converting a dog house into a duck house

[marcelineduckie]

Has anyone converted a dog house into a duck coop? It would only be for night time and stay open during the day, we are building a large pin around it but we just can't cover the whole thing and I would feel safer with them in a controlled area at night. It is large enough to fit 8 ducks, but we just have 2. I was wondering where I should cut out Windows, how large they should be and any other tips would be appreciated also

 

[mamagonemad]

We keep our ducks in an old dog house, and it works great. We added a door with a latch, so we can lock them up safely at night. No windows, but we added two decent sized ventilation holes up near the roofline.

 

[marcelineduckie]

We keep our ducks in an old dog house, and it works great. We added a door with a latch, so we can lock them up safely at night. No windows, but we added two decent sized ventilation holes up near the roofline.

awesome I worried at first I was going to have a quarter of the day pen completely covered and predictor proof but if I make even one mistake then that's it my ducks might become a dinner menu I think I'll just have a large enclosure around the dog house and close them inside just for the night. I was worried about ventilation I may just do what you said and make a couple window things on the sides thank you so much

 

[CMRDucks]

My duck house is a dog house but it's in a 20'x10' secured dog kennel with cyclone roofing so they aren't locked in the house at night.

Don't forget the floor - does it have an actual floor, and is the house on cinderblock or something that critters can't burrow under?

With the ventilation, cover the vent holes with fine mesh wire so critters can't get in that way. Use a thermometer/hygrometer to check how the temp is doing in the house when it's closed up - in sunny California it may get quite hot in there, I don't know. In the wild they can go someplace cooler if they are too hot, enclosed they can't. You may need to add a fan or something for air circulation or provide more cross ventilation openings depending on your climate. Measuring the temp and humidity will let you know if you need to make adjustments.

2 cents from my research in working on my set up

 

[marcelineduckie]

It does have a wood floor and in raised about a inch or so. Yeah the hot.nights is what I was worried about I may have to just completely enclose a small section thank you so much for responding

 

[CMRDucks]

Even something like a screened in "foyer" that is predator proofed for night, then they can regulate temperature and sleep outside during hot nights but still be safe. If they get spooked, they can run hide inside the duck house. Mine wouldn't go in the duck house when it was warm last fall so I had a dog crate in the pen covered in a tarp so they had shelter if they wanted it for sleeping, but it wasn't as hot as in the duck house. Mine won't go in the duck house if it's above 50 degrees except to lay eggs and nest. Do you have the standard racoons, snakes, foxes, possums, raptors, stray cats, coyotes, etc. mix of predators?

Excellent on the flooring. How low do your temperatures get? And how high are the walls in the house? You could probably put some rather large vent windows at the top all the way around and secure them with 1/4" mesh wire - standard chicken wire/hex wire racoons can rip through. If you get a crazy freak cold snap, you can just cover them like "shutters" but it would keep your ducks from baking at night. A couple of thoughts but it sounds like ventilation is the only real challenge to solve in your plan to keep the temp and humidity down.

Oh, and cleaning. I cut a whole side of mine out, put large hinges on the bottom and a flip latch at the top (piece of wood with a screw in it that flips up or down). Then I can open the whole side to find eggs, rake out and refresh the bedding and then re-secure. Makes my life a whole lot easier

 

[TLWR]

Our duck house is enclosed. We have venting at the roof. Been fine for several years in steamy southern AL

If you want windows, cut them higher up and put hardware cloth over them