New to Ducks - need help with Run ideas ASAP

[Carob2017]

We just finished building our duck run/coop on Tuesday (and picked up our ducks that night). (The picture is of it in-progress, I'll post one later of the finished deal.) We bought a 10x10 dog run sold at Lowe's from Blue Eagle, a LOT of hardware cloth (5 10" sections and 4 25" sections), 6 of 10 foot PVC piping, and various pieces of hardware to hold the PVC roof in place along with 1,000 zip ties. (there's probably a lot more than that so I'm including links to where we got our ideas.) We trenched the perimeter of the fence and shaped the hardware cloth in an 'L' shape where the bottom part ran under the fence and was buried under ground. (Trenching was the worst, absolute worst as our yard has fill with ridiculously sized rocks.) We have a greenbelt behind our house filled with coyotes, raccoons, possums, etc. so predator proofing was/is a priority.

We followed this link for building out the pool - https://m.facebook.com/notes/saxony...cks-with-drainage-ball-valve/380157942039997/ Another inspirational link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-how-to-make-door-area-predator-proof.590043/ --> check out georgiagail as that was the basis for our dog run coverted into a duck run, the roof, and the door.

We also added in a dog house with a door (bought on Amazon) for night time.

With a cold front blowing through today, I added an 8x10 tarp on the roof and some plywood to the back to provide a wind break. (The plywood is held in place with 2x4's on the inside of the coop, drilled into place.)

 

[CayugaJana]

Hi there!

Someone dropped off several ducklings at my parent's house (not uncommon - they have an acre lake on their property and people think, "oh! Ducks like lakes lets leave them here") but this time they dropped off 3 Pekins and a brown duck. Usually, with the wild mallards, we just help raise them and let them free when they are ready, but these are clearly ducks meant to be kept.

My boyfriend loves duck eggs so we thought we would keep them. I have read numerous forums and a bunch of threads on here, and now I'm even more confused on their run! I was just going to build it on the grass with buried hardware cloth to prevent predators, but now it seems many people are saying to use gravel? and drainage?

I would really appreciate any tips you have for the coop and run in terms of size and what should be in the bottom! I would LOVE to see some example photos. We are trying to make it as low maintenance as possible as we both work full time. I'm pretty sure they will be fully feathered by the time the winter hits here in Maryland (this photo was them Oct 8th).

Thank you!
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What ding dong would leave those out to fend for themselves?!??

They look like they are going to be gorgeous too!!!

 

[cjdurand]

By the way, your “brown duck” looks like a Blue Swedish to me! Cute babies.

I added some pictures of my Blue so you can compare! She’s always with my Cayuga.

I 'm pretty excited to see how the brown one turns out, they should be fully feathered soon!

 

[cjdurand]

We just finished building our duck run/coop on Tuesday (and picked up our ducks that night). (The picture is of it in-progress, I'll post one later of the finished deal.) We bought a 10x10 dog run sold at Lowe's from Blue Eagle, a LOT of hardware cloth (5 10" sections and 4 25" sections), 6 of 10 foot PVC piping, and various pieces of hardware to hold the PVC roof in place along with 1,000 zip ties. (there's probably a lot more than that so I'm including links to where we got our ideas.) We trenched the perimeter of the fence and shaped the hardware cloth in an 'L' shape where the bottom part ran under the fence and was buried under ground. (Trenching was the worst, absolute worst as our yard has fill with ridiculously sized rocks.) We have a greenbelt behind our house filled with coyotes, raccoons, possums, etc. so predator proofing was/is a priority.

We followed this link for building out the pool - https://m.facebook.com/notes/saxony...cks-with-drainage-ball-valve/380157942039997/ Another inspirational link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-how-to-make-door-area-predator-proof.590043/ --> check out georgiagail as that was the basis for our dog run coverted into a duck run, the roof, and the door.

We also added in a dog house with a door (bought on Amazon) for night time.

With a cold front blowing through today, I added an 8x10 tarp on the roof and some plywood to the back to provide a wind break. (The plywood is held in place with 2x4's on the inside of the coop, drilled into place.)

Thanks Carob! I will look into those links, it looks like I need a LOT more hardware cloth

 

[cjdurand]

What ding dong would leave those out to fend for themselves?!??

They look like they are going to be gorgeous too!!!

Well technically the guy found them near the road like an hour from me, figured they must have been from the house nearby, and went to bring them there but saw them processing finished animals and decided that he couldn't leave them there, and then brought them to us. Oof! Since I have no idea who had them originally or where the guy picked them up I can't bring them back, so they will live out a spoiled life here I guess!

 

[CayugaJana]

Well technically the guy found them near the road like an hour from me, figured they must have been from the house nearby, and went to bring them there but saw them processing finished animals and decided that he couldn't leave them there, and then brought them to us. Oof! Since I have no idea who had them originally or where the guy picked them up I can't bring them back, so they will live out a spoiled life here I guess!

Well I am they have found their happy ending!

 

[onaharley]

Sorry just tuning in, what a long day!! Since I took these pictures from my phone, I’ll just post them now.

 

[onaharley]

Can you grow patches of grass in the sand? And would sand only work if it’s covered? How well does it do if it gets wet?

I don't know about the grass growing in the sand, dandelions try and grow through the sand but as soon as I rake it they pop up. Yes it has to be covered to keep it dry. But my sides are open so water does get in, I have to take my big rake and move the wet to the dry sand and then move the dry sand to where the wet sand was....shift it around, you know

 

[onaharley]

No to answer for onaharley....My sand stays dry because my pens are covered by a tarp...

Thanks!

 

[onaharley]

What do you have around your water area? How does that do?

I keep their water bowl in a tote turned on its side, with just a small tilt so all the water runs to the back, keeping the sand dry