We're planning on getting some more ducks this spring ( currently have 4 - One KC Drake, 1 Fawn and white runner, 1 swedish , and one pekin hen) all are hatchery stock. we're planning on getting the new ducks to be breeding stock but penning them together for now. The 'old' ducks are free range and will always be. they go into a duck house at night. We've got a 25 x 25 run that we were going to use- the footing will be 1/2 pea gravel 1/2 dirt . The area with the dirt will be the duck coop area, just three sides and a screen roof over 1/2 and a regular wood roof over the other 1/2. the coop is about 8x8 ( so the whole footage of the pen/run will be 33x33). I'm going to put a trough with a drain on a platform sortof like a duck patio so that they can swim and sun and then waddle down and sit below the pool or on the gravel . I'm going to TRY to grow grass in there for them. the other option is to raise them on the concrete car port with a run extending onto part of the lawn. not sure whats better yet. I'm wanting some Snowy Calls, Mini Silver Appleyards and Manderins . How many can I get... comfortably? Will bantam drakes fight in that small of a space if i get two of them?
Hope you get a better response then I did. I'm not sure how many will fit as Im not very good at measurements. Im still wondering how many birds can fit comfrtable in my 20 x 36 pen
hunterjumper999, I am not in gear this a.m., so I am having trouble visualizing your plans. But I am gonna jump in and share what I can. I am planning for runner ducks, so what I am sharing is what I have read, mostly from Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. The numbers I recall are minimum 2 to 6 square feet in a predator-proof building per duck, and minimum 10 to 25 square feet per duck for a pen. I am not sure what to make of minimum ranges. I tend to think literally, and minimum to me means smallest number. So I think what they are saying is for the very small breeds, minimum 10 sf, for larger ducks, minimum 25 sf. Planning a shady area sounds great. I am keen on making sure drainage is good. Pea gravel won't drain unless there is a little bit of slope. And if you can, perhaps you can consider having the low end of that slope planted with grasses or other thick fast-growing plant that will absorb the lovely nutrients flowing off the pen. This could be a "duck free zone" where you might plant some corn, which is a heavy feeder and will appreciate the ducky water. The pen I am building has a slight drop toward a swale that runs over toward a below-ground drain. I have watched it this winter and so far no signs of drainage problems. whew! Relief! Back to numbers - 25 x 25 is 625. Divided by 10 for small ducks is 62 ducks. Divided by 25 for large ducks is 25 ducks. I hope some of this has helped.
