Big update...it's only been one night but trending upward!
I finally had enough of putting in and taking out a divider every night. So I asked my husband to make a new one that has a door in it. Sooooo now it's a two-bedroom house
. My thinking was they'd have the option of feeling safer with the divider (still with mesh windows for visibility) but can go in and out of both sides. The other advantage is I have an auto door on the house into the run and now all six can go out when that door opens, as opposed to just the three on the side with the door in it. I put a little curtain on the divider door too, which they are used to already from the run door.
I am of course obsessed and have a Ring camera in there to see how they did. I wasn't sure what to expect but...they did great! I looked at some of the movement captures from last night and attached some screenshots - both older and younger ducks ventured from one side to the other a few times, and I didn't see any outright picking on or chasing around or panic. Everyone seemed pretty cool which is a relief. So I'll go with this for as long as needed. Maybe this winter they'll make a duck pile for warmth and at that point it can come out but for now it seems to be the simplest way to go.
I finally had enough of putting in and taking out a divider every night. So I asked my husband to make a new one that has a door in it. Sooooo now it's a two-bedroom house
. My thinking was they'd have the option of feeling safer with the divider (still with mesh windows for visibility) but can go in and out of both sides. The other advantage is I have an auto door on the house into the run and now all six can go out when that door opens, as opposed to just the three on the side with the door in it. I put a little curtain on the divider door too, which they are used to already from the run door.I am of course obsessed and have a Ring camera in there to see how they did. I wasn't sure what to expect but...they did great! I looked at some of the movement captures from last night and attached some screenshots - both older and younger ducks ventured from one side to the other a few times, and I didn't see any outright picking on or chasing around or panic. Everyone seemed pretty cool which is a relief. So I'll go with this for as long as needed. Maybe this winter they'll make a duck pile for warmth and at that point it can come out but for now it seems to be the simplest way to go.
