Duck coop advice needed- stat!

[Daina]

Hello all! For Mother's Day my guy built my ducks a coop. I have 6 Rouen babies currently living in a container in my bathroom. I plan on having them free range during the day but want them to be protected at night.
I have a creek near where the coop is and that will be their natural pool.
When M built the coop he did so with his own idea of what it should be and I definitely know I am going to hate the doors. We talked last night and he is going to make the one side where there is a small door totally open for me.
I really need to know what to put on the floors to help facilitate easier clean up.
I looked at linoleum as well as rubber roofing material. They would both cost me the same amount. I worry linoleum might be too slick for them and black rubber might get too hot in the summer. I am in Ohio.
This site has been an amazing source, and I am super thankful for it!

Any thoughts of other things I should change before I move the ducks to their condo?

 

[Amiga]

I would lower the whole thing - ducks don't do well with steep ramps, or long ramps from what I have read here.

I went to a local flooring shop and the owner gave me some scraps that were large enough to cover the bottom and up the sides several inches. On top of that I put pine shavings. Works beautifully.

A section of that porch could be replaced with hardware cloth covered with plastic poultry fence and that's where you put the food and water.

Very handsome coop.

How will the ducks not be swept away by the creek?

 

[Daina]

Thanks for the advice! I believe the plan is to dig some holes and have the wood go in there a bit for stability, so the height should be lower then.
The creek is usually very light in that area, so I don't think that they will get swept away. I have seen a few wood ducks hanging out in that area. We also have a crane that stops by occasionally. There is a nice soft bank that they can walk up on.
I went to Home Depot and picked up some rubberized roof patch stuff that I am going to put on the floors and try to get it up a few inches to help with the flying poo missiles. I learned of that stuff from another post on here then I checked with my brother who is a roofer and he said it should work.
I will look into the hardware cloth, I have no clue what that is but I am sure it will make sense when I see it. The current chicken wire area does have a door and that is where I am planning on putting the ramp.
I'll take a few pics once I get that stuff down!

 

[Daina]

Here's the coop after the goop!

 

[Amiga]

So that goop is stable, and won't leach any petroleum into where it could contact the ducks' feet?

Hardware cloth is metal wire mesh. Very sturdy. The scary part is some places sell plastic fence as hardware cloth. It is not the metal hardware cloth that does the job.

I may sound a little picky, here, but I am not trying to be that way when I tell you I have read a number of nerve-wracking stories of ducks or ducklings just paddling away on the creek. Sometimes they just don't feel like coming back. Sometimes a predator comes along. So I will share that with you, and leave it to you to decide how you will get them back from the creek when you want them back, and how not to lose them there.

 

[mikeru]

Beautiful job , I reccommend shreded paper with a plastic liner on the bottom paper is soft and good for nesting. I remove soiled paper and add fresh.

 

[Going Quackers]

I think it has great bones. How big is the "coop" area? Rouens are big ducks. As well as Amiga said that wire is chicken wire, only good at keeping birds in not preds out.

This is hardware cloth, wire mesh has a few different names.

 

[Daina]

I bought hardware cloth, I am going to add it to the open area. The open area is over 4 by 5 and the inside is 4 by 4. There have been a few chilly nights here so I have not moved them in yet. I also covered the goop floor with vinyl linoleum just in case that goop is no good.

Should I put the hardware cloth over all of the chicken wire area? Or is the lower half sufficient?

I plan on moving them out once I have everything complete and now have them getting used to move natural temperatures by having the window open as long as there's no frost warning. The ducks are over 5 weeks old, most of their feathers are in. I am fencing in another area that the ramp will go down to until they are true adults, then I am planning on having them free range during the day when supervised.

Is 5 weeks old too young for overnight lows of 43 degrees?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Amiga]

For temps I generally go by Storey's Guide . . . . so if they are about 6 weeks, 6 times 5 is 30. 90 minus 30 is 60. So 60 would be the coolest temperature healthy for them according to that calculation.

Yes, there are some ducklings that manage at cooler temperatures. My focus is pretty much on optimizing their health and growth, letting them use their energy for development for than for just staying warm enough.

The hardware cloth is a good idea. I use woven wire for the Day Pen, with a very small diameter coated chicken wire around the bottom two feet for daytime. Definitely you want the metal hardware cloth around the bottom couple of feet, minimum. My nightmare is if raccoons can climb up above that, I believe they can mangle chicken wire, but perhaps I am being over cautious about that. I do know they will exploit any weakness, any gap.

 

[Starfire669]

For temps I generally go by Storey's Guide . . . . so if they are about 6 weeks, 6 times 5 is 30.  90 minus 30 is 60.  So 60 would be the coolest temperature healthy for them according to that calculation.

Yes, there are some ducklings that manage at cooler temperatures.  My focus is pretty much on optimizing their health and growth, letting them use their energy for development for than for just staying warm enough.

The hardware cloth is a good idea.  I use woven wire for the Day Pen, with a very small diameter coated chicken wire around the bottom two feet for daytime.  Definitely you want the metal hardware cloth around the bottom couple of feet, minimum.  My nightmare is if raccoons can climb up above that, I believe they can mangle chicken wire, but perhaps I am being over cautious about that.  I do know they will exploit any weakness, any gap.

Thanks for the calculation. I have been searching for the temp requirements for my week old Cayuga ducklings. I need to get that book, can you post the entire name and author? I already purchased The Book of Geese for my 15 week old goslings, now I need a great book for ducks, something that includes common illnesses and treatments as well. I have my adult ducks, who I got from a lady that couldn't keep them, housed with my geese in an open air coop. Texas heat is brutal in summer, so went for maximum air flow. During winter I will put sheets of plywood or roofing metal on over the wire. They do have electric for heat lamps in there. The coop is 11' X 6' with a slanted roof that goes from 8' to 6' (tacked it on to the side of a building). My flock free ranges in the yard all day, fully fenced and supervised.

To the OP I think your duck coop is cute! That is a great Mothers Day gift. I got 4 Cayuga ducklings for my Mothers Day. I use shavings and some clean leaves from my trees (chemical free so I only use my trees leaves) as bedding. I also do a form of the deep litter method, I remove really soaked bedding, throw it in a compost and replace with fresh clean bedding daily. I turn over the remaining bedding and to air it our during the day. I don't end up removing a lot of bedding each day. The deep litter method helps keep them warm during cold spells, and it is more cost effective too.