Redoing duck run! I need tips, and coop ideas!

[3bird]

even with a roof and the pool sunken into a sloped deck mine STILL make a soggy mucky mess for a solid 3' diameter circle around the water dish.

We laid cobbles at the end of the run by their water, and that seems to help a lot.

 

[3bird]

48 square feet per duck kept the pen nice.

Did I read that right? 48 square feet per duck? Holy Moly!

 

[Runner duck mom]

Thanks for the ideas! My biggest issue, is I have 8 ducks right now, and I have read that they need 15-20 feet of space per duck? I honestly don't even think my run is 15 feet per duck, or 120 feet. I would have to make it bigger if I wanted to get more. Does it really need to be 15-20 feet per duck, what do you think?

Right now we are at 24 feet per duck and it is manageable with a little daily cleaning up.
We have a duck visiting who will be going to her new home soon which will bring us up to 28 feet per duck. This is ideal for us.

 

[3bird]

Thanks for the ideas! My biggest issue, is I have 8 ducks right now, and I have read that they need 15-20 feet of space per duck? I honestly don't even think my run is 15 feet per duck, or 120 feet. I would have to make it bigger if I wanted to get more. Does it really need to be 15-20 feet per duck, what do you think?

I am gonna work on the idea of a covered run, I also have gravel that I can use to raise the run in places, and then put the aged wood chips on top of that. Do think it would work to layer gravel then chips? I mostly worry about the mud swallowing the chips, so I feel like putting gravel down first would give me a bit of separation from the dirt when it gets muddy again. Hopefully I will get to build a covered run and I won't have to worry about that! What about coop cleanliness ideas? I have had bad luck with my duck coops, any ideas other then a walled in house?

For our six large breed ducks (silber Appleyards), we have a total area of ~128 square feet of covered run attached to ~32 square feet of attached duckhouse (they have 24/7 access to the run 99% of the time). ~32 square feet of the run can be divided off when we need to separate a bird or birds. That amount if space seems really sufficient for our guys. Spot clean-up is 10min 2x/day.

In terms of the duckhouse, we use the deep litter method. We start with a couple bags of shavings and then add straw and shavings throughout the winter. We spot clean 2x/day (just basically cleaning out the large poops. We have four windows on sliders for ventilation, and we never put water in the house.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Thanks for the ideas! My biggest issue, is I have 8 ducks right now, and I have read that they need 15-20 feet of space per duck? I honestly don't even think my run is 15 feet per duck, or 120 feet. I would have to make it bigger if I wanted to get more. Does it really need to be 15-20 feet per duck, what do you think?

I am gonna work on the idea of a covered run, I also have gravel that I can use to raise the run in places, and then put the aged wood chips on top of that. Do think it would work to layer gravel then chips? I mostly worry about the mud swallowing the chips, so I feel like putting gravel down first would give me a bit of separation from the dirt when it gets muddy again. Hopefully I will get to build a covered run and I won't have to worry about that! What about coop cleanliness ideas? I have had bad luck with my duck coops, any ideas other then a walled in house?

just be careful what kind of gravel you will use you don't want anything that could be sharp that will come up and hurt their feet. The wood chips too, if they are splintery at all you could be asking for bumble foot.
but maybe you could use the free wood chips as a base and then top it with something softer Like straw or pine shavings.

 

[Ratchnick]

48 square feet per duck kept the pen nice.

Do you keep them in the pen full time? Or do you let them out?

 

[Weeg]

Thanks guys! I definitely probably won't even use the chips if they are to splintery, same with sharp gravel. I really want that covered run, but I have to make it his idea. I am gonna have to work that! Lol! We get mud as a usually here to, but instead of off and on, as soon as fall hits, it is muddy through winter. We get rain and snow so bad here in the Northwest, Ik am ready to put a stop to it!

 

[KaleIAm]

Thanks for the ideas! My biggest issue, is I have 8 ducks right now, and I have read that they need 15-20 feet of space per duck? I honestly don't even think my run is 15 feet per duck, or 120 feet. I would have to make it bigger if I wanted to get more. Does it really need to be 15-20 feet per duck, what do you think?

I am gonna work on the idea of a covered run, I also have gravel that I can use to raise the run in places, and then put the aged wood chips on top of that. Do think it would work to layer gravel then chips? I mostly worry about the mud swallowing the chips, so I feel like putting gravel down first would give me a bit of separation from the dirt when it gets muddy again. Hopefully I will get to build a covered run and I won't have to worry about that! What about coop cleanliness ideas? I have had bad luck with my duck coops, any ideas other then a walled in house?

I don't know what the minimum per duck should be. I just know what I've done, which we call ducktopia or just The Duck Palace. My goal has been to give my ducks the best life I possibly can. That includes the most space I can give them. I wouldn't feel comfortable giving my ducks the minimum I could get away with.

I have about 300 sq ft of aviary per duck, but they only use half at a time. I originally had the same amount of space for 6 ducks and they didn't seem to destroy it any faster. I do have a pool for them that drains out of their aviary, so they don't noodle in the dumped out water. And I take them for daily walks so that takes some pressure off their aviary, too. We have a lot of predators, so that only works because I supervise them and they come when I call.

While gravel does drain well my vet told me that it causes bumblefoot in duck feet. I was using pea gravel around my ducks' pool when I first started keeping ducks, but stopped when my vet told me to. I'm mentioning this because I know you've had issues with bumblefoot. Regular gravel will be worse than pea gravel because it is sharp, too. Even if you bury it rocks seem to find a way up. I'm always pulling little rocks out of the soil that weren't there last month.

For coops, I have only used enclosed rooms. We started out with a raised standard shed one might use for tools. It was probably 8x8. And now have a 10x10 room in a barn. We have linoleum on the floor and up the wall to make it easier to clean. I put down about 6 inches of straw, fluff it daily, remove the spot where they sleep about every other day, and clean out the entire thing every weekend. It doesn't really smell, unless I skip a weekend. Every few months I wash the linoleum. I'm sure other set ups work well, I just don't have experience with them. If you get a lot of rain, like I do, you might need walls to keep their bedding dry?

 

[Alaskan]

Did I read that right? 48 square feet per duck? Holy Moly!

Yes

Do you keep them in the pen full time? Or do you let them out?

On occasion I let them out, never in winter though. During high summer or early autumn, when there isn't yet ice... they get to play on the pond.

 

[Ratchnick]

@Alaskan i assume your run is covered? What is on the floor?