What do you wish you'd done differently with your duck housing?

[pigcoon]

I have a jumbo pekin that is ten weeks old. I also have 2 month old Canada geese and they almost seem the same size! Anyway, i don't know if this pekin is male or female I previously had thought male but since a new male Cayuga has been added into the flock this pekin has been getting mated with non stop! This Cayuga does nothing but eat drink sleep and mate. It's endless, it was so aggressive that it drown its last mate. My pekin is getting skinnier and hides a lot now. The pekin is such a beautiful duck and it honestly loves people more than any of my ducks. What do I do? I'm ready to shoot the Cayuga and find out what Cayuga duck tastes like.

You may want to post on the bigger Pekin thread to get some general advice there!

 

[Amiga]

Separate the drake while you decide what to do.

 

[ChickenGrass]

I wish I had put a floor or something
To raise it of the ground
But the hardly use it anyway

 

[ambj73]

Super interesting thread! We currently have our chickens and ducks (muscovy) sharing a coop, but are in the planning stages of building a separate duck coop (they are such party animals, always out later than the chickens, so we hope it'll go fairly easily getting them used to cooping up in a different space, after being shut out of the existing one once the chickens go to bed, ha!). Our plan right now was just deep litter (what we do in the current coop, with pine shavings) over dirt/ground. It sounds from other posts like that might not be a good plan????

Oh and really neat little duck enclosure in the pictures! I wondered how winter will go though.... Honestly this last winter our birds didn't spend much time outside at all, but we are in MN. Hoping maybe this year they are feeling a little more brave.

 

[KhakiKristi]

This IS interesting--so many different ideas to consider. Just wanted to add a few things that we have experienced. My boyfriend has been building a "duck pen in progress" for the last few months and changes whatever is necessary as the need arises. We are both new at duck keeping so that's the way it's been. He attached some chicken wire to dog fencing up against the house and propped it up inside so I can stand straight. The ground was grass/gravel already so we left it like that. Of course when I dump their pool they make mudholes but we filled some in with wood pellets that turn to sawdust when wet and it works great. The ducks don't like rooting around in it and it soaks up the water. We do leave at least one mud puddle for them to play in for awhile then fill when it gets too deep. Also we put a wood ramp, flat rocks, bricks and stepping stones in around the pool and they use it like a sidewalk and steps to get in and out easier and also to control mud. I just hose it all down daily when I change the pool water. And we have some tarps over the top for shade. It's been a few months now and there is no muddy mess and no smell. That might change when the rainy season comes but it's been good so far this summer! Lol Since this picture was taken there is more rocks and stepping stones around a larger pool but you can get an idea how it looks.

 

[cockAdoodleDUEL]

Hey everyone! Awesome reading here. My duck family consists of 4 easter presents that got too big to be cute. They are absolutely wonderful as young adults. They live with my 6 chickens in a 12 x 20 pen with 8' roof. The dirt floor was grass on sand. It slopes slightly so rain doesn't stand. It has been perfect for the 2 different species. The pool is on the low end. The mud stays in 1 area, and the chickens do explore it too. The biggest mistake I made early was use a bulk feeder sitting on the ground.

Ducks poop in a projectile fashion. I wasted lots of food figuring out why my feeder kept clogging. Hang your feeders!

 

[cockAdoodleDUEL]

I'm pretty certain I have 1 male and 3 females. The egg production has surpassed my chickens' efforts. Super excited about that! I want to hatch some ducklings, but I don't know their brood cycles. Anyone got some pointers on that topic?

 

[Gone-Quackers]

I used a 100 sq ft dog run for the duck pen and put a wire top on it. Then attached a small quacker box made out of used pallets and tin roofing material (24 sq ft inside). It houses 10 runners and 1 Pekin. The ducks can go in/out at will. The ducks have free run of my huge fenced backyard during the day. I have limited funds so did what I could with what I could scrounge up and find free/cheap. I do wish I'd made the duck hut a bit bigger. . and made it easier to get into! I have to clean it out soon and the entrance is just big enough for me to squeeze into. Oh, what a mess lies ahead.

Also duck egg boxes are being set up and put out right now. I'm using tupperware totes with a hole cut out. They sit outside in the pen area and are stuffed with straw. I only have 2 nest boxes so far and need to put out at least 2 more (I have 8 hens!). Hoping the ducks decide to use them.

 

[pigcoon]

My ducks have not used small boxes to lay eggs. They just go in their big box and lay them in the wood shavings. I am curious what your little boxes look like?

I am amazed at how different duck habits are compared to chickens. I am glad I didn't house them together. The chickens go to bed at a decent hour. My ducks just take little cat naps, and party at night in their tub! They would keep the chickens up if they were together!!!

 

[mominoz]

well....hhhmmm. I first had a carport on a slope with pond rock that I could hose out. But did take a while if you let it build up. and the rocks kept gradually moving downhill. Then I found a great deal , 5$ each for some rubber mats with either treads or holes in them. I had enough for the whole carport aviary. It is divided into short fences so I have apartments.... I can hose it down easily every other day. These are part of their nightpens.with runs attached. (so I can separate breeding groups). I also have some goose duck sheds with some plastic flooring from a shed package. I put a rubber mat over some of them also for traction. I put some leftover lids from rubbermaid bins around the water buckets. The bins, I cut a side out partially with a square as nest boxes. I put hay the horses reject in those or oak leaves, or mulch/pine straw. I also have a small section with pavers and a rubber mats to keep the wood rats out, that has some netting which the other ducks chewed up. I should have used metal chicken wire. Also with all the hosing, some of the thin divider poles rusted off at ground level and I have had to replace them after 5 years.
I wish I had put more gravel down in the day runs...but I can't get to them with other than a wheelbarrow now, because of the fences. Luckily, it is all on a slope and 'stuff runs downhill out the fences' onto a wooded slope.
Also I would have just have made separate pens with a nest box and pools .... they like to stay outside all the time and only occasionally go into the covered area... could have spent less, the carportie thingie was a cheapy 'shed in box'.
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