New to this site & ducks...a few basic questions

[TylahT]

Okay, so I just joined this site earlier this morning and I love it so far...so much info!! Also I'm thinking about getting a few Welsh Harlequins & Jumbo Pekins soon...I am wanting to build a "house" for them in my backyard. After doing some research online, I think I'm going to make a 20ft wide x 20ft long x 7ft high enclosure for the ducks using 1/2" CPVC plumber's pipe. I'm going to make it sturdy my adding a few pieces of pipe going across the bottom of the enclosure along the ground and across the top...then hang some wire netting around the sides & across the top attaching it using some heavy duty zip ties. I'm also going to bury the wire into the ground on all sides to protect from predators (we have foxes, hawks, racoons, owls etc here). I'm wanting to also build a small wooden house attached off of one side for them to go in if they like...I'm going to put their food & water in here and some straw. Oh & also I'm going to build a small pond maybe 8ft long x 6ft wide. So my questions are... 1.) does this enclosure sound adequate enough to you guys or do you think I should just use wood? (I was wanting to use CPVC because my dad's a plumber so he can probably get me a discount/free pipe) 2.) how far down should I bury the wire fencing to protect from digging predators? 3.) If I bury the netting would I be able to leave them out during the night, instead of locking them all up at night? 4.) Any recommendations for filters for the pond? 5.) Last one I promise! lol...can I house more than one male with the females and if I do and they mate will the females hatch their own eggs inside the enclosure or should I just take out any eggs I find and put them in an incubator?

Sorry for so many questions!!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[SillyChicken]

I've got some Geese, and just got 2 duckings friday... I'll be curious what a more experienced duck person will have to say.

I can say that the water will get NASTY quick... you'll want to have a source of fresh water for drinking, (even though the geese don't seem picky at all about water quality. LOL!)... I have to change their pool water 1 to 2 times daily. So if you choose a filter, pick one that will filter a high volume, or set your pond up in a way that will allow you to drain it easily.

 

[DuckLover179]

That enclosure sounds great! It's bigger than mine, but I only have 2 ducks. If I were you I would buy welded wire mesh to put near the bottom of the enclosure, so owls won't herd them, and eat them through the plastic. I would put the wire about at least 2 feet into the ground. I recommend locking them up at night, because that's when most of the predators come out, but some people still let theirs roam at night, it depends on your predators. You could always build an electric fence, so the predators would be out, but you can let your ducks free range. I don't have a pond, I use a kiddy pool, so sorry can't recommend a filter. How many ducks are you getting? One male and one female can over mate, and cause injuries to the female. The perfect ratio for a flock is a 1:4 male to female ratio. It is always best to have a lot more females than males to prevent over mating. If the eggs are fertile I read you can shake them, so the duckling won't form, and then eat them. Any other questions?

 

[wpalmisano]

OK. I rented a trench digger from Home Depot, and put 2"X4" x 48 " gALVANIZED wire in the ground 12-14 inches. I covered that with chicken wire, backfilled it with rocks, and buried it with the chicken wire bent out away from the pen. Hawks and foxes have taken my ducks while free ranging, but never from the pen.
ON ducks in general: My mallards, like most ducks, are filthy and needful. They love mud and water. Any water you leave in their vicinity will quickly become soiled as they like to drop their feed in it, poop in it, and mate in it. If there is such a filter it will need to be very strong and expensive to run. On hot days I run a small duck shower for them, and they always have a 24x48 concrete mixing tub with fresh water. In the winter you will need to heat it.
Baby ducks will die if you get them wet. In the wild, their mother takes oils from her own feathers and puts it on the babies. If you brood them yourself, they will drown or freeze until they are 5 weeks old. At about 5 weeks they make their own oils. Don't leave water out in an open container, use a waterer at first.
You can't feed them chick starter or medicated feed, because they eat so much they will overdose on any medications in the feed and die. They eat huge amounts, drink huge amounts, (2 four week old ducklings can burn through a gallon of water like nothing) and poop huge amounts. Any pen will quickly become devoid of vegetation and a muddy, poopy mess.
I keep a ratio of about 2 or 3 : 1 drake hen ratio. Drakes are very active and can easily handle 4 hens, but 3 to is good, in the same pen they will squabble and call, but drakes are quiet, hens do all the shouting. I have seen big drakes attack and kill smaller drakes in my pen. I have seen older hens attack and kill a smaller one too. In my incubator the duck eggs are 95% hatching. Any duck with an illness or injury will be mercilessly attacked by the others and harrassed until it dies. I rehab them in isolation. I have an 8 foot cover on my duck pen and they fly around pretty good. My mallards are great flyers and can fly back and forth across the pen with no injuries, but a domestic duck can't fly, except enough to break its neck. The pen is 14 x 10. No duck has ever flown off when free ranging, they always return, sometimes with friends. I have to drive off the wild ones because they are a protected species, and I don't want anymore anyway.
As for the pen idea, I don't know where you live, but it wouldn't survive a determined predator very long. 1/2 PVC is great, but it bends easily, and may crack in the cold. A fox or coyote here would get through it in about 10 seconds. Think about if you were a starving wild animal with young to feed. How hard would you work for an easy duck meal? Nothing is predator proof, only resistant. They can chew through chicken wire like butter. Like I said, I use heavy gauge fence around my pens
I guess what I am trying to say is that they are a lot of work. On the other hand, they call happily when I come home from work, are good lookouts for the other birds, and in general rewarding. I love my mallards. The photo below was a warm day during the winter in the pen. Heavy wood poles and fencing.

 

[duckking]

We ended up building Fort Knox around our run as we have every predator imaginable, coyote, cougar, bobcat, bear etc. It's an old dog run (1200 sq. feet) with galvanized fencing to begin with. We are using about 300 sq. feet for the Fort Knox part. We have chicken wire over top and 1/2" hardware cloth up the sides and across the ground under pea gravel and sand so the run is fully enclosed and nothing can dig under. Well they can try..... In addition, we have 1/4" hardware cloth over laying the bottom 2 feet around the side of the run that is exposed to the open. We are building a day run (another 600 sq. ft. with galvanized fencing) with wire netting across the top and an electrified wire around the outside walls at 6" above ground and 5 feet above ground. We are putting 1/2" hardware cloth up to about 3' on the exposed sides as well. They will only be in there during the day. We have 5 ducks, 3 mallard hens, a Rouen hen and a Rouen drake in a 5X5 duck house at night. We lock them in at night as a precaution and for my own peace of mind. In fact they just go into their house themselves when it gets dark.

They have NO water or food in their house at all. The mess every morning would be unbelievable. All their food and water is outside in the Fort Knox area and when the larger run is finished, they will have water in there, but will have to go into the really protected area to eat besides what they forage in the big run. There will be water in there as well. Currently we have an 80 gallon rubbermaid 'pool' which we clean out every 2 days. It's way too small, so we are getting a larger pool for the bigger run. We don't filter, but we use a Flotec pump to pump it out and then replace with fresh water. We are on a huge aquifer with a well, so we don't have to worry about water bills! We use white shavings for their house and the deep bedding method. The small run is also straw and wood shavings over sand and pea gravel and the larger run will be layered pea gravel and sand only.

We have never tried 2 drakes together. I think if they are brought up together and you have plenty of hens, it might not be a problem. We got our Rouen drake from someone who had 2 drakes and 5 hens and one of the drakes was the senior guy, the other junior. We took the junior guy and we have 4 hens, which seems about perfect. No one is getting over-mated. We eat our eggs, so remove them every morning. No need to shake them, just put them in the fridge. Our ducks lay their eggs in a corner of their house and cover them up. Normally, once they build up a good cache (8-16), the female will then sit on them. Some ducks aren't so good at the broody thing. I think WH's and Jumbo Pekins are good mom's. We are planning on adding the same ones to our gang!

 

[TylahT]

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Thanks!!

 

[TylahT]

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Thanks for your help! I had no idea about over mating

 

[TylahT]

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Thank you so much for all this information! It must have taken u forever to type up aha...I didn't even think about a trench digger & I'm definitely looking into something more safe as an enclosure.

 

[TylahT]

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Thanks for the help and all the info!! Reading all your tips/advice along with everyone Else's I think I am going to rethink my enclosure idea and come up with something safer for my future ducks...I wouldn't want to raise them from the time I get them just to put them outside to be eaten by a fox or another predator.

 

[Hattiegun]

I have hardware cloth and its buried 6 in down in the ground. I have heat in their hut (mostly for me- lol )... I put plastic on it in the wintertime and a pond heater in the pond so it doesnt freeze and they are cozy.... they do get to free range outside the pen during the day when they want.

I can drain and refill the pond very very easy and often.. no filter needed...