Duck Coop

[QuakieChan]

Hello Everyone!
My ducklings are starting to outgrow their brooder and I'm searching for a house for them to out in the back yard. I am not an experience builder or anything so I was thinking about getting a dog house and just turning it into a duck coop with a mesh run on the outside for them. Would that be okay? I looked up some duck coops for sale on amazon and other sites but they are a bit pricey and I'm not sure if they'd be easy to assemble. Can you tell me what you have done for your duck coops? P.S. my backyard is not that large, it is more narrow than wide. Pics of your duck houses are welcome!

 

[lena_]

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/walk_in_chicken_run/
A friend of mine had one of these for her two indian runners. It was pretty good, but it's a little on the pricey side.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I built a little house similar to a dog house and then attached a wire mesh run made out of PVC pipe stuck into a wood frame. I cover the house and part of the coop with tarps to keep it warm and dry in the winter, cool in the summer. It has worked fine for almost two years.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Is that hardware cloth over your hoop house @cheezenkwackers ?

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Is that hardware cloth over your hoop house @cheezenkwackers ?

I wish. It is chicken wire with a finer plastic mesh over the chicken wire on the inside on the bottom three feet to hopefully help stop raccoons from reaching through. Hardware cloth would have been a better choice but I was on a major budget with a husband who wasn't really happy about having ducks .

 

[Miss Lydia]

I truly understand Nice place though. I really like your vine growing up over their swim tub.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I truly understand Nice place though. I really like your vine growing up over their swim tub.

Thank you! It is Zucchinio Rampicante Squash. Having it grow up the trellis keeps the squash out of reach of hungry ducks. Now if I can just get the ducks to eat the squash bugs and vine borers.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They won't? picky things lol

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC! Check out the article section if you want to see more coop pictures.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/

 

[PirateGirl]

Ducks sleep on the ground, so anything warm and dry works. They are kind of clumsy too, so just a small step to get inside is ideal. A dog house would work. In terms of predators, you might have to add a locking door to a dog house. Also think abut human access and how you will collect eggs and clean their house. Does it have a lid/roof that opens? Does one side open completely? You don't really want to be on your hands and knees in duck poop trying to crawl in through the tiny dog house door to find an egg or change the bedding. My ducks choose to hang out in their house when it's windy and snowing, but if it's calm, even if it's cold, I often find them sleeping outside on the ground. They are not picky.