Duck with a feathers missing on lower chest

[Spiase20]

Lol, yeah. Soon it will be obsolete with the finishing of the bigger attachment. Once it's done, I'll remove the second floor and give them more head room there. Then make a nice place for them to nest.

My husband has been amazing with building this stuff for them. He's not thrilled about doing it but does it for us.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That’s sweet a labor of love! Hope when done you’ll share completed project.

 

[Spiase20]

That’s sweet a labor of love! Hope when done you’ll share completed project.

I will!

 

[21hens-incharge]

View attachment 2048147
This is a picture of the soft mat, it's all over the coop flooring now.

Now here is a picture of the harder floor underneath:

View attachment 2048157
View attachment 2048167

Now here is the big coop we are working on attached to the smaller. The smaller has insulating material around the smaller section of the cage and a tarp to hold it in place, where they can hide. This also kept them warm in the winter. Then they waddle out to the bigger section where the food and water is.

The building like structure is what we are building. This is an older picture. It already has a water proof roof and a door.

View attachment 2048159

Is that flooring similar to this?

https://www.qcsupply.com/duraslat-poultry-flooring-24x60-white.html
What is under the flooring?

I like the idea for at least part of my pen if it turns out my soil won't drain.
Planning ahead.....way ahead.

 

[Spiase20]

Yep! exact flooring. And we got the black softer mats from tractor supply, you can get various sizes there.

With the draining, my husband made sure the ground was slanted so it wouldn't settle under.

But the flooring sits on treated lumber that keeps it raised from the ground, like houses are.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Yep! exact flooring. And we got the black softer mats from tractor supply, you can get various sizes there.

With the draining, my husband made sure the ground was slanted so it wouldn't settle under.

But the flooring sits on treated lumber that keeps it raised from the ground, like houses are.

So no gravel or rock under?

I 100% know my hubs will have a fit if the duck area is stinky. I will have to make mine so I can lift sections to sanitize under.....

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yep! exact flooring. And we got the black softer mats from tractor supply, you can get various sizes there.

With the draining, my husband made sure the ground was slanted so it wouldn't settle under.

But the flooring sits on treated lumber that keeps it raised from the ground, like houses are.

The mats came with holes?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Reading up on the white poultry flooring.....a question someone had asked was about use in the garden. The answer from the company was the white has very little UV resistance...they said the black would be a better choice but did not give a life expectancy outside.

My entire run is 16x23.....32 of the pieces would do my run so roughly $730.....not including shipping or lumber. So likely WAY out of my budget to do the whole run.

 

[Spiase20]

Yes, they all came with holes.

So first layer is the dura slat white flooring. Which is smooth, but because of my duck with the hurt leg, I added softer mats ontop.

Like this:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/buffalo-tools-3-x-5-ft-industrial-rubber-floor-mat
As for the question about the gravel and rock question, we are revamping the whole thing because of the pond and bigger coop addition. Originally, we had the coop off the ground and ontop of a tarp with pebbles on it. The tarp was connected to a pup which then went to a large water container. Which is supposed to be cycled for a aquaponic system. But before we could finish the system, our duck broke her leg and we discovered that for her to live a longer life without putting too much stress on her legs, we needed a pond. So we designed an addition with a pond inside. It's built so all the water we use for cleaning, as well the pond water, will be filtered and run through the aquaponic system. It will also be off the ground.

In turn, the water then can be reused to clean the coop with a hose.

My husband is a engineer, and he wanted to find a way to keep the pond clean and not have to use new water the whole time.

It takes a while because you have to have plants and grow the right bateria before you can reintroduce it to the ducks.

Diluted duck poop is supposed to be good for plants and not too acidic. So we can also use the water for the garden.

Whooo! A lot to type out!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I might have to look at the mat I’d like to maybe sit the pool on it.