DD has had a small flock of 6-8 bantam hens for the past year and a half in this great chicken tractor built by my dad: I also have this one, adapted from a dog house (we've extended the pen so it's now twice the size): We're getting ready to put the second one on wheels so I can move it more easily, which means there will be a ramp up to the house, which will be about 12" off the ground. DD's banty hens have been very happy in a tractor. Now DS is starting 4-H and wants bantam ducks (Calls or Black East Indies). I was thinking of using one of these 2 tractors to house 3-4 bantam ducks, adding a water pan of course for splashing fun. Would ducks be happy in a tractor? And would the ramps pose a problem for them? My main reason for wanting to keep them in a tractor is to protect them from hawks. We intend to start free-ranging poultry soon inside a electric-fence-surrounded field to keep out foxes, dogs, etc., but bantam ducks seem like perfect hawk bait and DS is a sensitive kid, so I figured I'd better keep them safe. I do like the portability of a tractor, especially given how messy ducks are, but I haven't heard much about keeping ducks in one. Is it possible?
I think they'd do fine, but you may want to put wire on the bottom of the run if they stay in there at night...varmints can and will dig in to eat them (and any other) birds. I don't know how cold it gets by you so don't know if that is an issue or not.
I would use the dog (Duck) house tractor, and put some footing on the ramp so they can better get up into the house! Should work out perfect Quote:If there anything like mine they will make enough noise throughout the night that predators wont be a problem!!
I built something similar to your first tractor for my Calls - it's a bit bigger (6' wide x 8' long x 4' tall overall), but it works great. I'd say mine can comfortably hold 6 Calls max. (that's how many I have in mine now, but I'm planning on re-arranging some birds so that there will only be 3 or 4 in there), so your dog house tractor should definitely keep 3 or 4 happy! Mine doesn't have wire under the run - the ducks are all locked in the "house" section overnight, and we don't have any daytime predators. The neighbor's Black Lab wandered over once, but after meeting my German Shepherd, I don't think he'll be coming back. My unfinished Call duck tractor - it's still unfinished - I have it mostly painted white now though! I'm trying to decide if I want to use shingles or acryllic roofing, so I just have a tarp thrown over the top at the moment!:
We do have 2" x 3" fence wire on the bottom even though we lock the girls up in the house at night. Yes, I am paranoid! It can be tricky having a wire floor though, I wanted holes big enough for poop to drop through and to allow some scratching, but if the ground's not perfectly level it's possible for the birds to catch a leg in it. I haven't figured out a solution to that other than trying to find the most level spot possible when I move the tractor.
