FLOORING FOR THE RUN...

[Deathlok]

OK Gang,

I have pics and questions and a mind enough to know if my questions can't be answered here I and my family are in trouble! Well, that maybe a bit of a exaggeration. Bare with me as an Engineer I need to go step-by-step.

The coop pad being built:

There is a pitch to the ground to help drain in the even of flooding into the French Drain.

My little guys are testing it out!

We laid about an 1" of sand, 2" of A modified and the rest about 3-4" of Delaware river rock.

The coop was placed of course in place upon delivery:

Now, I did enough research here to know ducks are a mess hence, why I went with the type of drainage. We have come to discover washing the run out has become a job. in itself The water hose I have come to figure out is going to be a real hassle where it is currently located. So, we are adding a hydrant right at the coop:

Now, here's a shot a few weeks ago. The ducks and chickens were of course smaller than now. Up till now I have not made mention of the chickens since honestly they aren't much of an issue.

OK, here is a few shots of the floor this morning. Things to consider I washed it out Monday today is Thursday. The food is pretty much ground into place. Meaning the hose water pressure doesn't move it. Chickens love it when they come out though since it's like a mash.

So, 8 ducks and 7 chickens is what is in the run which is 12'x7'. So, the number of ducks maybe a big part of the problem. That can be taken care of in due time. But, for right now this is what the reality is. I hope I didn't miss anything?

Comments, experience, expertise, charms, kind words, questions, answers and directions are all welcomed. Yeah, I have a bizarre sense of humor!!

Honestly though thanks in advance for the help everyone!

The Ritter Family

 

[CoriM]

That looks like a nice area you're creating. Are you asking if that rock is suitable for the ducks and chickens to live on?

 

[Deathlok]

No, I'm asking if the sand, 2a modified, and then the Delaware river rock is the wrong combo and if so what direction to go in with that layering of rock etc.

Thanks!

 

[BabyGotQuack]

No, I'm asking if the sand, 2a modified, and then the Delaware river rock is the wrong combo and if so what direction to go in with that layering of rock etc.

Thanks!

First off that’s one awesome coop!

I tried rock in ours and in a matter of weeks the rocks were completely covered and no where to be found! I didn’t do all that prep work you did and I also didn’t have sand. But ducks are sooooooo messy! I now just leave their run dirt and add pine shavings/leaves when it gets wet or muddy.

 

[CoriM]

With ducks you have to be so careful that they have a soft surface to walk on and dry areas, or you'll be dealing with bumblefoot infections. Half my run is pine shavings and the other half is a little pond surrounded by tiny rounded pea gravel. They also spend several hours a day on grass, and their sleeping area is all shavings. Will your ducks have to walk up a steep incline to get into the coop? They're a lot different than chickens in that way and they do very shallow inclines best - their feet are just so different. Also, they're very clumsy and will easily fall off the edges, and could hurt themselves that way.

 

[BabyGotQuack]

With ducks you have to be so careful that they have a soft surface to walk on and dry areas, or you'll be dealing with bumblefoot infections. Half my run is pine shavings and the other half is a little pond surrounded by tiny rounded pea gravel. They also spend several hours a day on grass, and their sleeping area is all shavings. Will your ducks have to walk up a steep incline to get into the coop? They're a lot different than chickens in that way and they do very shallow inclines best - their feet are just so different. Also, they're very clumsy and will easily fall off the edges, and could hurt themselves that way.

Agreed, ducks are clumsy!

We had to alter our ramp in a coop that was meant for chickens. We had to make it extra wide, longer, add extra traction and we also had to add a guard rail

 

[BelovedBirds]

With ducks you have to be so careful that they have a soft surface to walk on and dry areas, or you'll be dealing with bumblefoot infections. Half my run is pine shavings and the other half is a little pond surrounded by tiny rounded pea gravel. They also spend several hours a day on grass, and their sleeping area is all shavings. Will your ducks have to walk up a steep incline to get into the coop? They're a lot different than chickens in that way and they do very shallow inclines best - their feet are just so different. Also, they're very clumsy and will easily fall off the edges, and could hurt themselves that way.

I was about to say this.
My girls have had bumble try and start, just from being on slightly compacted soil. I dont think Id ever risk stones.

 

[DukesDucks]

I'm thinking that if you add several inches of shaving on top if could help. Easier on duck feet. Easy to pick up the wet or mucky spots with a shavings fork. Add more as needed.
Not sure of your location. I have long cold winters so for several months I just add more shavings as scooping out frozen blobs is almost impossible.
Come spring I do a deep clean, removing all shavings, making sure things dry out, and start over.
You could use your engineering mind to determine if this is best done with a shaving fork, leaf blower, or shop vac.
My father was an engineer.

 

[jenny_exe]

Wow, that's a beautiful design! We're first-time duck owners this year (4 feathered demons) and have a coop with a very similar design that is working well for us. We have not experienced any drainage problems.

Ours is a covered 16' x 8' run with about 1500 lbs of New England river rock, ranging from 2-3 inches deep to over 1' deep, angled toward the back of the 16' edge for drainage. Of note, we have an attached coop on one of the 8' ends and the 8' by 8' end where the coop is attached is covered in a thick layer of straw to provide a soft place for the ducks to sleep and to avoid the chance of them developing bumblefoot (although they do love sleeping on the rocks... they're weird). This design makes it easy for me to remove and replace the soiled straw, and to hose all the poo off the rocks in between straw replacement.

Really the only differences between our coop designs are the use of sand (we did not use any), potentially the size of the rocks (our look a bit bigger than the ones you used, which may add to the nice drainage flow that we experience), and the type of feeder we use.

We use only the PVC pipe-style feeder that you have, not the other feeder that you have on the ground. We have only one feeder for our 4 ducks. In our old run, we used similar feeders to the one you have on the ground and experienced a lot more flies and general "grossness" due to all the food spillage. Since swapping to the PVC pipe-style feeder, we haven't seen any flies or "packing" of food into the rocks, because a lot less food gets spilled onto the ground.

Do you have only one PVC feeder? Perhaps removing the more traditional "on the ground" feeder and adding a few more of the PVC feeders since you have a lot more animals than us, would alleviate the problem!

 

[Deathlok]

Here are some more pics...

I have to PVC feeders.