Topic of the Week - Duck Housing

[GreenAcres Homestead]

Ok I am at a loss here for we have a chicken coop for our chickens and guineas they go into every night but the ducks and our two geese have always slept under the trampoline, or just wherever they want during the night in our yard. We have always wished they would go into a coop at night to sleep so is it too late to change their behavior? As for laying eggs we have 4 female ducks and one male Peking duck. Only 3 of the females lay eggs. One usually goes into the chicken coop during the morning and lays under the little board that goes up to the nesting boxes. Then the other two lay where during the day and if I don't find them first the chickens get them most the time before me. So we would love to build them a small place of their own and hopefully get them to laying their eggs in one spot daily. We love duck eggs. We do plan on adding more ducks this spring to our little homestead too.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ducks and geese can be taught to go into their shelter for the night, usually slow herding will get them started. Walking behind them using your arms or long poles to guide them inside. They don't realize the dangers of sleeping outside without protection and that they will eventually end up on some predator's dinner table. Once you get their shelter built start feeding them at it, you don't have to put food and water inside since they will make a mess but right outside so they get used to eating close to where they will be sleeping. If you could build a pen around their shelter that would even be better that way when they go into eat you can close the gate and you'll have them right where you want them to teach them to go inside for the night. When I had 2 geese a gander and a goose they had their own house since my gander was so protective of his mate I was concerned if he was closed up with ducks and chickens he might hurt someone, He died in 2022 at age 14 and since then his mate has been in with the ducks and chickens and it is going well.

 

[Plague]

Ok I am at a loss here for we have a chicken coop for our chickens and guineas they go into every night but the ducks and our two geese have always slept under the trampoline, or just wherever they want during the night in our yard. We have always wished they would go into a coop at night to sleep so is it too late to change their behavior? As for laying eggs we have 4 female ducks and one male Peking duck. Only 3 of the females lay eggs. One usually goes into the chicken coop during the morning and lays under the little board that goes up to the nesting boxes. Then the other two lay where during the day and if I don't find them first the chickens get them most the time before me. So we would love to build them a small place of their own and hopefully get them to laying their eggs in one spot daily. We love duck eggs. We do plan on adding more ducks this spring to our little homestead too.

What we did with our first 4 was once they feathered out we put them in their house for a few days then let them out and we would provided food during the day in their house. We would simply put food and water in there. We let them eat all their food a few hours before we wanted them to goto bed. We then would fill their food and water and they would go to get the food and water. and eventually we stopped putting the food and water In and just went to having it available the whole time they was out. They do make quite the mess and would have to clean the house quite frequently. Once we did all that though they would usually either line up and let us know it was bed time or go on in and all we had to do was shut the door.

 

[wolfinator]

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.

20 of my 21 ducks get separated from my chickens to the garden area for the winter because it's difficult keeping waterers clean and they fertilize the garden for us. I set up a spare coop and a medium dog house side by side, covering both with a huge heavy duty tarp on 3 sides especially the prominent wind side. I use poly poles to anchor it to the ground. It doesn't look pretty but the don't care. I take a 50 gallon tote turned on its side, put under tarp as well and place their feed pans inside. There's 11 females in the garden and I just started getting eggs (2), the oldest lays her eggs in the coop, the other lays wherever. None of the 20 use their shelter and sleep outside no matter the temperature, even when it was -40°F windchills.

As I mentioned, there's 21 ducks, well #21 was raised with chicks and insists on living with chickens. She's a little Mallard named Trixie that has angel wing as the result of an injury at the store I bought her from with another injured duckling (sadly it passed the next day from the injury). Trixie was then placed in the brooder with 23 chickens. When the garden area is active, all the chickens and ducks are housed together but Trixie won't associate with them, I've even tried putting her with them during the winter but she moves and paces the fence line. Put her back with the chickens and she's ecstatic, overjoyed. She lays her eggs in a nest on the floor of a coop she shares with several of the hens. She usually goes to bed with them too but still will patrol the pen throughout the night. Trixie even prefers the company of roosters over drakes, it's too adorable watching her bossing a rooster like he's a drake, they just give her a strange look and walk on. She isn't messy with water and won't get in the water bowl unlike the other 20.

The ducks get to join the chickens around the end of March so we can start preparing for the garden. They'll have 3 coops available to them but if I'm lucky, they'll lay eggs in them and not outdoors.

 

[my spoiled chickens]

Right now my ducks sleep in the chicken run at night(they refuse to go into any coop -_- they only went into the coop when we had pur hurrican)
They have a big inclosed dog crate that theh can go into if they want and they do sometimes. I want to give them their own space since we are adding 7 more(once they move out of our spare room lol) they free range all day with the chickens the run/coop would only be for at night.
The addition will be seprate from the run but just by hardwire cloth.
They are a great alarm system too so we try to keep them close to all tbe other birds.
Only thing i would say if your ducks free range keep their pool outside their run/coop. Have a water sourse for them in tbe coop/run but not a pool it makes it messy.
Put pool is right outside the coop so they stay pretty close to the house. They roam all around the house but you always know they wont go to far from the pool. And it makes it easier to clean the pool too.

​

Did you try putting some mealworms or scratch in for them

 

[skeeeter]

@my spoiled chickens, That was a 2018 post.. you may not get an answer.

 

[my spoiled chickens]

@my spoiled chickens, That was a last year's post.. you may not get an answer.

your right I never look at the dates!

 

[skeeeter]

Been there, done that

 

[Farmerlaney]

Ducks are wet. Ducks are muddy. Ducks are messy and they create moist environment where ever they go. Water fowl is true to the name. I have 7 runner ducks and 1 pekin and what I call a p-runner. When designing your duck coops it's not a good idea to house them with chickens as chickens don't do wet very well. Use a flooring that can withstand ample moisture as it comes from just the ducks themselves the poop they generate and the water they drink. Ventilation is a must as they produce quite a bit of ammonia along with general moisture. Be prepared for them to modify the land and exploit all water..... A small puddle can become a large one. Drainage ditches can be changed and redirected. Flat paddle feet pat down the land they travel. I've had my ducks for a few years now and they created a wetland out of just wet land lol..... which makes them so precious to our world and disappearing wetlands. similar to beavers they are builders and designed to do so. By no means get ducks without educating yourself and being prepared to having them prior to getting them. If you consider having drakes with hens do pay attention to the duck to drake ratio 1 to 3 or more 2 to 6 or more. Breeding of hen (chickens) via a drake can be lethal to your hen (chicken) so it's good to have ducks with him if you desire a mixed species flock. Separate barns is best as the requirements of chickens versus water fowl is quite different in housing. If you don't have a pond or your neighbor has a pond they will go to it. It's instinct to go to water sources they will wander if there is water available nextdoor and not at home. Also keep in mind when draining your duck pools you can use a sub pump attached to a hose and use that filthy water they generate to water your gardens as it is diluted in the water and will not scorch plants. Ducks are great just take your time and educate yourself on the pros cons and requirements as they are much different than chickens