Ideas for house and run

[kwack]

We are putting the finishing touches on the plans but a few questions remain?

Overkill to cover the entire run in hardware cloth? Would 1x1 suffice on top above 4 ft or so?

House flooring... is mesh preferable for mess? With a sliding tray beneath? If not, can linoleum be used with a deep bedding method and hosed out when needed?

We were planning some vents... should we just put in a couple of windows?

Thanks for your input.

KWACK

 

[ChickenToes]

I wouldn't call it overkill to build the entire run out of hardware cloth. If you live in an area with a lot of predators, it's probably for the best. Where I live the only predator problems we've had has been with owls. So, the bottom part of the run is hardware cloth, it goes up about 3 feet. The top is chicken wire.

Our duck coop has a wooden floor. We use the deep litter method. The floor has never gotten wet. You just need to make sure the litter is deep enough. Linoleum would work just fine. Also, I don't put food or water inside the coop. Ever. Ducks are way too messy and would probably ruin the floor of the coop. The food and water are always left outside.

If you use windows instead of vents, you'll need to be able to leave one or two cracked open. We use floor registers that we can leave open or closed.

Good luck!

 

[kwack]

Floor registers - brilliant.
We are leaning towards the deep litter method. Thanks for the info.

How often do you actually clear it all out? I've read 1-2 x year... can that be right?

I wasn't planning on feeding them in the house but we'd like to close them in the house overnight. Without bribing them with food will thay take to it? They are okay overnight without food and water?

Thanks

 

[lowcountrypoultry]

Sounds like you got a good thing going, I suggest covering the whole pen is some sort of wire. My run is covered is chicken wire.

Best Of Luck

-Austin