Is this coop raccoon proof?

[juliannahoza]

Hi all! I'm new to backyardchickens.com and to keeping ducks - I just bought three little pekin/khaki campbell/runner mixes that are now around 2.5 weeks old. They're still inside for now, but I happened upon this coop for a pretty good price so I took the opportunity to buy it, thinking I'd just resell it if I decided I didn't like it. It's a chicken coop, for one thing, so not ideal for ducks, I understand. However, it seems like they'd still use it perfectly well. There's a nest box, but the divider is removable, and the door to the upstairs and ramp could be widened without too much trouble. Before I put too much work in, though, I want to know people's thoughts on this coop's security.

Some potential insecurities:

• There are latches on the two side doors that I don't think are good enough to prevent a raccoon from getting in - I would replace those with more secure ones (combination or key, most likely). I also need to add a latch to the hinged nest box door.
• There's no bottom, but I was thinking of keeping them in the upstairs (all closed off) at night and/or adding a floor.
• The sides are hardware mesh stapled to the wood frame. Could a raccoon just rip the hardware mesh off the frame and pull the staples out in the process?
• Something my parents pointed out is that the wood frame itself uses pretty thin wood (1/2" by 2" boards, I think), and we were wondering if a raccoon might be able to just rip down the entire frame. Does this seem possible??

Any thoughts are much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Julianna

 

[shawluvsbirds]

It looks pretty decent to me at least for a prefab coop.
You could put a predator apron around the bottom to keep critters from digging under.
I would definitely add extra door latches.
it looks like it has a lot of Staples in it already but I would go around and add Staples anywhere where it seemed loose or there aren't many already.
Locking them in the house at night is always a good idea.
The biggest problem I see is that is not going to be very much space for three standard size ducks.
It will probably work for a while, but most people who buy prefab coops learn pretty fast they do not hold up well and they do not provide near enough space. That is also all dependent on how much time they will be spending in there too.

 

[Isaac 0]

I'm not too sure how well the ramp is going to work with ducks, even if widened. I agree about the space issue as well.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I would not like how all of those Staples are at the top. looks to me like that would be easy for a critter to push hard enough to pull the ends of the hardware cloth out of the staples.
I would definitely go along and add some staples
Along the bottom of the boards as well.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I'm not too sure how well the ramp is going to work with ducks, even if widened. I agree about the space issue as well.

Maybe if they start training them now with treats to walk up the ramp they will get the hang of it.
None of my ducks have ever liked to walk up a very steep ramp.

 

[Isaac 0]

Is there much ventilation in the coop? I don't see any.

 

[juliannahoza]

It looks pretty decent to me at least for a prefab coop.
You could put a predator apron around the bottom to keep critters from digging under.
I would definitely add extra door latches.
it looks like it has a lot of Staples in it already but I would go around and add Staples anywhere where it seemed loose or there aren't many already.
Locking them in the house at night is always a good idea.
The biggest problem I see is that is not going to be very much space for three standard size ducks.
It will probably work for a while, but most people who buy prefab coops learn pretty fast they do not hold up well and they do not provide near enough space. That is also all dependent on how much time they will be spending in there too.

Totally agree about space! It would definitely only be for nighttime. That's true about it not holding up, too. It seems likely it would break down at some point. Thanks for the input!

 

[juliannahoza]

Is there much ventilation in the coop? I don't see any.

Not in the top part, although they would only be in there overnight, and it's all pretty easy to clean out. That was something I noticed, too, though, and forgot to put in my post.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Not in the top part, although they would only be in there overnight, and it's all pretty easy to clean out. That was something I noticed, too, though, and forgot to put in my post.

Does it at least have some ventilation or none at all?
Ducks need a lot of ventilation because their stool is so watery. Especially with it being kind of a small space anyway.

Oh and btw

 

[Rainwing]

View attachment 2125979
I would not like how all of those Staples are at the top. looks to me like that would be easy for a critter to push hard enough to pull the ends of the hardware cloth out of the staples.
I would definitely go along and add some staples
Along the bottom of the boards as well.

why did they staple it like that I would add more staples as well.