Need Experienced Opinions on Coop.

[MummyToTwins]

http://providence.craigslist.org/grd/2751771538.html

I think I am too new to post pics but hopefully this link will work.

A. Will this work for ducks? I'm assuiming they won't need the nesting box (or will they?) and the chap says he can custom make one for me without it.

B. How many ducks could live happily in either size? I was thinking of 4-6 for a nice flock.

C. How long should the run be?

Cheers.

 

[cravenchx]

I don't do ducks, but it looks nice

 

[MNShepherdess]

The only problem with a coop for ducks is they get it SO messy! lol. But it looks like a nice coop, nice sized, kinda spendy, but I guess maybe I'm just cheap

If they're only going to be sleeping in it, I would say like one square foot for smaller ducks, maybe 2 for bigger ducks, gives them room to breathe, etc. Has to be well ventilated, don't want anyone freezing. But if they're going to stay in it for any length of time other than sleeping, I would say it would need to be much larger. As for the run off of it, for 4 - 6 ducks, it really depends on the breed. We use dog kennels a lot of times for our call ducks, which are 6 X 6, and we can keep probably up to 8 without it getting too crowded or too messy too fast. Bigger ducks would need a bit more area

That's my opinion

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
So are you just slumming on this DUCK board?
TWINS Some ducks [my muscovy] love nest boxes other ducks I owned just laid every where

 

[mominoz]

Overkill for ducks. A fenced pen with a small night box that is predator proof. Doesn't need to be tall, think a dog house with a door and maybe a hinged lid for cleaning. Ducks don't need protection from rain like chickens. You need 1 ft. sq. ft for mini's, 2.5 square feet for light to medium ducks and up to 4 square feet for large breed ducks ( per duck). and that is just for overnight. They really don't need a house, maybe a windbreak. or lean-to if they have a fenced predator proof pen.
You need somewhere safe a dog, fox, RACCOON can't get into or climb, or dig under. A hotwired fence top and bottom takes care of almost all predators except possibly owls or hawks, eagles....

A net on top or roof would fix that. You can get a dog kennel, but would have to put hardware cloth around the bottom 2-3 feet high so raccoons can't pull their heads thru. (forget using chicken wire, it's worthless against predators.)
I mean , if you want a fancy house, sure they like it better with a moat around it....

But they don't roost unless they are muscovies, mainly it needs to be easy for you to clean , and if it is the night pen , safe from all predators.... so they aren't 'sitting ducks'.....
But they can't stay in that all day and night....certainly not 4-6......unless you want to clean it twice a day, assuming you are using straw or shavings which will get expensive...... consider rubber mats or pond rock or pebbles you can hose,out. Ducks have to have water while eating and they dunk their food in it, and they splash it and they put things in the water (leaves, rocks, food). They may try to swim in their water buckets...etc.... I have 23 in a rock night pen (temporarily, while making new pens) that is 12 X10 and I hose it daily or EOD.... I keep 4 runners in a 8X3 rock pen and need to hose it every couple days....Since I started feeding most feed in morning instead of evening they poop less at night

Ducks just need a safe fenced area, nothing can get into.You can use Rubbermaid bins, cut down in front for nesting boxes ....They don't like to stay indoors really.........

 

[Oregon Blues]

Having just constructed a duck coop and being shocked at the cost of it all, I think the price is good.

Ducks nest on the floor. My ducks like those large square salt pans to nest in. Not what I bought the pans for, but ducks kept sleeping in them.

It's very nice if the coop is tall enough for a human to stand up in. It makes cleaning so much easier. Unless you have Muscovy, your ducks won't roost. My coop has a very sturdy shelf above the nests and I have metal garbage cans full of feed , plus my spare equipment, on those shelves. That gives the ducks some privacy and lets me store feed where it is sheltered from the weather and very convenient to feed. The metal cans keep vermin out of the feed.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

This coop is overkill for ducks like others have said. If you want a coop for sleeping that you can close up at night and you will not be feeding/watering them inside, this could work, but it needs some ventilation, if that window opened it would be fine. As for nesting boxes, they don't need a box so much as they need an area. I trained my ducks with dummy eggs to lay them in a specific location, and they almost always get it right.

If you want a facility for them to eat/drink in at night then the bottom of the coop should be hardware cloth so all the water and food waste doesn't muck up the inside. I had a huge problem in my original design, even using slats for the base proved problematic, hardware cloth is much better to keep a mess in check. just provide a corner of the coop or a side that has some straw or shavings for the egg nest they'll use.

Personally, I think you can get away with a shorter (in height) coop if you elevate the house-which makes cleaning easier and it also increases your overall ground space in your run. I'd say go through the past duck house postings and get a feeling for whats successful.

Oh and 10-25 sq feet per bird in a run is adequate depending upon the size of the birds, runners being on the low end, muscovies on the high end. Sounds like you have a good coorelations between coop size and flock number.

 

[DB_Tex]

Ditto on overkill, I live in Phoenix area, but my "duck house" is no more than a wind break, rain canopy, and shade for the summer heat with lots of breezeway. All you really need is 4 walls, a door, a roof and it must be simple to clean and gather eggs.

 

[galgo98]

I'm queen of over-kill and I think it looks nice!!

But, I'm also with Oregon Blues, we spent almost that just to fix-up a rotting shed. I have seen chicken coops that size around here for $600.. It must depend on where you live! I would also add linoleum to the floor and a foot or so up each wall.. It will help save your wood floors and walls!

 

[Luciesbuddys]

My ducks and chickens are spoiled I had 13 birds(6 chickens and 7 ducks). My coop is 5x8 with a 2x3 addition for the nest boxes for the chickens. I have found that my ducks like a 30 gal tote with a hole large enough for them to easily get in to to nest and sleep..... i would prefer they didn't sleep in the nest but i cant really stop them. My smaller Peking likes to lay her eggs on the floor of the addition.....she has also converted all the chickens to laying on the floor because she steals all the shavings for her nest. I highly recommend shavings for the nest because the eggs are sooooo much cleaner even when they sleep on them. As far as the run mine have a 10x20 area but the really only use about 8x8 of it because that is where the pond is and they spend most of the day free range any way.

P.S. Ducks make a mess of there drinking water it will make everything wet