Thinking about getting ducks....have a few questions

[TLWR]

We live in a subdivision in the county, so there are no rules regarding livestock. The backyard is approximately 75' x 60' with privacy fence on the back and the neighbors' chainlink on each side. The houses are fairly close together, so I'm needing somewhat quiet birds to keep the neighbors on speaking terms.

1. The ducks would probably be housed in a coop/run 90% of the time due to the dogs with only supervised free time. How much space do you think I would need for the 3-4 ducks comfortably? I was originally going to do something like the Wichita Cabin Coop for the chickens, so thinking something like, but with an appropriate coop for the ducks instead of chickens.

2. Am I correct in believing that the Welsh Harlequins are fairly quiet? Even though I've read ducks may not voluntarily go inside the coop at night like chickens, are they noisy at night? While I don't want extremely loud noises in the daytime, I'm more concerned about evening and night.

3. As I stated, I was thinking about the Wichita Coop for the chickens which was about 10'x5' which is 50sq ft. Could 3-4 ducks get by with that, and I build on next summer maybe doubling that? I'm thinking the first part covered with a roof, and the addition just being open with hardware mesh. I don't want to do the birds a disservice by not providing a proper environment.

1 - lots of people keep their birds confined. I have for 2 summers due to predators and they seem none the worse for the wear, though I still did let them out in the morning for an hour or so and again in the evening if somebody was out with them.
2 - I have one WH. She's quiet unless she's not LOL By and large, she is a quiet girl, but if there is something she must let everybody know about, they know about it. It doesn't happen often. My runners do the same thing, but they are chattier than the WH. I don't know that my WH chats.
3 - 10x5 coop for 3-4 ducks is plenty of space with room to grow the flock if desired. What can you do for a run with that? Any way you can put the coop in the center of your back yard along the back fence and then give them a 10' strip along the back fence? That would be plenty of space. A 5' roll of field fencing that is 100' long is around $100 and add in some fence posts (t-posts if you want to keep it easily moved). If your dogs can be trusted to not go over or under the fence, you should be good to go. Then just provide something in the run for shade - either cover a bit of the top with something that will provide shade or put in a few shade huts. You'll need to provide shade regardless of chickens or ducks.

My ducks are quiet in their coop at night. But once it is light out, they are chatting away to get out. The few times I've penned them at night and forgot to close them into their coop, they still chatter away in the morning to get out of the pen.


If you have 7 dogs being dogs and your neighbors don't have an issue, they likely won't have a noise issue with a few ducks. My ducks are no more loud or obnoxious as my dogs.
But with close neighbors, just make sure you keep the pen/coop clean so it doesn't start to smell and annoy the neighbors.

 

[Welshies]

1 - lots of people keep their birds confined. I have for 2 summers due to predators and they seem none the worse for the wear, though I still did let them out in the morning for an hour or so and again in the evening if somebody was out with them.
2 - I have one WH. She's quiet unless she's not  LOL  By and large, she is a quiet girl, but if there is something she must let everybody know about, they know about it. It doesn't happen often. My runners do the same thing, but they are chattier than the WH. I don't know that my WH chats.
3 - 10x5 coop for 3-4 ducks is plenty of space with room to grow the flock if desired. What can you do for a run with that? Any way you can put the coop in the center of your back yard along the back fence and then give them a 10' strip along the back fence? That would be plenty of space. A 5' roll of field fencing that is 100' long is around $100 and add in some fence posts (t-posts if you want to keep it easily moved). If your dogs can be trusted to not go over or under the fence, you should be good to go. Then just provide something in the run for shade - either cover a bit of the top with something that will provide shade or put in a few shade huts. You'll need to provide shade regardless of chickens or ducks.

My ducks are quiet in their coop at night. But once it is light out, they are chatting away to get out. The few times I've penned them at night and forgot to close them into their coop, they still chatter away in the morning to get out of the pen.


If you have 7 dogs being dogs and your neighbors don't have an issue, they likely won't have a noise issue with a few ducks. My ducks are no more loud or obnoxious as my dogs.
But with close neighbors, just make sure you keep the pen/coop clean so it doesn't start to smell and annoy the neighbors.

x2

 

[Mels95yj]

Thanks everyone for the advice and tips. What about this idea? I had asked about putting chickens here, but was advised against it. Plus, with them fully contained, I didn't think we'd ever see them. Here's a picture of our deck. Ignore the mess and current fencing. That was to keep the dogs from peeing on the four wheelers. Would this location work for the coop/run? I would put have to level it and put pea gravel in it. It measures 12'x16'. Obviously, a better fence from top to bottom and pea gravel. The water hose is right there, so easier clean up and filling of pond. Next year I could build a fence giving access to yard measuring about 20'x60'. You can kinda see the hillside beside the house and the slope of it. That's the section they'd have next year all the way down. This section gets very little sun, so would that be an issue?

 

[gal5150]

That looks FANTASTIC! Really good and cannot tell you how smart it is to have it near a water source for easy hosing and such. Very little direct sun is great, everything about what u describe is great! And a slight incline is good, too, helps with drainage. I think you've nailed it! Lucky future ducks!

 

[Welshies]

Thanks everyone for the advice and tips. What about this idea? I had asked about putting chickens here, but was advised against it. Plus, with them fully contained, I didn't think we'd ever see them. Here's a picture of our deck. Ignore the mess and current fencing. That was to keep the dogs from peeing on the four wheelers. Would this location work for the coop/run? I would put have to level it and put pea gravel in it. It measures 12'x16'. Obviously, a better fence from top to bottom and pea gravel. The water hose is right there, so easier clean up and filling of pond. Next year I could build a fence giving access to yard measuring about 20'x60'. You can kinda see the hillside beside the house and the slope of it. That's the section they'd have next year all the way down. This section gets very little sun, so would that be an issue?

Just realize, the smell may drift up to your house and this will particularly bother guests.
I put mine in a horse (3 sided) shed (12'x22') and it works great, with an additional run area attached. The coop is set up beside, the back in line with the side wall of the shed. The shade, grass, shelter, and gravel around the bathing pans works well.
And they won't have any access to grass then?

 

[Mels95yj]

No grass for the majority of the day. Only for an hour or so in the evenings for supervised playtime. This would change next summer when a fence dividing the yard could be built, and they would have the yard for foraging. Any issues with this?

Would 3 or 4 ducks be better for this space? All would be females.

 

[Mels95yj]

Oh, how deep of the pea gravel would be needed or recommended?

 

[Welshies]

No grass for the majority of the day. Only for an hour or so in the evenings for supervised playtime. This would change next summer when a fence dividing the yard could be built, and they would have the yard for foraging. Any issues with this?

Would 3 or 4 ducks be better for this space? All would be females.

Well, ducks are much happier with grass, and are healthier and better tasting (meat or eggs). However, it's not required, just better. I think if they can have access to a little grass once a day for an hour that's fine.
Make sure the pea gravel is small and round (don't want to hurt their feet) and probably 3-10 inches is fine. I'm not sure what he best depth is, but 4" sufficiently covering all ground sounds perfect to me.
What is the square feet of that run? For all hens, you won't have to worry about an overzealous drake mating them too much, so they will be fine with 10 or more square feet. I like 15 sq ft/duck minimum, and 3 sq ft/duck minimum in the coop. If you are raising Calls, I do 10 sqft/Call in the run, and 2sqft/Call in the coop.
Will they have swimming water available to them?

 

[gal5150]

I've got a little shy of 3" of pea gravel and absolutely zero smell. I know, hard to believe, but literally zero smell. I hose it down every night which takes 5 min if you include cleaning the pool and water stations, agitate it with the rake maybe once a week to help the sweet grass shoots get through. I've had them out there for 6 weeks. The only thing I have ever noticed that can get smelly is the water they use while eating...the smell of feed mixed in water can be rank. Though I've not noticed the smell in the outdoor pen, only when they're indoors.

At this point, if you're going with this plan it's really up to you....how much cuteness can you and the wife handle?! 3 or 4 hens....dreamy!

 

[Mels95yj]

Well, that seems to be the plan then. Now, comes the planning and implementation. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future. Thanks again for everyone's help.