding a door to the side of the run. I think it'll be a nice size for our two boys to sleep in and they'll free range during the day with access to our pond.

 

[edgebrook]

Border collie loves to swim. Doesn't quite see them as something to herd yet (just something to love and cuddle with, in which they repay him with a bite on the nose

), but his mom is a champion duck herder so we're going to start lessons this Sunday