Coop ideas for the diy impaired? :)

GracieJ

Songster
Feb 16, 2018
298
655
196
Wales, UK
Hello everyone, I'm new to this website so please forgive me if this question has been asked a million times. I have been through some of the threads but would like a more personalised answer! :)

I am a mother to two lovely 8 month old ducks who currently sleep in a one-storey hutch in the garden (safely).

My hen has laid 10/11 eggs and is currently sitting so we are hoping to expand our duck family however I am in need of a much larger living place for them. I am a student and even with help, the most I can scrape up is about £400-£500. I have absolutely no idea on how to do DIY, nor do I have the tools but I do have some imagination! :D

I was looking online at coops but they are way too small for my liking and expensive, so I was thinking of purchasing an outdoor shed from B&Q that's is big enough and then making the necessary adjustments, is this a good idea?

I would need to treat the wood with paint to help prevent erosion and rot but what else would my duck family need? I read about insulation and ventilation? What about lamps?

Thank you.
 
You being in the UK do not endure severe cold. Insulation and heat-lamps, not necessary. A light in coop for your use at night is fine.
A garden shed converted to coop is probably the best IDEA, around. Cost wise it is a good alternative to ready made coops. You get the needed size as well. Interior remodeling is not all that difficult. I do not have ducks, only chickens. Ducks do not sit on roost bars, so the night time sleeping is different. Maybe large shelves would provide more area for your ducks.
Here is a link to thread about coops. Most may be chicken style, but you can get Ideas on layout for feeders and waterer's as well. There are also pix of runs as well. There are many postings , so just scan thru pix of interest to you.:thumbsup
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-pictures-here.596294/page-1692#post-19566413
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,, and :welcome
 
purchasing an outdoor shed
Definitely the way to go for non-DIYer's.
Whether you'll need to paint depends on the shed you buy, some are prepainted.
Ventilation is important for any animal housing.....but heat and lamps are not needed.
Except maybe a headlamp :D to check on birds at night when necessary.

I assume one of your ducks is a male....so those eggs are fertile?
 
You being in the UK do not endure severe cold. Insulation and heat-lamps, not necessary. A light in coop for your use at night is fine.
A garden shed converted to coop is probably the best IDEA, around. Cost wise it is a good alternative to ready made coops. You get the needed size as well. Interior remodeling is not all that difficult. I do not have ducks, only chickens. Ducks do not sit on roost bars, so the night time sleeping is different. Maybe large shelves would provide more area for your ducks.
Here is a link to thread about coops. Most may be chicken style, but you can get Ideas on layout for feeders and waterer's as well. There are also pix of runs as well. There are many postings , so just scan thru pix of interest to you.:thumbsup
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-pictures-here.596294/page-1692#post-19566413
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,, and :welcome

That's great to hear, thank you for your advice! I'm definitely considering a good sized shed as a coop. :) I haven't got very many DIY skills, nor can afford to purchase expensive coops/hire someone to build one! Thank you again for your reply :) x
 
Definitely the way to go for non-DIYer's.
Whether you'll need to paint depends on the shed you buy, some are prepainted.
Ventilation is important for any animal housing.....but heat and lamps are not needed.
Except maybe a headlamp :D to check on birds at night when necessary.

I assume one of your ducks is a male....so those eggs are fertile?

I think so too :) I'm planning on painting it myself, to help reduce weather damage and rot. How do I go about ventilating the shed? Should I take a window out and cover it with cloth or something? Thank you for your help and advice! :) Yes they are fertile, day 9 so far so I'm going to try to candle them today, although it's hard to know what I'm looking at haha! xx
 
Are your ducks Muscovy or mallard? Needs would be different.

I found building a duck house sooooo much easier than a chicken coop. If they are a mallard based breed they will just sleep on the floor, any shelving would be for your personal convenience to store feed or anything. If converting a shed, I'd probably cut the human door in half, like a Dutch door, so you can open the bottom half and it's 2-3 feet tall and the bottom half is your duck door. You would need to buy some extra hinges and latches so that the top half of the door and bottom half each have two hinges and can be latched separately.

I use a cheap solar powered motion sensor Light by my coops. It automatically comes on if I walk out there after dark. I hang it on a nail outside the coop in a way that I can just unhook it if needed and shine it in and look around and use it like a flashlight or bring it inside the coop. (No electricity required!)
 
Having absolutely no DYI skills, this ol' redneck learned how to make things doable with what I have. And living around those who like to recycle any and all things, I learned how to do without all those fancy doodads that we see in many articles. However, as lacking in many carpenter skills, I wasn't afraid to use a the 'old boy network' (or the old gal network!) to take advantage of someone with carpenter skills. My first 'real chicken coop' of many years ago cost me three dog spays. I'm not a vet but as a vet technician I was able to get those dogs in the clinic I worked at, get them spayed, vaccinated, dewormed. In return, the man built me a nice pen with a run-in shed. Wasn't big or fancy but it kept the predators out and the chickens in. And the dogs lived a long life and entertained the kids and grand kids for years.

The two most important things when considering housing for your backyard flock is protection from predators and ventilation. Once you get those two things squared away, don't be afraid to use your imagination to take advantage for repurposing ideas. Just remember the bigger the flock the more involved your ideas will have to be. But for the backyard flock of 5-10, all kinds of things can be turned into a chicken paradise. Nest boxes, for one thing, can be simply a plastic milk crate type affair, or a 5 gallon plastic can turn on the side works great. I've seen people take old tires, stuff the center with hay, to make a nesting area for chickens. The old tire full of clean river sand also makes a dandy dusting area too! I've seen large mail boxes used for nesting places.

Need a roosting area? Get two saw horses-you might find a pair at yard sale or flea market. I use these in my bachelor pen which works quite well as I can place them in the center of the pen to prevent predators from reaching in an snatching them. If you need to create more room for roosting, you can use a 2 x 4 flat side up between the saw horses and nail it in place. Now if you are like me and can't hammer a nail in soft butter, use wood glue and baling twine to stabilize the make-shift roost. I've seen people use old ladders as roosts. One gal tied hers on cement blocks to create some height. Another simply took hers apart and used the side with the rungs to lean against the wall of the coop. She anchored the base with rocks and nailed the top in place.

Chickens don't need fancy things. They just need place safe from predators, a solid shed with good ventilation, and an owner who ain't afraid to seek and learn. One thing about chickens, don't matter how ugly it looks, they won't laugh at you. Good luck and have fun!
 
Are your ducks Muscovy or mallard? Needs would be different.

I found building a duck house sooooo much easier than a chicken coop. If they are a mallard based breed they will just sleep on the floor, any shelving would be for your personal convenience to store feed or anything. If converting a shed, I'd probably cut the human door in half, like a Dutch door, so you can open the bottom half and it's 2-3 feet tall and the bottom half is your duck door. You would need to buy some extra hinges and latches so that the top half of the door and bottom half each have two hinges and can be latched separately.

I use a cheap solar powered motion sensor Light by my coops. It automatically comes on if I walk out there after dark. I hang it on a nail outside the coop in a way that I can just unhook it if needed and shine it in and look around and use it like a flashlight or bring it inside the coop. (No electricity required!)

I absolutely LOVE the idea of cutting the door in half - that's absolutely genius!! And the solar powered light, although in Wales, we don't get much sun/cloudless skies to keep them working through the night haha! :)

Thank you ever so much for such good ideas, what do you think about using a dog kennel with a run attached already? They cost about the same as a shed but come with the run. x
 
Having absolutely no DYI skills, this ol' redneck learned how to make things doable with what I have. And living around those who like to recycle any and all things, I learned how to do without all those fancy doodads that we see in many articles. However, as lacking in many carpenter skills, I wasn't afraid to use a the 'old boy network' (or the old gal network!) to take advantage of someone with carpenter skills. My first 'real chicken coop' of many years ago cost me three dog spays. I'm not a vet but as a vet technician I was able to get those dogs in the clinic I worked at, get them spayed, vaccinated, dewormed. In return, the man built me a nice pen with a run-in shed. Wasn't big or fancy but it kept the predators out and the chickens in. And the dogs lived a long life and entertained the kids and grand kids for years.

The two most important things when considering housing for your backyard flock is protection from predators and ventilation. Once you get those two things squared away, don't be afraid to use your imagination to take advantage for repurposing ideas. Just remember the bigger the flock the more involved your ideas will have to be. But for the backyard flock of 5-10, all kinds of things can be turned into a chicken paradise. Nest boxes, for one thing, can be simply a plastic milk crate type affair, or a 5 gallon plastic can turn on the side works great. I've seen people take old tires, stuff the center with hay, to make a nesting area for chickens. The old tire full of clean river sand also makes a dandy dusting area too! I've seen large mail boxes used for nesting places.

Need a roosting area? Get two saw horses-you might find a pair at yard sale or flea market. I use these in my bachelor pen which works quite well as I can place them in the center of the pen to prevent predators from reaching in an snatching them. If you need to create more room for roosting, you can use a 2 x 4 flat side up between the saw horses and nail it in place. Now if you are like me and can't hammer a nail in soft butter, use wood glue and baling twine to stabilize the make-shift roost. I've seen people use old ladders as roosts. One gal tied hers on cement blocks to create some height. Another simply took hers apart and used the side with the rungs to lean against the wall of the coop. She anchored the base with rocks and nailed the top in place.

Chickens don't need fancy things. They just need place safe from predators, a solid shed with good ventilation, and an owner who ain't afraid to seek and learn. One thing about chickens, don't matter how ugly it looks, they won't laugh at you. Good luck and have fun!

I LOVE these ideas, I would never have thought of them myself so thank you for passing on your wisdom! Tyre's are a fab idea. I have ducks but they are very adventurous and would probably love tyres with hay/sand in. I would love some chickens as well though :D How do you feel about the idea of using a dog kennel for housing? It comes with ventilation, an indoor area and a covered run! Sheds cost about £300+ ($500+) whereas the kennels are slightly cheaper and most related to ducks needs.

I am so impressed by everyone's creativity and imagination when it comes to designing coops and houses for their chickens and ducks and their ideas! thank you again for your help! It is much appreciated from a newbie duck owner! x
 

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