winter duck housing

[Heather J]

My ducks and geese were locked in a secure run at night and on nasty winter days with a lean-to last winter for protection. Mostly the lean-to protected their feed, because they weren't all that interested in it. lol This summer I built a simple A-frame with 7 2x4s and 2 pieces of 3/8" plywood. Simple enough I built it single-handed with my dad's nail gun, the chicken love it when I let them out to free range with the water birds, lol. They just need somewhere they *can* get out of the weather if it gets too nasty, and I lure them into the fenced enclosure with scratch or the promise of other food and have never had a single problem. They run into the enclosure as I get close to it, knowing dinner is in the offing. If you're concerned about predators, a dog kennel like structure is a good idea, but you'll need to get them trained soon so you aren't having to do it trudging through the snow.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I am not too worried about predators, as long as the pond doesn't freeze over they should be fine. If it does, I will have to probably leave a trail of food in the yard to coax them up to the house! They are safe in the pond, so if it doesn't freeze, they have a place to escape from predators.

 

[vfem]

Quote:
My pekin hen was taken by a land animal. we found some feathers when we mowed. The rouen hen could have been taken by a snapping turtle, we saw a lot of feathers on the pond, but there is always a lot of feathers there!

Same thing with our 2 Pekin ducks. Something either got them by land or water... though we found feather across our yard and some in the pond, we never found an other remains. I'm trying 4 pekin duck eggs now, and we'll see what happens if they hatch. We are going to give them they old tractor chicken coop by the pond for extra protection. I think they will really be fine as they get older. The other 2 ducks lived fine with no protection for 3 years before the disappearance. Just offering them some kind of shelter should really make a difference.

i just don't know what the rouen ducks on the pond will do. I don't know if they belong to anyone... or ever did. They chase me for chicken food, but other wise stand off. They have no housing of any kind, and the neighbors say they've been here as long as the pekin ducks were.