Chicken and Duck Combo Coop!

[jackhorn01]

Don't sweat it man. Go to mypetchicken.com and enjoy online shopping at its finest. Click away one of these two of those etc... You don't have the big minimum orders there like you do at most hatcheries. The birds you are getting from your uncle, are they gonna be full-time residents or are you just raising them for him to do something with or what? I personally wouldn't use plastic anything. It doesn't seem to last as long and over time the sun will weaken plastic. I'm no expert on the plastic bird netting your are talking about tho, maybe its different. I like to use the poultry netting on my roof and top half of the wall with welded wire on the bottom half of my wall.

 

[Bushman50]

Well the chickens that I'd be keeping for my uncle would be part for the freezer partially for eggs. I'm guessing he's selected something like a Rhode Island Red or some other dual purpose bird. I too would love to (and mostly will) use poultry netting as my roof, its just that i've already special ordered four rolls of 72"x 50' 1 inch poultry netting. I know that I will have to purchase some hardware cloth to go around the perimeter of the enclosure, but unfortunately the bulk of it will be poultry netting. Its starting to get pretty pricey already and I haven't even finished the run. I'm seriously considering scaling back on the size (25 x 30 ) in order to make this thing financially feasible, though I know I will most likely miss the "extra" space later. The 25 x 30 run, also includes the ducks run. I was thinking of splitting it in half and putting the ducks on one side and the chickens on the other.

 

[jackhorn01]

Don't do it all in the same month. I am going through the same thing, but stuck with my size. I sunk my posts and put up the welded wire for the bottom half this month. That seems to be containing them well. Next month up will go the poultry netting for the top half of the wall. The next I will frame the roof then the next close it in. Just build it enough to contain them and watch them extra close until you finish the project. It will be well rewarding when you finish believe me. Also, I found a easier and probably cheaper way to secure the perimeter. Use concrete thats what I am about to do. I'm gonna use a trenching tool ( they are 12 inches long I think ) and dig a trench all the way around my enclosure then take sacks of quickcrete and just pour it in dry all around the trench. It will set on its own when it gets moisture. Much easier than burying hardware cloth and all that.

 

[jackhorn01]

May want to dig an extra couple of inches so you can leave a gap on top to put back some dirt to get grass growing over it, will look better.

 

[Bushman50]

Aww man that sounds great thanks. I think I will do just that!

 

[Bushman50]

Latest update!

Okay It's almost "chicken time" by my watch. I've finally settled upon the size (16x12x8 coop) (24x16x6 attached run), this is gonna be split 75% chicken,25% duck. My uncle as declared that he will be getting Rhode Island Reds (not sure if they are heritage or production reds though) and I will be letting my family pick a mixture of dual purpose heritage birds. I've found a farm about 45 mins away that raises ducks,chickens,goats, rabbits, pigs etc... and the owner seems eager to help. I would like to hear some of your thoughts/opinions on my "not so little" plan. The run is actually 36x16 , but the first 12' would be covered. I'm using 1"poultry wire (bought wayyy to much 300') and probably will see if I can get a role of mesh to trench in around the perimeter if funds hold out.

 

[aart]

I have 11 chickens and 18 ducks in the same coop and run. After much trail and error, I have 2 recoomandations. Sand and keeping the water outside in the run, not inside the coop. My run has 4 inches of sand in it, so it drains well, and I keep the food and water outside in the run, not in the coop, so the coop stays dry. I keep a good amount of hay in the coop so the ducks have plenty of nesting material to lay on and sleep and lay in. In the winter, I put hay in the run as well. My experience is that the area 2 feet around the water gets very messy, so I fork it out every other week, and put down new hay to keep it clean. My coop is 5x10 (housed inside a larger shed) and the run is 16x16. During the nice weather, I let the ducks outside to enjoy the pool.

Would love to see some closer pics of run and inside of shed with coop!

 

[abasset2]

Hello,

I have the same question. My boyfriend and I are new chicken and duck owners. We have 9 chickens and 2 ducks. The chickens are the same age and the Ducks are a week apart.The coop has just been built. The chickens are kept in there currently. The ducks are in a smaller enclosure on the porch until they are big enough to go outside. I am trying to figure out how I need to go about integrating the ducks with the chickens once that time comes. The way the coop is built is as follows: It is roughly estimated to be 12x9ft. It has an upper platform, a place to step down onto the dirt, and an enclosed inside area that has wood chips spread inside. The roosting boxes are not built yet. The entire pin is wrapped with a very tightly twined wire (smaller than chicken wire). The edges of the enclosure are sealed off with wooden beams that are being held in place with concrete. I need to figure out a way for building the ducks their own shelter within the interior shelter. I also need to figure out how I will integrate the kiddy pool. Should I put the pool on the upper section? With the concreted exterior walls, I am basically stuck with what I have and need to figure out a solution. Help please...

 

[Wickschicks90]

I have 11 chickens and 18 ducks in the same coop and run. After much trail and error, I have 2 recoomandations. Sand and keeping the water outside in the run, not inside the coop. My run has 4 inches of sand in it, so it drains well, and I keep the food and water outside in the run, not in the coop, so the coop stays dry. I keep a good amount of hay in the coop so the ducks have plenty of nesting material to lay on and sleep and lay in. In the winter, I put hay in the run as well. My experience is that the area 2 feet around the water gets very messy, so I fork it out every other week, and put down new hay to keep it clean. My coop is 5x10 (housed inside a larger shed) and the run is 16x16. During the nice weather, I let the ducks outside to enjoy the pool.

I have a few questions I am new at this and you seem like you have some experience with this I have 10 chickens and 10 ducks in the same coop one question I have is should I try and keep the two separated?