Ideas/help needed with run for ducks

[gilbert2]

I'd like to share that on two separate occasions, predators broke into the top of my duck coop. I lost all of my flock twice. Now I have sturdy hardware cloth nailed down all over the top. And one side of the top is hinged, so I can open it for cleaning.
I am almost positive that the first attack was from an owl (followed by a crow), and the second attack was from a mammal--either a fox or coyote. I lean toward it being a coyote, since I hear them howling and yipping at least twice a week.
So please be careful.

 

[GracieJ]

@Soon2BChixMom, @Miss Lydia @gilbert2 and @Emmaxx - thank you all for your help and suggestions you have all been so inspiring and today I built the run. I’m so happy with it. Originally, I left it with no roof but then with two panels left over I decided to create a ‘semi roof’ where I could put their food out of the way of wild birds and can add tarp (on top of panel) to provide shelter I’ll be adding more panels in the future for the roof and for now, will add mesh on top. The ducks love it!! Plus they can see Jemima (who is free) and bond again.

I managed to create a door with a hinge and bolt, it’s not A+ standard but I’m proud of it anyway now it needs preserving and painting!

@gilbert2 so sorry you lost your flock twice!! I certainly would never have thought of crows as being predators and we have loads of them here. Thank you for sharing and warning!

 

[GracieJ]

Not sure a tarp would withstand a fox attack :/ otherwise that could have solved two issues! Maybe if there's a better alternative that would still work I could explain how I mean
If you were to have the run attached would you be able to access both sides? If you could then there is a way you could have it attached but removable, and you would have extra panels to work with for your roof, then a tarp over the wire top would certainly be okay!
(by the way, it's not a b&m playhouse is it?)

The playhouse was from B&Q have you had a bad experience with B&M ones lol? X

 

[Miss Lydia]

Awesome job and such cuties too love how it all came together.
Poor Jemima he looks so sad being left out. Hopefully soon he can be with his family.

 

[Emmaxx]

That looks great! Well done! I had a look at the ebay listing for your panels last night and I am fairly certain the same guy has some other listings under a different name, if you look for the pictures with the little white dog in the run, and there is one where you can buy individual panels so you could probably just buy a few to finish your roof without having to buy a full 12, know you want to in the future and expand the run but just something to bear in mind

haha thankfully no, not really, I have the B&M one and it looks identical! (other than the colour scheme of course!) And I never got round to putting the window in, it's open with wire mesh/hardware cloth over the opening. You might want to consider that too so you can leave the window open for ventilation when needed.
Also I would recommend adding something on the floor for waterproofing if there isn't something hiding under that bedding already!

 

[GracieJ]

That looks great! Well done! I had a look at the ebay listing for your panels last night and I am fairly certain the same guy has some other listings under a different name, if you look for the pictures with the little white dog in the run, and there is one where you can buy individual panels so you could probably just buy a few to finish your roof without having to buy a full 12, know you want to in the future and expand the run but just something to bear in mind

haha thankfully no, not really, I have the B&M one and it looks identical! (other than the colour scheme of course!) And I never got round to putting the window in, it's open with wire mesh/hardware cloth over the opening. You might want to consider that too so you can leave the window open for ventilation when needed.
Also I would recommend adding something on the floor for waterproofing if there isn't something hiding under that bedding already!

Thank you ever so much! Yes I noticed he had a several different names, like there was the same 12 panel set for £65 and £62 so obviously I went for the £62 lol. I will have to check out the listing for the individual panels though as I didn't see that one so cheers! Great thing about this run is I can easily extended it if necessary!

Yeah that's a good idea, you don't need the window really, unless we have that freak snow storm again haha!

The floor of the coop is thick white cardboard then linoleum samples a kind employee from the carpet shop gave us ( I then took her a box of chocolates ) all nailed down to the floor, then newspaper on top followed by hay. Hopefully provides good insulation but also preserves the coop floor longer.

Are you able to share photos of your set up, I'd love to see it!

 

[Emmaxx]

Yeah that's a good idea, you don't need the window really, unless we have that freak snow storm again haha!

Oh you mean storm Emma

Umm I'm not sure about that, it's not as posh as yours! I bought and converted my playhouse for our rabbits and ended up moving the ducks in (after kicking the bunnies out of course) and was only supposed to be temporary glad to hear you have one big sheet of lino down, I bought the stick on tiles and they were a big mistake even before the ducks got to them I now also need to replace all the boarding out I did on the inside too maybe I will try and find a camera angle that stops it looking too horrendous

How do you find the slabs with the ducks? My run is also on slabs and it very quickly turns into a big poopy mess! i know that should be expected with ducks but I find it can be quite slippy, either cos of the poo or when I hose it down and it's still wet (drainage isn't too great), but I'm probably doing something wrong!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Very nice! It looks like they are having loads of fun. I like your ramp to the pool.

 

[GracieJ]

Oh you mean storm Emma

Umm I'm not sure about that, it's not as posh as yours! I bought and converted my playhouse for our rabbits and ended up moving the ducks in (after kicking the bunnies out of course) and was only supposed to be temporary glad to hear you have one big sheet of lino down, I bought the stick on tiles and they were a big mistake even before the ducks got to them I now also need to replace all the boarding out I did on the inside too maybe I will try and find a camera angle that stops it looking too horrendous

How do you find the slabs with the ducks? My run is also on slabs and it very quickly turns into a big poopy mess! i know that should be expected with ducks but I find it can be quite slippy, either cos of the poo or when I hose it down and it's still wet (drainage isn't too great), but I'm probably doing something wrong!

Lmao yes storm Emma!! It simply caused riots with all the supermarkets in south Wales and we didn't even get an inch of snow where I live

Aww you have rabbits aswell!! Pray tell how many and what breed? What did your ducks do to the stick on tiles? Or are they just super hard to clean? I'm sure it doesn't look bad at all, runs and coops will never look fantastic - at least not for long anyway

Ah yes the slabs and like yours, it has turned into a poopy mess here already. Maybe when you hose you could scrub the floor down with an old (or one you will never want to use elsewhere again) hard wired brush so you can scrub the poop off and make it less slippery? That's what I do. That or move the coop/run if possible to somewhere near a drain or in line with one. I've decided maybe to trial-test a bedding of hay on the concrete for them to have something nice to walk on but I'm unsure for how long it will be practical, not to mention it may attract slugs...I read somewhere on here that some people cover their run with soil/dried leaves/mulch/hay and make a bedding, then when it comes to cleaning, take the top layer off and use it as compost (or throw it away) and then add a new layer. Downside to that is that it would not messy in the rain if the run is not covered

 

[GracieJ]

Very nice! It looks like they are having loads of fun. I like your ramp to the pool.

Thank you for all of your help!! The ramps are from a local pet store and are for rabbits but my rabbits weren't fussed about them so we found them useful for the pools. Only downside is they can get slippery and the ducks can sometimes find it difficult to climb up but they do it nonetheless.