Show me some call duck set ups

[RAREROO]

Hi all

I am planning on getting some call duck eggs and letting one of my broody buff ducks set and brood them and I want see some ideas for pens or cages for call ducks. Do they breed/lay better on the ground or in cages, and if in cages, would plain wire floors work or would wire floors with shavings as bedding be better and softer on their feet. I also want it to have a pool that they can go in, though I'm not sure on the size or how I want to set it up yet. I've saw Scott's designs with the black pool in the center and may go with something like that, but I am also considering the idea of a larger pool conected to but out side of the actuall cage, that I can switch each color out with every day so the pool would be open to one cage a day.

So basicly I would just like to see lots of ideas and opinions to help be decide.

 

[Scott]

If you are wanting a larger pool, then it is possible to use the same basic design but with a stock tank. I had actually planned on using 80-100 gallon stock tank in my new mandarin pen, but decided against it. One those can be set in the floor of a raised pen... it would simply need additional support.

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
Thanks Scott

That may be an option or even a larger plastic storage container. Nice job on that mandarin pen by the way, darn near made me want to be a mandarin duck livin in there. How many will you be putting in there ?

 

[RAREROO]

Anyone else ?

 

[Scott]

Quote:
Thanks Scott

That may be an option or even a larger plastic storage container. Nice job on that mandarin pen by the way, darn near made me want to be a mandarin duck livin in there. How many will you be putting in there ?

Thanks. I got the mandarins moved in there this afternoon. There are 5 mandarins sharing that pen.

 

[BeckyBird]

This was my original call duck pen. I have since moved them, but I'll tell you the pros and cons of the pen in the photo......

Pro: The pool is large, and easy to clean out. I dug a small pit under the pool, and I put the pool over the pit. The pit is smaller than the pool in diameter. There is a hole drilled in the center of the pool, with an ordinary white bathtub plug in it. Each day, just reach in there, pull out the plug, and the pool drains quickly. Rinse, then refill. Easy as 1 2 3!!

Con: The floor of this pen was a disaster to keep clean. Calls are tiny but oh so dirty! They tore up the floor, digging their tiny bills into the mud. Nothing I put in the floor would stop them. I used pea gravel, wood chips, straw, grass, hay, etc. It always ended up a muddy mess.

If you are dedicated to regular backbreaking upkeep, then this pen would be fine. If not, I suggest a different type of flooring system. Maybe concrete, covered in pea gravel or sand...something where they could not dig and hit the ground beneath the bedding.

 

[RAREROO]

Thanks I got my call duck eggs today and they are under a broody duck now.


I know what you mean, I have large ducks that free range and I keep a kiddy pool out for them and within a days time ... heck within an our's time, it is mudd. So yeah, these calls will not have any access to dirt unless it's maybe sugar sand that just sinks and doesnt make mud. But this does pose a problem for when I build an avairy that I am planning for whenever I get Mandarins and pheasants, I want to keep them together in a landscaped avairy with a little pool and water fall, and I have to figure out some way to keep live plants but not let the ducks have access to the dirt. That's gonna be fun.

 

[Jeanette56]

Becky,
How has your duck pond held up since you built it?
About how wide & deep is the hole underneath the pool?
Any other tips or pointers you could share about your set-up would be appreciated!

Jeanette

This was my original call duck pen. I have since moved them, but I'll tell you the pros and cons of the pen in the photo......

Pro: The pool is large, and easy to clean out. I dug a small pit under the pool, and I put the pool over the pit. The pit is smaller than the pool in diameter. There is a hole drilled in the center of the pool, with an ordinary white bathtub plug in it. Each day, just reach in there, pull out the plug, and the pool drains quickly. Rinse, then refill. Easy as 1 2 3!!