- Jun 24, 2013
- 10
- 0
- 24
I'm getting prepped for our family's new arrivals in a month and have been collecting wood, etc for months to build them a tractor. This will be a 6-8 month solution for them after which time we will have almost certainly purchased our own property and I will be building a proper duck house. But for now as we're renting and we're in a high-predator area I'm trying to build a secure duck tractor that will meet their needs.
4 Female Welsh Harlequins
1 Male Welsh Harlequin
I've googled and searched this site and it seems the consensus is 5 square feet per duck minimum in the coop. But what about the height? I'm going with 3'4" in the front slanting down to 3' in the rear. I'm definitely willing to go higher.
Currently my plan is a 4'x6'x3' box with the aforementioned slanted roof. The rear will have a 5'x2' door that will open for cleaning and egg retrieval. Will this be sufficient for temporary housing? I have no problems building something larger but I'm trying to make sure I don't build something too big to move around since part of the reason why I'm opting for a tractor is that we are renting and I need to make sure that we don't completely destroy our landowner's lawn in one section or I'll have to reseed.
The coop will connect to a 8'x4' run and I have built a mobile kiddie pool on a pallet with a drain kit that will connect for bathing, etc. It will sit on 2 mountain bike tires I've salvaged from the dump that will be at the front of the coop section (as you can see from the attached photos)
Water and food will stay outside of the tractor at the far end of the run (relative to the coop) and they'll be shut inside at night.
Thoughts - suggestions for improvements? Attached are 2 perspective pictures of what I'm thinking in my head. The run will be fenced in with 4"x2" livestock fencing. The bottom will be deer netting based on a suggestion from a poster here, though I'm curious if livestock fencing on the bottom would be harmful for ducks feet? I'm thinking that might be easier for them to dig into the ground around.
Thanks!
http://i.imgur.com/JNWYdJ6.png
http://i.imgur.com/fYe40a1.png
4 Female Welsh Harlequins
1 Male Welsh Harlequin
I've googled and searched this site and it seems the consensus is 5 square feet per duck minimum in the coop. But what about the height? I'm going with 3'4" in the front slanting down to 3' in the rear. I'm definitely willing to go higher.
Currently my plan is a 4'x6'x3' box with the aforementioned slanted roof. The rear will have a 5'x2' door that will open for cleaning and egg retrieval. Will this be sufficient for temporary housing? I have no problems building something larger but I'm trying to make sure I don't build something too big to move around since part of the reason why I'm opting for a tractor is that we are renting and I need to make sure that we don't completely destroy our landowner's lawn in one section or I'll have to reseed.
The coop will connect to a 8'x4' run and I have built a mobile kiddie pool on a pallet with a drain kit that will connect for bathing, etc. It will sit on 2 mountain bike tires I've salvaged from the dump that will be at the front of the coop section (as you can see from the attached photos)
Water and food will stay outside of the tractor at the far end of the run (relative to the coop) and they'll be shut inside at night.
Thoughts - suggestions for improvements? Attached are 2 perspective pictures of what I'm thinking in my head. The run will be fenced in with 4"x2" livestock fencing. The bottom will be deer netting based on a suggestion from a poster here, though I'm curious if livestock fencing on the bottom would be harmful for ducks feet? I'm thinking that might be easier for them to dig into the ground around.
Thanks!
http://i.imgur.com/JNWYdJ6.png
http://i.imgur.com/fYe40a1.png
Last edited:
