Mobile duck house - logistics

[LaurelC]

We are a small farm and expanding our egg business. We currently run a trailer with ~50 laying hens around our regenerative farm. They're completely free ranged and it's been working for us so much we're adding another trailer. I'm considering adding ducks to the farm - probably khaki campbells, but really any production type ducks would work. We have a decently sized pond that's kind of adjacent to our highly managed area where our garden is and where our flocks of sheep and chickens are overwintered.

What I'd like to do is build a small duck house (maybe like 4x8ish) with a slatted floor that can be transported around the garden and up onto the pond dam. Any time the ground underneath/around the house starts getting gross, the ducks get shuffled 50 feet away and have a whole new area to make gross. It's my understanding that ducks do not require or want roosting areas, so just leaving them on the floor is fine. Do they require a special nesting area then if I'm using plastic slat floors? Here's the flooring material I'm using for clarity. https://www.farmtek.com/prod/pgha2215.html

Do ducks tend to go to bed each night on their own? My ideal setup would include an automatic door to keep the house secure from nocturnal predators, but this is not particularly useful if they do not go inside. Are my chances of success increased if I brood them inside the house so it's the only home they've ever known? Once they discover the pond, are they going to continue coming back to their house at night or are we likely to deal with them deciding to try being feral, and get donated to the owls at night?

I guess more than anything, is me running ducks in this way even a feasible option?

 

[Canadian Wind]

Herding ducks is like herding cats. They don't need a pond, a few kiddy pools is usually sufficient, depending on how many you have. An automatic coop door usually does not work for them.

Ponds also mean extra predators (snapping turtles specifically).

As for the duck house you propose, that isn't very big. I'm guilty of that myself. Also, ducks aren't like chickens and won't necessarily use a nesting box. They will lay *anywhere*, including in pools and ponds. You might be better off making an enclosure for them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My ducks put themselves away, but where the chickens go in at dusk, those darn ducks wait until it is pitch black outside before even thinking of going inside

 

[Jenbirdee]

they will sleep in the pond
You will have trouble
It’s not fees able
And holes look too big in the flooring will let predators in unless you skirt with hardware cloth
And that kind of spoils the idea of dragging it to new spots

 

[LaurelC]

Thank you guys. This is exactly the info I needed. I'm going to pass on ducks