First coop build in Michigan - I should have done this years ago. Pics..

[alknoll]

Not seeing the nipples?

I saw them in the first photo with the ducks to the left of the metal chicken feeder.

 

[John Smallberries]

3) Duck pond: My first 50-gallon bin worked fine when the ducks were small. Now that they are near full size, only one duck can use it at a time. I built a larger one out of 4x4 landscape timbers lined with a plastic tarp. I made a ledge of "Trex-like" plastic decking for the top. Plenty of room for all three.

Next problem: fresh water when freezing. I ran a black plastic sprinkler line down to feed the duck pond fresh water. BUT - this entire line has two sections that are exposed to the elements. So - I either need to heat the line, or blow it out after every use. I chose the second option. I bought a wifi-enabled 4-channel sprinkler timer from Home Depot and four 24-volt ball valves off Amazon. I also bought a small air compressor and 5-gallon air tank. My wife has a separate garden that I need to water as well. So - I plumbed up this contraption in my heated basement. I can send water to the ducks during winter and then flush compressed air down that line to blow out the water. The timer controls the whole thing. They get 30 minutes of fresh water flow every day. I also put a small pond heater in to keep ice from forming. So far, it has survived the first 4 freezing nights. We will see if it makes it the entire winter.

 

[John Smallberries]

Not seeing the nipples?

I have 50-feet of gutter ice melting heated cable running through the gutters, into the barrel (loopign around inside) and then through the clear hose and the PVC pipe with the nipples. We will see how well it does at keeping this contraption from freezing. This pic was taken before I added insulation to the barrel and flexible hose.

 

[Chaverah]

Hi;
My daughters have been asking me for backyard chickens and ducks for several years now. We moved "out to the country" just north of Ann Arbor, Mi five years ago and have a 3-acre lot that it very suitable for having a coop/run and yard. We took the plunge during a recent visit to Tractor Supply where we walked out the door with 10 chicks and 3 ducklings. A smart person would build the coop before buying the chicks. That was not me - so I spent every spare minute for the next few weeks knocking it out. I based my design on a YouTube series by "Pask Makes" - "monkey-see, monkey-do". My goal was to apply every automation technique I could find to minimize the daily maintenance work: water, food, doors, temp, eggs. The entire setup has been running for a few weeks now and we LOVE it. I should have built this 5 years ago. The chickens and ducks are fascinating to watch. I hope to start seeing eggs in 3 months. Here are my pics:

These Run-Chicken doors are well made, but I don't like the photocell setup. I am modifying them to work off a timer that adjusts sunrise/sunset based on my location without depending on light sensors.

I have gutter ice melting cable running through the water system to keep it from freezing. We will see if it works this winter.

Two 200-watt heater and a vent fan operated by a closed-loop controller. I'm not trying to fully control the temps, just knock off the very highs and very lows.

I learned that the ducks can't handle the ramp up to the coop. I made them a duck box. The first time they saw it, they simply marched right in and layed down.

Auto-valve to keep fresh water in the duck pool.

The pool overflows into a drain to avoid a muddy mess.

I added a Ring 2 video doorbell to keep an eye on things. I use it mainly to confirm that the doors are closed.

The girls love these chickens.

I love it! You thought of everything

 

[John Smallberries]

3) Run floor: The chickens ate and scratched up all the lawn in the area where I built the coop. No surprise. I added 16 bags of play sand as my new "floor".

 

[aart]

This is great!
Got a temp sensor in nipple pipe?
I hope you keep this thread updated thru the winter.....good and bad.

 

[Mmanist]

Hi;
My daughters have been asking me for backyard chickens and ducks for several years now. We moved "out to the country" just north of Ann Arbor, Mi five years ago and have a 3-acre lot that it very suitable for having a coop/run and yard. We took the plunge during a recent visit to Tractor Supply where we walked out the door with 10 chicks and 3 ducklings. A smart person would build the coop before buying the chicks. That was not me - so I spent every spare minute for the next few weeks knocking it out. I based my design on a YouTube series by "Pask Makes" - "monkey-see, monkey-do". My goal was to apply every automation technique I could find to minimize the daily maintenance work: water, food, doors, temp, eggs. The entire setup has been running for a few weeks now and we LOVE it. I should have built this 5 years ago. The chickens and ducks are fascinating to watch. I hope to start seeing eggs in 3 months. Here are my pics:

These Run-Chicken doors are well made, but I don't like the photocell setup. I am modifying them to work off a timer that adjusts sunrise/sunset based on my location without depending on light sensors.

I have gutter ice melting cable running through the water system to keep it from freezing. We will see if it works this winter.

Two 200-watt heater and a vent fan operated by a closed-loop controller. I'm not trying to fully control the temps, just knock off the very highs and very lows.

I learned that the ducks can't handle the ramp up to the coop. I made them a duck box. The first time they saw it, they simply marched right in and layed down.

Auto-valve to keep fresh water in the duck pool.

The pool overflows into a drain to avoid a muddy mess.

I added a Ring 2 video doorbell to keep an eye on things. I use it mainly to confirm that the doors are closed.

The girls love these chickens.

Love your coop, but those curl blonde curls are even better! Happy chickens, and happy children!

 

[John Smallberries]

4) Automatic doors: I bought two "Run-Chicken" light-operated doors for the coop and run. I had two problems. First, I have a large motion-sensing overhead light for my motorcycle garage next to the coop. When the light went on, it would trick one of the doors into opening. Not good. Second, they would get confused on dark, cloudy days and close the doors early. My fix was to "trick" the sensors with two small LEDs covering the sensors. I then control those "artificial sun" lights with a Honeywell wall timer. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004AP92N2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) I like this timer as it can calculate the sunrise/sunset times based on the programmed latitude/longitude.

 

[John Smallberries]

This is great!
Got a temp sensor in nipple pipe?
I hope you keep this thread updated thru the winter.....good and bad.

No - but that is not a bad idea.....

 

[John Smallberries]

5) Duck box: My cute pink duck-shaped opening box was a disaster. They pecked it to shreds in short order (as many had predicted!!). So - Version 2 is a Husky storage bin from Home Depot with a large cut opening sitting upside down. No problems.

They love to peck that insulation. I removed all the pink foam panels below the coop as they stood on teh duck box and pecked from their. For the panels on the inside of the coop, I covered them with 1/8" Masonite board. That seems to be working.