sky's the limit :
I trying to figure out the best housing set up for Muscovies. I am new to having ducks and have a trio, but am not happy with the housing I have - would like to make sure I set them up with a good coop. Anyone with ideas and/or pics they can share?
Thanks!!
I disagree with those who say leave them out. We have a zillion predators who are active at night. This is our duck barn. It is a shed that was once used to store apples.
Straw on the floor. Turn it over and add more straw if it gets smelly.
That cage structure the kids are in (which is not finished in that photo) is so that we can put water outside the barn, but accessible to birds in the barn if there's a bunch of ducklings in the barn. (Adults don't need water at night.) There are 2 windows you can't see on the right side of the barn with hardware cloth over the openings so they can be left open at night.
I get them in by rattling dog food in a tin can and then sprinkling it in the barn. For some reason they love it and come running from all over to be locked up. Mark you, I started this when our first Muscovies were only a couple of months old, so they have all been trained up to it.
Another reason for locking them up at night is that hens seem to lay at about 9 am more than any other time and I want to be able to find the eggs, so I leave them in until 10 am.
I love, love, love my Muscovies. Good luck with them. But I do advise training them up in good habits from the start.
I trying to figure out the best housing set up for Muscovies. I am new to having ducks and have a trio, but am not happy with the housing I have - would like to make sure I set them up with a good coop. Anyone with ideas and/or pics they can share?
Thanks!!
I disagree with those who say leave them out. We have a zillion predators who are active at night. This is our duck barn. It is a shed that was once used to store apples.
Straw on the floor. Turn it over and add more straw if it gets smelly.
That cage structure the kids are in (which is not finished in that photo) is so that we can put water outside the barn, but accessible to birds in the barn if there's a bunch of ducklings in the barn. (Adults don't need water at night.) There are 2 windows you can't see on the right side of the barn with hardware cloth over the openings so they can be left open at night.
I get them in by rattling dog food in a tin can and then sprinkling it in the barn. For some reason they love it and come running from all over to be locked up. Mark you, I started this when our first Muscovies were only a couple of months old, so they have all been trained up to it.
Another reason for locking them up at night is that hens seem to lay at about 9 am more than any other time and I want to be able to find the eggs, so I leave them in until 10 am.
I love, love, love my Muscovies. Good luck with them. But I do advise training them up in good habits from the start.