Topic of the Week - Duck Housing

[quackingdom]

Types of housing

Ducks don't care about housing in any shape or form. Frankly, every duck in the world would prefer to be completely free 24/7. And I think, the closer you can get to this ideal, the better. All they NEED is something that keeps them safe from predators, provides relief from the extremes, and is hygienic and healthy for them.

Mobile pens are nice in small areas and for providing constant fresh grass, but their space is so limited. Ducks clearly prefer large spaces over smaller ones, even when the space is supposedly enough for them (10 sq. ft. or whatever). Freedom gives them so much more opportunity express their personality. Even though my mobile pens (which now they only spend the night in) are big enough for all the ducks, by typical size standards, they act like they're dying to get out as soon as sunrise breaks.

Permanent coops with permanent runs are okay, but I think it's better to have at least two permanent runs to rotate between, because they will eventually destroy all the grass. It needs time to recover.

Personally, I like permanent coops for the night and free-ranging for the day by far the best, but I know that won't work for many people.

If predators aren't a problem, it doesn't get extremely cold, and you aren't hatching ducklings, I think a simple yard would be fine, with no coop (since ducks just don't like coops), so long as they have shade and preferably somewhere that's always dry, even in rain. People usually say ducks need somewhere dry and draft-free to sleep, and I agree that would be best, but currently our flock does fantastic in a mobile pen with no solid roof (only chicken wire) and no floor. Some nights are wet and windy. I don't know whether they mind or not. It's not that cold here, so the drafts aren't a big problem, or at least they don't seem to be. I do have something better in mind for the future though. If nothing else, I hate muddy eggs, and our main pen isn't adequate for ducklings. (There is a roof and floor for part of our other pen, so it's okay for ducklings so long as they have a mother to protect them from drafts and any rain coming in the side.)

There are other options, but I think those are the main ones. Although tomorrow I'll probably remember something major I missed.

How much room

For the night, ducks need more room than chickens, because they are more active during the night and don't roost. Three to four square feet per bird is usually considered the minimum, depending on the breed size. I never go with less than 5 square feet per bird, although if I had bantams I'd be fine with 4 square feet. Outside, the more, the better. It can't be too big. But at least 10 square feet. My ducks free range on a six-acre property, but they use only about two acres of it (33 ducks and four geese).

Nest boxes

They don't mind sharing nest boxes one bit. How many depends on the breed, I think. For Muscovies, who only lay about 100 eggs a year, I would have approximately one nest box per six ducks, but the number is flexible. What ducks do mind (at least the breeds that like to go broody) is privacy. I actually wrote a post about how to encourage ducks to lay in nest boxes and prevent them from hiding their eggs here: http://www.raising-ducks.com/hidden-nest/

What they need in the coop

Nest boxes, of course, unless you don't mind them scattering their eggs wherever. I always provide water. Some people don't. To prevent your bedding from getting wet, use waterers with a small lip so they don't have room to splash or dunk their head (they can have that outisde). And, if you can, put the waterer over a wire frame so the spilled water will fall through the frame rather than soaking the bedding. You could feed them inside as well, but I prefer not to. Besides that, and bedding, they really don't need much.

Oh, but the coop does need excellent ventilation. The more, the better.

Temperatures

Ducks can withstand temperatures of up to 0 F, at least. I know one flock raiser who keeps them outside 24/7, and when it gets below 0 F, she puts them in their coop, which is not heated, but has plenty of ventilation and no drafts. Heating often causes more harm than good, so unless you live in a REALLY frigid area, I recommend going without it.

It sometimes gets to 110 F where I live. The ducks certainly get hot, but they've never had issues with heatstroke or anything. (Muscovies originated in Central America, so they're quite well adapted to very hot temperatures.) They spend the day either bathing in the shade or panting under our house. It's actually cooler under the house than in the house.

OK, I think that's it for now. There's tons more that could be said on the subject of housing, but I'm ready for bed and you're probably ready to quit reading.

 

[Lou LaRue]

 

[Henrik Petersson]

My ducks hate being indoors. It was a huge hassle to try and force them all in for the night so we got rid of the coop and built something that works really well. Hoop house style enclosure with a pressure treated wood 2x4 skirt. Hoops are typical pvc pipe. Hardware cloth dug in 18 inches all the way around to keep the weasels out. There is siding only on the front where the door is. The hoop house is totally covered securely in chicken wire. The whole thing is about 8 feet wide by 16 feet long. It houses our crew of 13 (nights only) nicely with lots of room to spare. I always keep straw, grass clippings and pine shavings down - mainly so I can collect that garden gold come spring. The lack of siding keeps the ventilation great and we only cover the very top in a large tarp during the Winter. There is a dogloo stuffed with straw in the hoop house for the gals to lay in. They use it pretty diligently though there are many times that they lay under brush, willow, clumps of grass, the water...
We have a stream running through our couple acres which pretty much requires ducks. We have a portion of that area fenced off for the ducks and it backs the garden so they can pull clean up duty in fall. They are very spoiled and go right into their hoop house at dusk. By morning light, they are screaming to get out and into the stream. I just love how excited the are to hit the water
Ducks are awesome.

 

[PirateGirl]

Making progress. All materials except hardware are free/salvaged. The floor is about a 40 inch square and it's about 3 ft high. One roof panel is hinged and folds down for people access for egg collection and cleaning.

 

[Conan]

I think jerk - off neighbors with poorly behaved dogs are the worst threat. Whenever you live away from town, people stop having fences, which is fine so long as your dogs are trained properly. We have had several neighbor dogs attack our birds - both chickens and ducks. Found one of my chickens in the dog's mouth, shot at him and he let go. She actually lived and is still alive to this day. I went to my neighbor and told him the next bullet would be in his dog's head if I saw any of them again. Never happened again and that was years ago. Had to do the same with another neighbor. Some folks are just awfully inconsiderate and don't realize that their friendly dog is a threat to livestock. Some folks just don't care. I'm VERY glad that I haven't had to shoot any dogs. Other than that, we have had mink attacks (lost a male duck) and we've seen coyotes and cougar.

 

[PirateGirl]

Ok, the duck house is pretty much done! Now I have to get motivation to build the fence. As shown previously one roof panel opens for people access, and now one wall folds open to become a duck ramp/door. The top triangles will have fencing over them, but remain open for ventilation. All wood was salvaged, only purchased screws and hinges for the house.

 

[PirateGirl]

This is perfect because I am building my duck house this week!

 

[Henrik Petersson]

For my chickens I have a wind block outside by the ramp/pop door. I have found it really helps them to venture outside when the weather is nasty and gives a gentle transition. It also helps prevent the pop door from acting as a wind tunnel into the coop.

Our chickens have one too. It's a really simple solution and I don't see any reason to not make one if you have the means.

Just remember two things if you do:
1) A wind block will look an awful lot like a nest box to a hen (of any species). Expect to find the occasional egg there.
2) Make the roof detachable - it REALLY helps with the cleaning.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hear are some things I have learned...

Ducks can use ramps but they prefer not to. If you are building from scratch, put the coop at ground level. If you must use a ramp, make it very wide, very long, and build in some sort of traction. Guard rails are good because ducks are not graceful on land.

You can provide a nest box. I use medium sized Rubbermaid type totes with holes cut in the sides. Sometimes they use them. Sometimes they lay in the coop bedding. Sometimes they lay outside under a bush or tree so you have to go out and search for eggs like it's Easter.

Ducks can be taught to use an automatic door and go inside at night. Some evenings they may miss the door closing and get stuck outside. Strangely enough it always seems to happen when the weather is nice. Weird. But that's okay because they will yell at you until you lift the door for them.

Ducks and chickens can be housed together as long as they have plenty of space to get away from each other. Lots of higher level spots makes things easier for the chickens.

Ducks like water. No really, they do. So planning for keeping water messes at a minimum and providing water in winter is key. Ducks can and do use vertical chicken nipples. Be prepared to change things up if it doesn't work. But that kind of applies to all aspects of duck keeping.

I know ducks can drink from vertical nipple waterers. But if no other water source is available to them it can cause problems. Ducks need to be able to dunk their heads in water to wash their eyes and nostrils and likely will not eat enough without enough water to wash food down. I acquired a duck recently who was a victim of this.

check out the build up of duck snot

 

[3bird]

I'm loving this thread! Thanks everyone for taking the time to post.

We are new to ducks this year and built their house/run this spring. The design is our own based on loads of research here and elsewhere.

The house is elevated and measures ~8'x4' with four windows, a sliding door to the ramp that goes into the run, and a tailgate back door for clean out. It is uninsulated at this point. We use the deep litter method, which started with several inches of shavings and is now several inches of straw on top. They generally make their own nests in the straw in the duckhouse and lay there, but they have been periodically making nests in the straw underneath the duckhouse and laying there.

The run is ~16'x8' if you include the area under the duckhouse. There is a small "pond" (~10 gallons) in the corner that we have not used since before freezing temps. They now get their water from a large heated bucket that has most of the top blocked by a piece of ply so they can't get in it. In the run, they get freechoice feed (pellets) in a rubber pan, as well as free choice grit/oyster shells and cracked corn when it's uber cold. The floor of the run is covered with straw, which is several inches deep at this point.

We use a couple of wifi cameras to keep an eye on them and watch for any predator issues.

In the winter, we bank straw bales around part of the run, which makes the whole area underneath the house enclosed.

We also have plastic on two of the sides of the run. We generally leave the duckhouse door open, although with some -10 F temps this winter, we have locked them in a few times at night.

They get time to run around outside the run in both the morning and the evening, but it's been pretty snowy and cold, so they have not always been up for their usual adventures.