4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Andduckiesmake8]

Hello! I'm writing from Pennsylvania, USA. We just got ourselves 4 ducks, two Indian Runners, a Campbell, and a Welsh Harlequin. In many ways, our property is ideal for keeping ducks. We have two natural streams running through, one small and one large one. We have plenty of space, grass that hasn't been chemically-treated, plenty of bugs and slugs for the duckies to forage, and our closest neighbor happens to love ducks as she had them growing up. We are very new to ducks and while keeping chickens has become somewhat popular in the States, ducks are mostly unknown, and it's hard to find a community of duck-keepers to join up with. I have many questions:

 

1) I am wondering if anyone on this forum is keeping ducks in an Eglu. How many can comfortably be housed in one? The nice young woman who answers the phone for Omlet tells me that 4 ducks could be housed in a single unit, but that the run is what people say is insufficient.

 

2) My husband and I are looking into building a run or a run/shelter combination for them should we decide the Eglu won't work for us. I'm in favor of a larger, more stationary enclosure that can incorporate part of the smaller stream so that the ducks have constant access to moving water. Husband thinks a unit that can be moved from place to place is a better idea. So, I'm hoping to get some practical advice on how best to house, shelter, and provide a run for them. My sense is that they don't really need to be on a different area of the yard every few hours, and I hope I'm right.

 

3) We do have foxes and predatory birds, as well as raccoons and other potential duck thieves in the area. What sort of predator-deterrents would you recommend? My sense is that folks in Britain are probably quite a bit more savvy on fox and predator control than we here in the US.

 

Those are my most pressing questions for now. I'm sure many more will crop up as we go along. Thanks in advance for any advice or tips.

[Lesley]

Hello - welcome to the forum.

 

Firstly - do you have a good book on ducks? - if you can get hold of Starting with Ducks by Katie Thear you will find a wealth of information in there and she does show a set-up using a stream or lake setting.

 

I have kept ducks in an Eglu - we had 2 Campbells but the housing itself would take 3 or 4 as long as the ducks weren't confined to the Eglu run. The roosting bars must be removed and a layer of straw placed directly on the Eglu floor.

 

Ours are kept in a large run area with a shallow, pre-formed pond which we empty every day. It sits on a sump slightly larger than the pond which we filled with rubble and topped with gravel. The water drains into this sump instead of flooding the lawn. We have a water butt which feeds a drinker fitted with a ball valve - this ensures that the ducks have clean water to dunk their heads into and to drink as their pond is filthy the minute it is refilled - ducks really are mucky creatures

 

The run is almost 6' tall chicken netting and is surrounded by electric polywire attached to an energiser and battery. We have foxes around all the time and have not yet lost any poultry using this set-up. The polywire is held about 9" from the ground on the special insulators which hold it about 9" away from the fence.

[Guest]

Hello - welcome to the forum.

 

 

The run is almost 6' tall chicken netting and is surrounded by electric polywire attached to an energiser and battery. We have foxes around all the time and have not yet lost any poultry using this set-up. The polywire is held about 9" from the ground on the special insulators which hold it about 9" away from the fence.

 

 

Sounds like the ideal place but as you say predators are always a problem..not sure about racoons etc interesting(maybe)

 

All I can say is that electrifying off a 12V battery or from mains energiser would be best solution to be pretty sure they wont get taken(although it sounds like you may have to run something across the roof or sky access if you have predatory birds(am sure someone in USA will have a solution or run strands of poly wire criss cross)

 

But electric fencing is used on cattle and horses etc so will stop other wildlife(as it stops me in my tracks if you ever mistakenly touch it ..it does hurt & ow just thinking of it wont do it again for sure )!

 

Good luck...perhaps one eglu will suffice for having the slim indian runners too but its the bigger breed of duck that I cant be so sure about in an eglu..but I think yours wil fit(or get more than one eglu)!!

 

let us know how you get on as good to learn what solutions you come up with

 

indie

[Redwing]

When I was a child we had ducks, we had a stream running through the run and used wire fencing under the water so that nothing could swim under (in or out!) running water is fab as there isnt the need for constant filling and cleaning of a static pond so I would recommend that as you have a stream you should use that as the water source.

 

We used rubber car mats to provide grip on the banks of the stream as it could get slippery when it was very wet

[Andduckiesmake8]

Thank you all so much for your responses. A lot to think about as we plan our next few steps. I have ordered the book that was recommended and looking forward to getting more ideas and guidance from that.

 

I must say that our ducks had a fabulous day today. They spent most of the day outdoors in and around the little stream. We've dammed up part of it so that there is a little puddle for them to splash around in. They ate the duck equivalent of gourmet food, grubs, slugs, earthworms, etc., that we dug up for them. They follow us around the yard and we've grown very fond of them as well. They grow so fast.

 

My husband and I are discussing whether or not they can be left outside in their closed coop overnight during the cold season. I am of the mind that they are pretty resistant to moderately low temperatures, while he insists they should be brought inside, or at least into the garage overnight. Here in our parts of PA we don't tend to get a lot of snow, and go below freezing only a handful of days out of the year.

 

We still haven't decided on the Eglu. I wish there were someone in my area that I might visit and have a close-up look, or maybe a trade show or something.

 

Thanks again for all the ideas!

[Lesley]

They should be fine in a normal PA winter - just make sure they have plenty of straw in the coop. I think ours stayed outside most on the past winter and we had some very cold weather.