Part time range ducks?

[sarahjducky]

Hi all, I’ve posted in here before about my 3 Pekin ducks. We have a lot of land at our house but don’t have enough of it fenced off to free range our ducks. Right now my husband is out of work till middle of august so he’s been home all day, while I work and have one day off a week plus Saturday and Sunday. I know most people free range their ducks all day and pen them up at night. My ducks have a dog kennel that’s 10x10 and my husband plans on adding to it to make it bigger. We also have a custom duck house plus swimming pool. When he goes back to work and while I’m working, I’m thinking where we live isn’t a good idea to let them free range all day with no one home. I would let them out when I got home, and put them back when it starts to get dark but I’m worried about them being in the pen all day. They would not be crammed by any means but I feel bad not giving them the run of the yard.

does anyone else have any part time ranging ducks? Is this even plausible? The quote we got for fencing off the rest of the yard was extremely high and not sure if possible right now. It makes me uneasy leaving them out all day knowing part of the yard isn’t fenced off, I absolutely do not want to set them up for failure.

 

[sarahjducky]

Also, does anyone have any ideas of how to build off the chain link dog kennel? My idea in my head is to build a run attached to that so they have even more area to go through even though it’s still a pen...if that makes sense!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like a good plan just cover the top and tie it down heavy duty birds netting or deer fencing would be good just tie wrap it or secure somehow. Free ranging is tricky and when no one home is just asking for trouble making their pen larger and having a pool inside is perfect for their protection. I even saw were people used two dog kennels together as a pen.

 

[sarahjducky]

Sounds like a good plan just cover the top and tie it down heavy duty birds netting or deer fencing would be good just tie wrap it or secure somehow. Free ranging is tricky and when no one home is just asking for trouble making their pen larger and having a pool inside is perfect for their protection. I even saw were people used two dog kennels together as a pen.

Two dog kennels is a great idea as well! Most people I know who have ducks let them free range while they’re gone all day and I just can’t do that but at the same time feel bad they will be penned up all day but I think if I make the pen bigger I’ll feel better about it. I just wasn’t sure if part time rangers was even a good option for them

 

[Miss Lydia]

Letting them out even when your home is risky predators are sneaky it’s a chance we all take. If mine I wouldn’t let them out with out fencing at all. Mine are In half acre fenced and that’s even risky.

 

[sarahjducky]

Letting them out even when your home is risky predators are sneaky it’s a chance we all take. If mine I wouldn’t let them out with out fencing at all. Mine are In half acre fenced and that’s even risky.

I found on one thread that @ShellyH22 built this (hasn’t been active since 2016 it looks?) it looks as if it is 12x16 with the duck house built outside but still partly inside. Does that look like a good enough area to have ducks in all day? And then when I get home from work I will supervise them going out but not too far. Just want to make sure the 12x16 is still enough space for them to hang out during the day. All credit goes to builder, I just thought it was a great idea!

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is really nice and plenty of space for daytime.