Sadly money is an issue this time around with the ducks, the chickens we said screw it, and did it how we wanted not really paying attention to what all the trips to Lowes added up to. So, I've been running ideas through my head and need to bounce them off some duck people. The options are not in any sort of order to what I like, just throwing them out there because I haven't been able to decide. 1- Tossing the chickens out of their house and into a tractor, reducing their number by 3, to 6 total birds. Ducks get the chicken house and we build a tractor for the chickens to keep them on greenery like they want. The cost of the tractor is way cheaper than starting a whole other building from scratch for the ducks. 2- Building a "hutch" style duck house, long and skinny, enough room for them to be locked in comfortably, but not something for them to be in 24/7 over winter. More of an overnight crash pad and nesting area. To add cover, a "porch" would be on the front of it. Measurements about 32 inches deep, 8 ft long, 32 inches high in the back, and higher than that in the front for rain run off and the porch. A hoop house style run in front of it. 3- Splitting the chicken building in half, so each side would be 5x8. Building an identical run out of lumber to match what the chickens have, making the only expense the run and interior wall. 4- The hoop house run idea from option 2, with a larger building built inside of it, more suited to winter management. The highest price option and most time consuming. They would have less outside space than with option 2, but greater inside space. Each option will have about 16x 12 outside space, give or take. With a 6ft baby pool for water fun that can be easily cleaned out. But was also thinking of not giving them full time access to the pool, and having it set out during free range time. That way they can't turn their run into a mud pit from throwing water around all day. Last time I had ducks, we used a large rabbit hutch with the legs cut off, full time access to a pool, and it was messy, stinking, and required daily cleaning. I went through a LOT of straw! So in the design, we're also trying to look at better maintenance.
