the-quack-shack
This coop began with a 6x6 cedar child's playhouse I found on Craigslist for free.
Around the same time we picked up the playhouse, we also purchased a mated pair of Pomeranian geese, so immediately knew we needed a much bigger house.
So, we added an 8x8 section to the side. The geese claimed the smaller house and the ducks live in the larger house.
Recently, we added a covered feeder area, which can be seen in the last 3 photos.
Here is the original structure before we built the feeder area.
With the new covered feeder area....
A close-up of the feeder area. The black bins are from Tractor Supply. The feed stays dry in all but the worst weather.
Showing the door, which is made of 3/4 x 6" treated t&g. We cut out windows and inlaid 1/4 x 1/4 hardware cloth for screen and framed them with 1/2 x 6" treated trimmed down to 4 1/2 inches. We used a heavy duty gate latch for keeping the door securely shut.
The entire structure is built on top of treated 4x4's that were leveled and staked down. We then inlaid the "sill plate" with 12" square concrete stepping stones, cut to fit. That was topped with 2-3" of river sand and finally a layer of straw or waste hay for nests. It is fairly simple to clean. I roll up the hay/straw which forms large mats, and use them to mulch around the fruit trees in my orchard. The rain gradually washes the goose and duck poo into the soil and fertilizes the trees.
Again, great work.
Deirdre
Thank you ladychicken&Ducklover!
Actually, for now the inside is still unfinished and I haven't taken any photos yet: I will post them as soon as we are done. We have up two temporary dividers that make two 4' sections on each side. The ducks have settled in quite well with this and made a nest in all but two corners (drakes seem to have claimed these areas) for a total of 6 nests. I have some Ameraucana chickens that are part of the duck's flock, so we are making roosting areas for them in the duck coop as well.
The outside needs a bit more work as well: We have some trim boards to put on the corners and under the peak on the roof. Also, I have a cottage sized copper duck in flight weathervane that is going on top of the larger section as soon as I make a small cupola for it to sit on.
Then of course, we need to do some landscaping (find plants they won't eat to death) and in the bare spot behind it, we are building a juvenile area and another coop. My duck and goose population has recently exceeded the capacity for this house. I recently hatched 6 goslings, and have 9 more eggs in the incubator ...plus two more coming from a hatchery. Then I hatched 6 ducklings and have 9 coming from the hatchery which will give me a grand total of 25 ducks.
I will update as we have time to finish the projects and hope to have a final version by mid-summer.
My current duck hens, 4 runners, 2 pekins, and a magpie usually give me an egg a day 5 days a week: I never get less than 5 a day. Right now I am getting $4.00 a dozen for duck eggs from my chicken egg customers, but have a restaurant interested if I have a larger supply: They will pay $5.00 a dozen.
The ducks and geese combined do not eat a fraction of what my chickens eat: They are much more efficient foragers. Our first pond is large enough to support that many ducks plus well over a dozen geese, and we are digging a second pond....so why not?