Topic of the Week - Duck Housing

[sumi]

Picture by @JLynnsDuckies
​

This week I would like to talk about a very important aspect of duck keeping: housing them! Ducks need a secure shelter to protect them from predators, the elements and provide a place for them to lay eggs. But what exactly are the minimum requirements for a duck shelter/coop? Show and tell me about your duck coops and shelters and give me your thoughts on:

- Types of housing
- How much room do they need in the coop/shelter.
- Nest boxes, how many?
- What do they need in the coop (bedding, etc)?
- What temps can they withstand in winter/summer and how do you keep them comfortable?

Pic by @Valntyn​

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

 

[Henrik Petersson]

What about nest boxes? As a soon to be duck mama, I have read mixed things. It sounds like ducks are less picky where they lay than chickens. Do you all provide special nest boxes? Do your ducks actually use the nest boxes? Did you have to train them to consistently use a nest box?

Our hens literally fight to lay there (which means one should perhaps provide scovy hens with more that one nest box per three individuals). No training needed.

 

[Mama Runner]

We have just a basic cool. We use hay from our field that we chop and dry ourselves. Our ducks refuse to lay in the coop. Instead what I call holding it until we let them out. They lay their eggs under my front porch facing the garden. They have 26 acres to free range, but stay right by my side when I am outside. Otherwise they play by the back door where they know I am.

We keep 5 square feet per bird in the coop. But even with the room they have as soon as the security light goes out in the morning they want out.

We have them trained by that light. At night when it goes on they make their way to the coop.

Most of our rescues are another story. We have them in an old Tyson hen house. We took most of the roof off and made skylights. They have fresh grass and herbs growing in there. They have two snap up pools we buried for them to play in. The walls are lined with milk crates for nesting boxes. In the hen house we use a mix of shedded paper hay and wood shavings. But is is mostly grass we constantly reseed. We clean poop and icky litter up once a day. Normally when I go get eggs. Yes we spoil our ducks and turkeys rotten. But they work hard for us, so we work twice as hard for them.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I am totally new to this so I am lurking in the shadows of the thread. Absorbing all of the collected knowledge like a sponge.
Thank you Sumi for starting this topic. We are in the mists of our construction plans for our ducky habitat. So this topic is currently priceless to me..
Totally following this feed.

 

[onaharley]

Here’s my set up. 10x10 ft with tin roof and hardwire wrapping all around and underneath. And lots of leveling sand.

Here's the temporary set up for separating my two Peking, that drake just loves his hen!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Runner/Buffs duck house plus feed room. attached to our home.

This house has Muscovy's and chickens in it
{I use have better pics but lost them all when my computer died} so need to start again.

My ducks lay in the deep shaving inside their houses, sometimes a few of my scovy's will get into a chicken nest box to lay too.

My crew has half acre to be on during the day and locked up at night they have 2 kiddy pools to play in and muck up except in dead of winter then they get a cement mixing tub.

Broody/hospital/ winter hang out

 

[Henrik Petersson]

We have four muscovy ducks, one drake and three hens.

They have a purpose-built coop with the sides some 6 by 9 ft, and an inner height of 6 ft, so people can stand inside without trouble. The pop door is large in order for a tall drake to walk in and out easily, 20 inches tall and a foot wide. In order to keep drafts out, a large box is hung outside the pop door, with the opening to the side, so the ducks have to make a 90° turn to enter or exit. The opening has a closable hatch. A small plank with smaller wooden steps added to it acts as a gangplank connecting the opening with the ground.

There is one large nest there, two feet by 16 inches. The opening of the nest is deliberately kept small, some eight by eight inches, to discourage the drake from entering and disturbing the hens and ducklings. The nest sits on the outside of the coop, and its roof opens up with hinges, making egg collection and cleaning very easy.

There is also a large natural log, perhaps six inches thick, put up as a roost. It's about two feet from the floor and six feet wide, stretching from one wall to the next.

The walls and the nest are insulated.

There is one ventilation opening high up on each of the shorter walls, each opening a circle of about six inches in diameter, covered by hardware cloth to keep predators out.

The walls and ceiling are painted white, and the floor is covered in tiles. The tiles in turn are covered in wood shavings. Wood shavings are also used to cover the bottom of the
nest.

One of the long walls has one large triple-glass window, stretching from roof to ceiling.

The hens only use the coop three times a year, when they lay and sit on eggs in the nest. When the ducklings are one day old, they leave the coop never to turn back. The drake never ever uses the coop. They all prefer to sleep outside, even in sub-zero temperatures. Sigh.

 

[chickens really]

Another exciting Topic...

I have Three Duck Houses.
One is a 10X10 covered Dog run with an insulated Dog house..Its great for my Ducks. It can easily House 6 standard sized Ducks or 10 Calls..

The other is a Chicken Coop that has the Coop up top and the run bellow..Coop is 4X4 and Run is 4X12 long.
That Houses up to 6 too.

Then I have a little prefab Coop/Run that is used as a nursery/ hospital or new intro pen.

I provide free range time as I am out with my Ducks daily if weather is good. In winter I have a Straw bed down in my Runs and in the Houses for them to keep feet warm. In summer all straw is removed and pine shavings are used in the Houses only...I also use sand as a floor in my Runs. I only provide kiddie pools in the runs that house the Ducklings. The Adult Birds get out to use the kiddie pools daily that are out in my yard.
I only run heat in my Coops if temps drop below -10C
Never too warm as my water freezes still.
I use rubber bowls so easy to knock out the ice.

Summer is way easier with Ducks. I spend hours outside as they free range.
Ducks are not for everyone..Although I can't imagine a life without the messy wreaking crew..

 

[chickens really]

My Houses..

 

[Conan]

Anyhow, the topic at hand - went down for evening chores and remembered my ancient cell phone. Apologies for the photo quality, but I think you can get the gist. Oh, and an action shot of the turds fleeing.