Show Me Your Nest Boxes! + Other Questions

[Ravie]

Hi everyone,

I am currently contemplating a live-duckling (as opposed to dead duckling) purchase from Holderread's. I am slowly moving away from chickens and into ducks.

I have chosen WH, I have one and LOVE her. Currently, I don't have nest boxes. My birds all lay in the bushes and other the porch (SO fun to retrieve them, good thing I have a 5-year-old daughter).

I would like to give my husband some ideas for duck-ppropriate nest boxes. What do you guys use? Have you tried anything that DIDN'T work?

Do you have any other advice for someone moving from chickens to ducks? Anything I should be aware of?

Lastly, do any of you know any private breeders who will ship ducklings?

 

[Kevin565]

I personally have never had luck with using nest boxes. As for any advice just be prepared for the mess level especially when it rains. Mud puddles are just as tasty as fresh water to them

. Also quite a few breeders on here ship ducklings. You could try a WTB ad in the BST section.

 

[Ravie]

Thanks, Kevin!

I never thought about posting a WTB ad.

I am only going to keep about 10-11 ducks over multiple acres, so I'm hoping the mess won't be too bad. Certainly not worse than my chickens which think that decorating the porch (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR) with poop is artistic and fun!

 

[Going Quackers]

I don't have any.. my girls lay in the duck barn under this "shelf" they use straw and the shavings to make little nests.. i also have a doghouse that has straw and shavings that on occasion a girl will lay in.. HATE getting eggs of that however..

 

[Kevin565]

Thanks, Kevin!

I never thought about posting a WTB ad.

I am only going to keep about 10-11 ducks over multiple acres, so I'm hoping the mess won't be too bad. Certainly not worse than my chickens which think that decorating the porch (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR) with poop is artistic and fun!

It's no problem at all. If they're over than much land it shouldn't be much of a big deal.

 

[learycow]

I think it depends on the duck. My pekins all make nests in hay in the corners of the coops and lay their eggs there. My khakis lay in a raised nest box that was originally a roost for my chickens (I also switched from chickens to ducks). It's only about a foot off the ground, so I filled it with hay and they lay their eggs there.
My other ducks like to lay in barrels I made into nest boxes. They kept laying their eggs outside on the ground, so I took some small plastic barrels, cut the end off, and filled it with hay. I have them propped between rocks so they don't roll away when the ducks get in them (haha). They LOVE them and the broody ones ALWAYS pick these to hatch their eggs in. I use them for my muscovies too.

I also hatch and can ship welsh harlequins, but I don't think I will have enough until May. I have a ton of orders locally for the entire month of April. Otherwise I would love to help you out! I can sex them too

My suggestion, if you don't go with a breeder on here, would be to order them from Metzers. I did that last year and they are FANTASTIC to work with. I ordered all females, and when I realized they sent me straight run, they sent me 12 females at NO CHARGE. And out of both shipments, not a single one died! They all made it safe and sound. So I would highly recommend their hatchery.

 

[Ravie]

Thanks LearyCow,

Where did you get your plastic barrels? That sounds interesting.

I may be able to wait until May. I'm TECHNICALLY supposed to sell off about 10-15 more of my hens before I get the ducks anyway. It's just so hard to sell my girls. They are laying like crazy.

Did you find Metzer's WH to be of good quality? I am not looking for SQ, but I would prefer them to be correct for type and color. I've seen a lot of stripey birds from Metzers, or even some that are obviously mixed breed (with large black splashes on their heads or orange beaks and feet).

 

[70%cocoa]

Here are my nest boxes - they are a quarter of a plastic barrel screwed to a timber frame. The ducks seem to like them as 9 out of 10 eggs get laid in them. The remaining 1 out of 10 gets laid in poop or dropped onto a hard surface, LOL. You can see that I have zip tied some old garden hose to the sharp-ish cut edge of the barrels to make them safe. Just cut the hose up its length and slip it onto the cut edge of the barrel, and screw some holes to put zip ties through.

 

[Senna95]

I use large plastic flower pots. I put them upside down, and cut a hole in them, and put saw-dust and hay inside. They will lay in there most of the time, but there's always the rebble.

Also, I will have welsh harlequins available soon (NPIP). No waiting list yet, but I'd be happy to start one.

 

[learycow]

I have a dairy farm and the barrels are what my iodine dip comes in. I wash them out and cut the ends off then use them for the ducks.

My metzers birds are exactly what I expected them to be, no surprises. They do not have facial stripes, all have dark bills, and they seem to have the correct coloring. I don't know much about showing birds (I am new to it this year and plan to show my harlequins) but I think these are very nice looking ducks.
Here is a picture of a few of my Metzers hens and drakes (please excuse the cayuga hen that snuck in there!)


And here's a picture of some of my other welsh harlequins. These I got from a breeder near me. I don't use them for breeding though, because they have facial striping and yellow spotted bills. Nothing wrong with them, they just don't have proper coloring. I use them just for eating egg production.