Topic of the Week - Duck Housing

[EverythingZen]

I've got an unfinished coop but my 3 muscovies refuse to be locked up in it. They fight and get very frantic as soon as the gate is closed. I panic and let them out, before they either get too stressed or hurt each other. They are stubborn buttheads. They free range 24/7. They will often climb up the back steps, about 14 steps, to come and see what the dogs are up to. Or they will fly up onto the birdcage and hang out with the lorikeet for a while. They love the pool deck.
One of them is currently nesting in the duck coop, of course, but I know she will be back to her old tricks once she's done.

I fear foxes will get to them one night, or snakes. But they are spoilt rotten little ducks who refuse to do as they're told.

 

[quackingdom]

I've got an unfinished coop but my 3 muscovies refuse to be locked up in it. They fight and get very frantic as soon as the gate is closed. I panic and let them out, before they either get too stressed or hurt each other. They are stubborn buttheads. They free range 24/7. They will often climb up the back steps, about 14 steps, to come and see what the dogs are up to. Or they will fly up onto the birdcage and hang out with the lorikeet for a while. They love the pool deck.
One of them is currently nesting in the duck coop, of course, but I know she will be back to her old tricks once she's done.

I fear foxes will get to them one night, or snakes. But they are spoilt rotten little ducks who refuse to do as they're told.

How many people here actually have foxes attacking their ducks? I have seen foxes trot less than ten feet from the ducks and neither of them paid any attention to each other. They eat the eggs, but have never attacked a duck. The ducks and foxes are about the same size, so I don't know if they're even capable of killing the ducks.

Do you just have a larger variety of foxes or what?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I believe the foxes we have here would eat one or more of my ducks if given the chance. Foxes have teeth nothing in Poultry can over come them. We have red and grey foxes.I've seen them on the game camera at night and In full daylight looking out the window. Not inside the fencing we have up to protect our flock though thank goodness.
I have Muscovy, Runners and Buffs plus 2 geese and many chickens.

 

[Lou LaRue]

Hi Everyone, I'm new here and been following all the duck threads. Thank You all for posting such great information. We are just starting out with our ducklings and the info I have found on this site is incredible. (esp. the threads with the info about brewers yeast and niacin!). So thank you.

I have 23 khaki campbells who will be 4 weeks old on Wednesday. I'm building their 8 x 10 duck house out of pallets and hardware cloth and a tin roof. The run will be expanded as funds allow, and they can free range during the daylight hours. We have raccoons here, so that has been the major concern. We will be keeping all the hens and two drakes. The rest of the drakes will be given away to various friends wanting to add to their flocks. (They are too young to know yet).

Right now, they are IN THE HOUSE. So we are really working hard to get the duck house finished this week. (you can imagine what 23 three and a half week old ducklings in the bedroom look like). We have them in a kiddie pool with a puppy fence around it and a heat lamp.

We have had a snap of unusually cold weather. What temps can the babies withstand? They are a fairly large flock, so they can huddle together. What bedding does everyone use to keep them dry and warm? And watering systems?

 

[onaharley]

Wow that's a large flock to start out with! Bless you!! Duckling will become fully feathered around the 6 week mark, so I suggest that you keep them in doors until then because they won't be able to retain the heat they need until feathered.

I use a combo of pine shavings 3-5 inches thick then straw 1-2 inches thick on top of that. I change the straw twice daily (just picking out poop and water down straw that is). I use heated water bucks. I use a heat lamp when the wind chill is less then 10 degrees

Post some pictures of your ducks!!

 

[Animal family]

My pair have a little house right beside ours, it’s in the pea gravel area where there are raised garden beds. They have free range of my suburban backyard which has lots of cover.
They also have a 35 gallon pond.
The duck house is a simple rectangle with round ventilation holes at the top. It has a window about 9in by 9in, with metal screening and I have a wooden shutter to block it in the winter. It’s not insulated but it has a ceramic heat bulb on a timer. I have a thermostat in there as well that reads in my house. (Right beside my bed)
I’m trying to do the deep litter method and I think it’s working, although the duck house is only about 3ft by 4ft, and 4 ft tall.
The door is a simple ramp that I close and lock at night and the end of the house is a door that I can use to clean.
The entire house is plywood with wood paneling on the outside and a vinyl piece over the wooden floor.

Any ideas about deep litter or other improvements I could make would be appreciated, I’m new to ducks and my two are my babies!

 

[hereorthere]

Any ideas about deep litter or other improvements I could make would be appreciated, I’m new to ducks and my two are my babies!

I use Sweet PDZ - it's a horse stall freshner to cut down ammonia cuz I use the pellets. I have ventilation on entire top portion of coop's higher wall, pop door is screened off with hardware cloth, and the human door open....I can still smell it. Rake it lightly x1-2 a week and throw scratch in there for the chickens to do their thing. But I think the chickens are contributing to the smell.....it's like their hangout spot while the ducks hang up under the chicken coop, which we have up on wheels.

 

[Animal family]

I don't like the fact that my scovies won't go into the coop either. They can; I've seen them all go in there from time to time, but they sleep outside every night, and the drake gets frostbite.

I also don't like the idea of the spectacle and stress of herding them in every night.

What could be another solution? Putting a big windbreak in the pen with roosts in it, and something elevated on the ground for the drake to sit on (he won't roost)? Maybe something with three closed sides and one side completely open?

My two Swedish ducks sometimes don’t want to go to bed but I always make them. Sometimes they hang out close to their house and go right in. They’re 10 months old now and know the rules, and now it seems like they like the security and comfort of their house.
Ducks are smart and although they can be willful, they can be trained.

 

[hereorthere]

My two Swedish ducks sometimes don’t want to go to bed but I always make them. Sometimes they hang out close to their house and go right in. They’re 10 months old now and know the rules, and now it seems like they like the security and comfort of their house.
Ducks are smart and although they can be willful, they can be trained.

Yep, it's called tough love! And I had an incentive.....our barn owl needed to feed her owlets and they were literally sitting ducks!

 

[Conan]

I've got an unfinished coop but my 3 muscovies refuse to be locked up in it. They fight and get very frantic as soon as the gate is closed. I panic and let them out, before they either get too stressed or hurt each other. They are stubborn buttheads. They free range 24/7. They will often climb up the back steps, about 14 steps, to come and see what the dogs are up to. Or they will fly up onto the birdcage and hang out with the lorikeet for a while. They love the pool deck.
One of them is currently nesting in the duck coop, of course, but I know she will be back to her old tricks once she's done.

I fear foxes will get to them one night, or snakes. But they are spoilt rotten little ducks who refuse to do as they're told.

My ducks are pretty much the same. Free range constantly and would absolutely not go into a traditional coop with walls and a roof. We successfully got them in for a couple weeks but they never quit fighting us on it and would freak out every time. It was a bit stressful for all involved. We compromised on this by building a super secure run attached to the coop. We built it out of pallets and dug hardware cloth around the edges to about 18 inches. We sunk a pole in the middle and covered the entire thing with chicken wire. Honestly, it was a huge pain in the rear, but it worked while we built their final coop. I will try to get photos of what we did and post them. Long story short, a hoop house covered in chicken wire and hardware cloth and it works! They have never had a problem going in at night. The door is human sized (small human - I am not tall) not small so they never feel enclosed. That does not stop them from screeching to get out every morning.