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coop design/freezing water

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post #1 of 3

4/4/12 at 4:52pm

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jwatts

Joined: 4/2011
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I just got 3 ducks,1 pekin and 2 rouen ducklings. I am building them a coop and run now. My question is what should i do as far as keeping there water from freezing and what does everyone do about the bedding area? Do you use small wire mesh so duck droppings fall to the floor? easier to clean? Any advice would be greatly appriciated. thank you Oh, the caged run area is 3'x8' and the coop is off the ground and its 3'x3' with linolium on the floor for cleanup.

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post #2 of 3

4/4/12 at 5:39pm

Amiga
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Hi, me again!

To keep bedding dry, the water and food is out on the porch (wrapped on all sides with half inch hardware cloth, and surrounded by two strands of electric fence, same as the house, to which it is attached).

The floor of the porch is half inch hardware cloth under an inch or two of sand under an inch or two of sawdust, which gets stirred every day or two and replaced when it starts to get a little rich, before it has an unpleasant odor.

I'll skip the long story, but we don't worry about freezing water because the ducks are in the basement in winter.

However, I had bought a heater platform and some stainless steel water bowls before I decided to have a winter shelter for the ducks. Some people use heated livestock water buckets, there are submersible heaters for larger containers, too. It's just that electricity outdoors and dry shavings and bedding give me pause, as I am concerned about fires. That can happen if the wiring is not just so.

Now, many people just bust the ice, carry hot water out to melt it, and so forth.

But ducks need need need their water. And it's good you know that and can plan for it.

Nine beautiful Runners, four beautiful Buffs, thousands of beautiful memories and counting.

Looking for ducks? Please consider adopting rescued ducks. There are many places and people who do rescues, but we are not allowed to post the links due to BYC regs. So fire up your web browsers and find some sweet, grateful duckies.

Nine beautiful Runners, four beautiful Buffs, thousands of beautiful memories and counting.

post #3 of 3

4/5/12 at 6:01am

Going Quackers

Location: Canada
Joined: 5/2011
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The floor of my duck barn is wood, with rubber stall mats laid on top then i bed with shavings and add straw for extra warmth and nesting purposes.

My water source is boxed in.. literally i took some wood and framed it in, i use a heated pail for winter and spring lol since we still get negative temps overnight.

~ Firefly Farms home of Miniature horses, 14 Muscovy ducks, 2 calls ducks ( 2 buff ducks joining this spring), 4 Ameraucana chickens(1/2 doz Silkies coming spring, darn chicken math finally got me) , Lionhead rabbits and your typical dogs, cats, fish, and parrots...