What does your duck house look like?

[Feedingfour]

See my website, scroll to "new digs for the ducks" and you can see my set up.

Love this!! I have a playhouse just like this not being used... How many ducks do you have?

 

[ShaneGoat]

I've recently built a little Duck temple, I have paid most of my attention on creating a traditional Chinese style before practicality. The size is about 1200x1200 mm and the internal area is roughly 800x800 mm, the wall thickness is very thick and insulated. For the time being it serves as a great duckling house for my 5 little muscovy ducklings. I'm asking for some advise for a preferred size for a nesting box for a Muscovy, I would like to make a floating island for this "Duck Temple". Is this going to work? Thanking in advance for suggestions, Shane

 

[Hattiegun]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Duck-Hut/193654187369638

Ive added on since this.....heres my duck page on Facebook.

 

[Mashallaharabia]

Winter quarters; two adjacent connected stalls inside the horse barn, wrapped in wire mesh to keep out predators, with an insulated water cooler for drinking water, raised logs for the Muscovys to perch on ( they like to get off the floor), deep straw flooring, and a door made from metal v-mesh leading to the duckyard outside, which is fenced. New quarters this summer; free range in the fenced garden, to be shut at night into a large old corn crib lined with heavy wire mesh to keep out predators, stumps and logs for perching, and with three children's wading pools in each location.

 

[Mashallaharabia]

That duck temple;

Wow. Just...wow. Gorgeous.

 

[kimdvm]

HI Marshall!

Can you help me out here. I've been wanting to get ducks for a while. I'm thinking Muscovies. I accidentally ended up with chickens first because I was searching Craigs list for a duck house, and instead found an awesome homemade chicken tractor. The owner had to give up his small flock also, though, because of an HOA. So we brought home a nice coop with great predator protection and chickens already laying. The run surrounding the coop is built pretty well, but there is also a door on a timer. That's fantastic for us as we sometimes get home after dark.

When I first bought this, I thought I would include ducks. But the more I read, the more I'm hearing that Muscovies (esp a drake) might pick on the chickens. The chicken coop also has a fairly steep ramp from the run up to the housing.

So I'm thinking I need a separate house for the ducks, right? My plan is to get Muscovy ducklings in a few weeks, when my daughter will be home to watch them a lot and get them well-adapted to people. We have plenty of acres to forage on, and a creek. So I am intending to allow them flight for predator protection, hoping that the handling and night-time treat feeding will keep them coming back to their duck house every night.

What are your thoughts on that arrangement? Specifically I mean on getting the young ducklings socialized to us, putting them in the house every night for a while, and eventually counting on them to enter on their own before the door closes at dark?

I am also assuming that if we get 10 ducklings, we will probably have to keep only 1 or 2 drakes, and "get rid of" (ahem, dinner) the extra drakes?

If this works out, will we eventually need a different place for any females and their babies to be safe from the drakes later?

Thanks for any help!

 

[QueenQuack]

Here is the beginning of ours...



This will be the "pool and cabin deck"....

The plan is 4'x8' sections.

 

[Mashallaharabia]

I don't have any trouble with the females, their hatchlings, and the drakes all living together. It was great to see the senior drake enter the nesting area and check out the ducklings when they started hatching; he prodded the hatchlings very gently while chirping to the hens ( and maybe to the kids too), then waddled back out, all proud of himself, crest up, wagging his tail. He has always been gentle with hens and ducklings. Once he thrashed a teenage drake for biting a duckling ( the bite did no actual harm at all, ducks can't damage each other as can chickens with their pointed beaks); you do not bite the babies right in front of duckdad, apparently. I do clip the wings so I don't have to round them up all over the farm. They go in the duckhouse at dark on their own, but I make sure the door is shut to keep coons and feral cats out. I don't make any attempt to socialize them. They come to me when I feed them, that's tame enough, mine are meat and egg producers, not pets. I have 11 Muscovy hens, 2 drakes ( senior drake and backup in case something happens to senior), and 3 younger drakes which will be sold or eaten.
Summer duckhouse is a large mesh-lined wooden corn crib in the garden, winter quarters is two connected predator-proof stalls in the horsebarn with a duck run outside.

 

[1missrae]

Here's our duck pyramid

It has an 'astroturf' floor which is AWESOME for messy, messy ducks. It never gets muddy no matter how much they splash in the pool and water just drains right through!
These are our 2 muscovy drakes. We recently moved in our 3 little cayuga ducklings.

 

[M Kelley]

Do ducks need grass and or dirt for their run? We are trying to figure out our coop and duck house as we are hoping to move our four ducks and six chickens outside this week. I have decided to keep them separate but they will free range together in my yard. I think I may use my 12x12 dog kennel with a cement pad for my ducks if they don't need dirt or grass.