# I have some duck questions!



## Paige (Oct 14, 2010)

I am looking into getting some ducks this spring. Might be building them a wooden little house, but I already have a very large plastic dog house and a slightly smaller one too. Would these work for the ducks if well bedded? Thinking about the Swedish ones. Would just a kids pool work? Any more info will help, thanks!


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Dog boxes work well for housing and the kiddie pools work well too, just be sure to place a brick or 2 on the outside as well as inside so they are able to get in and out. Just an FYI....Ducks love to make their water sources dirty so be sure you can dump and change the water containers easily and often.


----------



## Willow (Jun 12, 2011)

Sounds good. I have a large plastic dog house for the ducks that i took apart in 2 halves. Theye are in and out all the time and lay their eggs inside. he dog house halves sit right on the ground so they can be moved around. i put leaves or hay inside. a kids pool works well, too. Make sure that the pool is as far away as possible from their house so they dont get it all wet and muddy. Keep the food area away from the water area too. They will mess up their pen area - mine range around in the pasture during the day.
i am thinking of creating an additional pen so that 1 can recover while the other is being used. :greengrin:


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Sounds like it will work pretty well! :thumb:


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Thats what I used for mine, and it was great, it was easy to move around because they dont just poop, they POOP ALOT!!


----------



## Paige (Oct 14, 2010)

Only looking to get a few, but I would love to have ducklings hatched eventually. Should I have like 2 male for for females? How bug an area do they need if they get let out every few days? Thanks!


----------



## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

First question I have is for whoever has ducks that lay in their house???? HOW on earth did you get them to do that? Mine just drop 'em wherever they happen to be! We have easter egg hunts at our house daily for the duck eggs! LOL 

We built a really nice pen and set up a really nice house with lots of straw for bedding and a feeder in it, etc. And the ducks NEVER go in it. Never. They LOVE their kiddie pool. They also love the horse tank, the dog water bowl, the goat water, etc. And they manage to get all of those filthy dirty. 

Our ducks just roam. We don't even try to pen them anymore. They are escape artists and don't stay in even at night which is when I'm worried about predators. Ducks are extremely adaptable. If you're going to be letting them out, they don't need a very large area, but don't be surprised if they'd rather be out than in...period.


----------



## Paige (Oct 14, 2010)

Thanks! How tall a fence do they need? 4 foot?


----------



## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

It doesn't take much fence to keep ducks in (as long as they aren't flyers) The fence is more for predator control....in my opinion anyway. 4 foot should be fine.


----------



## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

kccjer said:


> First question I have is for whoever has ducks that lay in their house???? HOW on earth did you get them to do that? Mine just drop 'em wherever they happen to be! We have easter egg hunts at our house daily for the duck eggs! LOL


I built some nest boxes out of plywood about 16 inches x 16 inches with the back part covered and put them on the floor in my duck pen in the barn, filled with straw, and they all lay in there every morning. I lock them in the barn at night though... their pen is an 8 X 12 horse stall. They lay all the eggs by 5:30 when I go out to do chores and I let them out into their run where the pools are. Usually 4 or five ducks lay their eggs in one box and 3 or 4 in another. I have 4 connected boxes altogether for 8 ducks and they seem to pick which ones they use each night randomly.


----------



## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

milkmaid10 said:


> Thanks! How tall a fence do they need? 4 foot?


That depends what breed of ducks you get. Khaki Campbells are not supposed to be good flyers but mine could get HIGH in the air and clear any fence and fly for hundreds of yards. I had one who kept flying out everyday until my dogs finally ate her After that I started clipping their wings which is very easy and you only have to trim the outside 10-12 flight feathers on one wing once per year and they are quite landlocked after that.


----------



## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

I have 2 pekin drakes that I just got last fall. First time owning ducks. I have a kiddie pool for them and they loove it. I clean it and it takes about 10 minutes for them to poop it back up again. They have a nice 4X8 shed that I feed them in, but other than that they never use it. They would rather huddle on the edge of the kiddie pool in a snow storm than go inside the shed. I would like to get a few hens for eggs, but I have not been able to find any locally except for babies that were just hatched.


----------



## nhsmallfarmer (Apr 14, 2008)

I aquired 2 ducks last fall, they live the old chicken coop, she layed her eggs in the tire that is in there, we have been trying to take down that old building but she is on her eggs so I dont dare try to more her and hte eggs to new location afraid she might reject them I been counting days she been sitting on them (15 so far) I am giving her until may 10th if nothing is hatched by then I will move them.


----------

