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

[Mels95yj]

Ok, one last question (I hope). Would a 10'x10' dog kennel attached to maybe a 12'x6' covered coop/run be sufficient? By sufficient, I mean good for longer than just until next summer? I'm not trying to just get by, but trying to do it cost effectively as well as benefit the ducks.

 

[Gray Farms]

Yes, but for probably no more than 4 which is what you mentioned before. And as long as their covered coop has a floor in it so that they can get out of the mud. Which brings us to the mud, their pen will turn from green to brown within a month. I'd suggest a thick layer of pea gravel in their pen. As the mud will get quite smelly and loaded with flies if it stays muddy long.

 

[quackingdom]

That's what I was afraid of. It seems chickens need a little more room, but can stay confined more. Ducks can have smaller houses/coops but need a lot more space. I was just hoping having a small number would work for me. The closest tree is three houses away, so there's no shade at all. The only shade would be the roofer over the coop/run.

It looks like I either have to fix the sogginess to house chickens, or figure out a way to fence off the dogs to give the ducks half the yard. Are you saying that I could have the run/coop and leave them out with 3.5 to 4 foot tall fences on each side? I have only seen hawks flying in the neighborhood a few times. In the past 18 years, I've seen one opossum, zero snakes and 3 mice and a few hawks.

I appreciate everyone's help.

Sure. 4-foot is enough to keep our Muscovies off the front yard. We have hawks and eagles. None of them have attacked. Probably because the ducks are so close by and we have a dog.

Shade is easy to make. We used to have a pen that was just a huge open grassland. We propped up some concrete blocks and put a piece of plywood over it. We made a couple shade stations and also leaned a board against one of their pens. That was enough.

 

[robinjs11]

Have you considered muscovies? They are very quiet, don't quack, just make chirping cricket sounds. They can fly very well so they will need a wing clipped or a covered run. I have 4 and im getting 2 more next week. We only got 4 to see if we liked water fowl also. Mine always put themselves to bed and go into the coop before dark. Here is my coop I made for about $100.

 

[quackingdom]

Ok, one last question (I hope). Would a 10'x10' dog kennel attached to maybe a 12'x6' covered coop/run be sufficient? By sufficient, I mean good for longer than just until next summer? I'm not trying to just get by, but trying to do it cost effectively as well as benefit the ducks.

Probably, if you can deal with the mud.

 

[wsmith77]

I don't know about Harlequins but I can advise against indian runners... I had a flock... those guys were loud. ANY little thing set them off. They also were not terribly friendly. Due to the laws in FL I parted ways with them. They did lay a lot of eggs and the eggs were tasty.

 

[gal5150]

11'x11' outdoor pen for a Welsh Harlequin hen and Cayuga hen.

Pea gravel substrate and that picture is literally about as dirty as the pen gets. Water drains through, girls do some mud drilling but that's more a mess in their water bowl than anything else and easily raked over with pea gravel in the 5 minutes it takes nightly to hose it down. Easiest set up in the world and would possibly take care of your mud issue. My girls come in the house at night and sleep in a very large shower stall attached to my daughters' bedroom and none of us hear them at all after lights out.

As for quiet....I chose WH for temperament, as they are known for being calm and mellow but that doesn't necessarily equate to quiet, and the Cayuga for quiet as they're supposed to be one of the quietest breeds second only to Muscovy. The WH was quite loud from the get go but has slowed the quacking down in the past few weeks....probably around 8-9wks old. The Cayuga was quiet from day one up until a couple weeks ago and now she's a holy terror. Both hens are 11wks now. The WH was just a noisy, but absolutely lovely and mellow lap duck....temperament described from hatcheries and books spot on. I'm glad she has quieted down. The Cayuga is a spoiled hand raised duck and trying to use her quack to get things....attention, goodies, etc. I'm hopeful that she quiets down to her breed standard soon with not giving her anything when she's loud. Hope this helps a little

 

[Mels95yj]

I also was choosing the WH for it's temperament. I went through the selector, and it seemed the best for my neighborhood, egg laying abilities and overall demeanor. It just seemed a good "beginner" duck. I was planning on putting pea gravel in the initial coop/run since I was going to put their pool in there also, but leave grass elsewhere.

I'm just at a loss at the moment. I just don't know if I have the space needed for even three ducks with all things considered. I was hoping to do it in stages, but I'm taking that's not really an option for me.

 

[gal5150]

Oh, you can absolutely do it in stages and your original 10'x5'' idea would absolutely accommodate 3 ducks (30sq ft), even with a small coop inside the the enclosure....figure 15sq ft per duck in locked coop. That's 45 sq ft total...leaving you approx. 5 sq ft for a pool. For 3 ducks, food and water stations need not be elaborate. This is our feed station for 2, for 3 all I would change is adding another scoop of food....and you saw the two water bins for drinking.

 

[gal5150]

It really depends on how elaborate you were wanting to start off with the coop. Pinterest has great ideas. I know it can seem overwhelming when you have the end product in mind but as long as the ducks are safe and have adequate space, you have time to improve and build that ultimate end goal.