Prepping the Duck House

What was once Lily’s broody palace has now been transformed into an abode for my upcoming arrivals, a trio of buff ducks. It’s not the biggest space (5x4), but has a large enclosed run and should do until fall when I plan to move them to the mini-barn for winter. This way the chickens and ducks don’t have to share living accommodations. I’ve never had the privilege of owning ducks before, but know from reading others experiences that they are notoriously messy.

So here's my silly question of the day. Is it ok to have their waterer/feeder outside in the run? (Keeping in mind they would be going without access to water for 12+ hours. I lock up at 6pm sharp and let everyone out between 8-9am.) Or should I make room inside the coop and figure out a way to keep the mess to a minimum? Any ideas are most welcome.

If possible I would secure their run and let them have free access. If you do have them without water they need to be without food as well or they could possibly choke on their food.
The other option is making a collection system under their font inside the coop, should be deep enough to catch a large amount of water, and round enough to completely circle the water font you are using.
Some people will use rubbermaid tubs, cut holes in the lids so the ducks can dip their heads in to drink but not splash all the water out.

My larger ducks have always only have water outside of their living area even though the winter as they make an incredible mess if water is left inside. I have had waterfowl for almost 30 years and other than the first year I had them have always watered outside. Though the winter in Alberta when it would dip to 40 below I would give them warm water 2 times a day outside and they always did well, just make sure they can dip their heads otherwise you get gunky eyes.
Waterfowl should be kept separate from your poultry as they will mess in the poultry waterers and cause to much humidity and make for sick chickens.

Heather

The nice thing is ducks don't need as warm accomodations as chickens it seems. Last year we kept 6 ducks in a very small shelter that we had insulated and they just went in there at night and when it was very very cold. The rest of the time they were out and about. We used a very large black rubber tub and a floating heater in it outside so they had water all winter. At night we had the door closed to their house so they had to wait til morning for their water and food but did very well that way.
Enjoy your ducks!
We are working on turning an old sattelite dish into a pond for ours...

Hidden: Securing the run to the necessary degree is just not possible at this time. We have a family of foxes living down by the pond and I wouldn’t put it past them to find a way through the wire if any doors were left open/unlocked throughout the night. They’ve already left me gross “presents” around the fence line. Then there’s the fact I’m a little uptight about locking my birds up. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep otherwise, worrywart that I am.

I do like the idea of a collection pan though. I’ve made a homemade waterer from a 3 gallon ice cream pail and a plastic pan and was going to wire the top so only duck heads can fit. I don’t want any bodies diving in. Lol I’ll look around the shop and see if I can find something for underneath. Seems like a much better option than hungry/thirsty babies in the night.


Viczoe: The ducks will be 8ish weeks old, so definitely not adults yet. Well I thought long and hard and ultimately decided I didn’t want the chickens living with the ducks either. Be side each other sure, but not with each other. So the chicks rule the mini-barn for now, but will be evicted in the fall (I’m only keeping the best ) and the ducks will have the run of the whole building. I have power out there now (thanks to the Co-op’s timely sale on 100ft extension cords) and plan to purchase a heated bucket for winter to make my life easier.


Mirycreek: That’s another nice thing about ducks. They come already equipped with winter duds! I don’t heat any of my buildings in the winter, preferring my birds to become acclimatized and cold-hardy. The chickens did very well last year considering the winter we had…

The satellite pond idea sounds great! We have a few old satellite dishes lying around the far side yard from the original owner days. We’ve been renting the property since we moved from BC. Although the house is no prize, (100+ years old and drafty to boot) we are lucky to have a landlord who lets us do whatever we want and use whatever I can scrounge around the yard. He only bought the place for the pivots and surrounding lease land. Anyway, I got rambling there, haha. I was planning on turning one of the wire dishes into a pool cover for the ducks, if I can figure out the logistics of doing such a thing. Say, there is a mostly solid white dish with only a few small holes I don’t have a use for anymore. I made hubby roll it up to the house last year when I looking to make a goose pool. You’d be more than welcome to it if you need another dish.


Thanks alot everyone!