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

[Gone-Quackers]

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!!!

For my duck boxes I got old large tupperware storage totes with lids. Then cut an opening out of one side. Stuffed with straw and put out for ducks to try out. I'll try to take some photos. My ducks stay up all night too. They have duck parties at 2 am, forage at 6 am, and nap at noon. I wish I was diurnal too!

 

[MandyJ]

the night pens gahhh

( mine free range during the day)

we left the floors of the pens as grass and after a week the floors were turned to mud.12 years later of letting it air out and grow grass back when it got dirty and going through different techniques of try to keep it clean we are putting the floors as concrete and using wood shaveing for bedding so when the floors are dirty we just rake the shavings away and spray off the concrete

Try leaves, they are wonderful! They decompose and you just add onto the top! I started that this fall and so far am loving it! So easy and CHEAP! We live around a LOT of trees so I always have dried leaves. I have a 10 x 10 dog enclosure with a tarp top on it for 2 ducks! They have a dog crate with 2 nest boxes in it for really bad weather and cold and of course to lay their eggs. Funny I have 2 ducks and 2 boxes. They each use their OWN box, never the others! Go figure!

 

[MandyJ]

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!!!

I got my laying boxes at tractor supply for $10 each. They are just square wooden boxes. You could make them for nothing! The back is higher than the slanted sides and the front is only about 2 inches high so they can step into the box easily. The boxes are about 10 inches square. I put hay in them and the ladies just make their nests! They are meant from hens but my ducks love them. They used them the first time I put them down. I bought one and they were both using it, but one hen was pushing the other's eggs out so I purchased a second one. Now each hen has her own box! It is extremely nice to have clean eggs. Before the boxes they just laid their eggs on the muddy ground or wherever they happened to be.

I use a large dog crate that my husband put hinges on the side so I can get into it easier to clean it out. So far the ducks only go in there in bad weather and to lay their eggs in their boxes. So far no poop! Time will tell.

 

[cayugaducklady]

For my duck boxes I got old large tupperware storage totes with lids. Then cut an opening out of one side. Stuffed with straw and put out for ducks to try out. I'll try to take some photos. My ducks stay up all night too. They have duck parties at 2 am, forage at 6 am, and nap at noon. I wish I was diurnal too!

Midnight pool party!

My girls love night swimming.

I wish I'd figured out a better system for short arms . I have to use a small garden rake to reach my eggs each day. My duck house fits my ducks perfectly but I am too dang short to reach the eggs. Not fun to kneel down on cold frozen ground to use a rake to reach the eggs.

 

[LadyIsadora]

This is such a tricky question as needs change depending on season and age of ducks. Ducklings were hard. Constantly adjusting to their growth rates, mess rate, appetite ETC.

Here are a few things I have learned: My ducks free range during the day, year round. They have a pond in one corner of the yard and their night pen in another corner of the yard. Their pen door is left open during the day so they can come and go as they please, but locked up tight at night. A person with a different set up may have different needs.

For my adult ducks: Build the pen on high ground- reguardless of materials/ flooring used. Drainage & cleaning are easier.
Do not put a pond/ pool in their night-time enclosure. The biggest messes are water messes & cleaning it out is a nightmare...
Drainage under drinking water bucket/ feed dishes. Lots of people do not put food or water in the duck night pen. I do. I just cant have my babies going thirsty. In one corner of their pen, I dug out a hole, filled with rock & gravel covered with a plate of expanded steel, screwed to a 2x4 frame. (it is what I had but plastic would probably be better) this REALLY cuts down on the water mess as well as making clean up of the food area easier.
RAISE their food dish, but keep it secure from tipping. I made my own set up on 2x4's & screwed through the dishes into the board frame. It works for me. Less mess.
Use a bucket, 1-2 gallon, for water, Not a shallow dish, Not 5 gallon. smaller spills, gets poopy, gets swam in, while with larger people have reported drowning, but again, this is for ADULT ducks.
A place to hide, but not too deep.--- My ducks love hanging out in the dog houses in their night-time pen. They lay in there most of the time. One is no problem, the other one I need a rake to reach to the back of, on my hands & knees, in the poopy straw. Not much fun.
They love to nestle in the straw. -Use it somewhere. They search it for bugs & nestle. adorable.
Roof! they need a roof! In summer they need the shade, in winter the warmth and protection in all seasons. I alternated aluminum and plastic panels for the roof so it still lets light in but there is also shade. It turned out to work well for all seasons. !
Ventilation! As tempted as you may be to seal their pen up tight in the winter, they NEED the ventilation.
That is all I can think of at this moment.
Hope something here helps.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think for me I'd like to find a way to have food and water inside on those frigid days. I'll have to think about this over spring and summer to see what we can come up with for next year.
@LadyIsadora can we have pics of your set up?

 

[LadyIsadora]

Ill have to do that. Its not glamourous-yet, but I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ill have to do that. Its not glamourous-yet, but I'm pretty happy with it.

That's all that matters.

 

[LeannS]

Has anyone used the horse stall rubber mats in their duck coop to help manage everything and to be able to take out to clean?

I had a rubber stall mat so I put it in the out side pen. I can use water to clean it off .My 6 ducks are in a 9 x 16 dirt pen so I used that stall mat and also some old office floor plastic mats. I can clean them off with a bucket of water at the end of the day.j By the next morning the exposed dirt is dry enough for the ducks. I do not move the mat`s once they are in place.

 

[pigcoon]

So now that it is winter, I'm learning a lot about duck pen management. One of my biggest problems is that the water they spill out of their 5 gal turns into a frozen cascade because of the cold temperatures. So it stays fluid because of the heater under it, but the water they squirt out the sides of their bills, as well as what they spill with their 'vigorous' drinking, becomes like a lava flow, that instantly freezes. Then, it becomes a slippery slope that they slide on when they try to drink. Lately they have taken to just standing in their food dish while they drink so the footing is more stable!!

Crazy! I will have to put some drainage under my food and water section in the summer when I can. I would like to put in an iron grate similar to what is used outside of a door in a deck or porch, to drain water around the doorway.

I'm also finding that poop freezes too, so on the cold days I don't have to worry so much about them getting filthy because the poop is all frozen.

I"ve been able to keep their 110 gal tub going with a floater heating unit. The tub is surrounded by rocks and sand so the mess isn't too bad on that side of the cage.

They love going in their night hut on the really cold nights. There is a heat lamp in there. I have hay and wood shavings in it. The heat also keeps the eggs from freezing the 0-10 degree nights.