Micro Farm DUCK HUT Worklog

Some folks in the duck forum had wanted to see more pictures of the duck hut I'm building so I thought that I would start a work log for it. You don't see many duck coops in searching, so another one wouldn't hurt.

Here's two of the reasons why we're working on this now. But the main reason is 10 Welsh Harliquin ducklings which are coming in the next 2-3 weeks. Granted, not keeping all 10, but still need a house regardless.



The footprint is 8'x4' in size. The two outside roof sections will be hinged and will lift up for easy access. The center roof will be fixed with a 12 degree double pitch. On top of this fixed roof will be a planting section. It's an eco duck hut with a green roof. Yay! Also in the center will be a large swing open door and a smaller fold down access ramp door within it.

This is what the green roof will end up like once done. This example is off a wood shed I just finished and it's freshly planted. The plant is a stonecrop and requires little water. Spreads like mad and this type is non toxic.



Now, on with the duck hut. As I said, it's 8'x4'. I built it up on 4x4 skids so I can move it easily. It's roughly 3.5' high or so? I forget off the top of my head. This was all cobbled together in a few hours. Ended up raining and I ran out of lumber so it shortened things.













The roof sheeting is just sitting in place for right now as I've got to trim it down by an inch.

I plan on leaving the rafters in the center open for air flow, however blocking off the outside rafter openings with 2x material.

Still up in the air as to what I'll be siding it with. I'll be making some calls tomorrow to see what is around for dirt cheap siding. I can get 4-4 rough sawn poplar cheap, but it's thick for siding. Will have to see, I guess.

Following along! Great pics of your ducklings.

that green roof idea is awesome , do you put a membrane under it or a drain system in it to keep from flooding in heavy rain.

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The membrane is 20 mil PVC "pond liner". Supposedly UV stabilized but I would not trust it without putting rocks over it to block the sun. That went down on the roof deck itself. Over that went a 2x6 planting box that slips over the roof itself and slides down over it by 2". Then a layer of good weed cloth was stapled in place [to the sides of the planting box. Not roof deck. That'd puncture the membrane] before adding the soil.

I don't have enough soil up there just yet. It's only 2" deep. It's built to level up at 4" deep and the sedum will form a root mat over it holding it in place.

Picked up the membrane from eBay [8x10] for $29 shipped. Also picked up a 22.5 gallon bag of Perlite for $32 shipped. Still have TONS of that left. Next fun project is Hypertufa.

This is a high res shot of the wood shed if you're interested. I don't have any pictures of the "planting box" that rests on top of the roof deck, but you can see how it's set up.

http://pics.fuzzywolf.com/IMG_5986b.JPG

This blasted rain is washing my parade away. I wish it'd let up so that I can get more done on this goofy duck hut. Think I'll bring in some lumber and work on the run panels.

Picked up some 3/8th" play for siding the duck hut today. Heck of a thing bringing it home. Ended up having it ripped down to 3' in width to get it to fit in the car and it just barely did that. SO need to get the truck down here with me, but I digress.

So now I've got two wall sections put on and the center roof in place, minus the green roof tray. I'll do that later.

Tomorrow is going to be a long one. Found someone selling 8 sheets of aluminum roofing for $25, so going to go pick it up. It will be used on the hinged roof sections. Down side is it's a 45 minute drive. Other down side is that they're also 3' wide, so will be a pain to get into the car. But they will flex, sooo....

At any rate, I'll snap some pictures tomorrow before I set off to pick up the roofing and then cobble more together. Need to get it finished so I can get these messy ducks out of the house.

Well, in spite of the rain I got some more done. Ended up finishing my incubator after breakfast and then went outside to work on the duck house some more. But then it started raining on my parade again.

Here's what I've got so far.


To simplify life I decided to simple nail down the sheet goods directly over the framework and then to use a flush cut router bit to trim it to match. You can see on the left that it's been trimmed. I finished the right and then was trimming the left as it started to rain on my head. Bah.. Rain.



The flush cut bit does just as it says. It cuts sheet goods flush with what ever the bearing rides up against underneath. It matched the contours perfectly. I still have to sand the edge a bit to knock the "hair" off. Once everything is trimmed, I'll be using some 2x4 ripped down to 2x.5 as trim pieces. This side will also have a nice size door that will swing open as well as a drop ramp within it to allow the ducks in and out.



This side still needs trimmed up and finished. You can see off to the left there is a delamination issue due to all the rain. At least it's on part that will be cut off. Once the trim is down and it's either painted or stained and sealed, delamination should not be an issue.



Another shot of the sheeted side that needs cut showing how bad the delamination is in that spot. 3/8th" ply is not very sturdy to the elements, but I'd have expected that. Still better than the junk I sheeted the chicken coop with.. And cheaper, too.


More later on once I get a chance to dodge the rain drops. Still have to pick up that roofing, but it's a 45 min drive. I may just wash it.. May.

Got more done a bit ago and forgot to post. Finally hollered nuff and kicked the Pekins outside. They were making an ungodly mess... And I mean it.. I've got duck slop 4' up the wall they were beside. Eesh!

Well, here's what's new!



The run is a temp one that we used. I've still got to trim and hinge the left and right roof sections yet, but will finish that in a few days. The drop door.... I'm not 100% happy with.. Can be a bit of a pain. I'm most likely going to pull it and redo as a pop door.





This is a shot of one of the side roof sections. It will be hinged at the top and will allow fairly easy access. The top roof will be the green roof, which will be planted out. Hoping to get that framed soon, too..

With 11 little ducklings in the brooder I've got a new found motivation to get it done. Last thing I need is them in the house for as long as the others were.. Besides.. Not enough room in the brooder when they do start growing up.