Need feedback on converting a shed to a duck house -

[Wynette]

Oh, fantastic feedback!!

"galgo - Here is a pic of my set-up. I have 5 Runners and 2 Sebastopols. (DH wouldn't give up entire shed

) I have been using the equine pine pellets since they were in the brooder and have not had any problems. I do give them straw in the dog house to make nests and bed down in, I've added more to the main area since it is colder now and we've added the geese. There is linoleum up the wall about 5". They free range during the day so this is only used at night. I would also like to paint the interior walls, but haven't gotten there yet.. Excuse the mess in the pictures, they were molting and the camera seems to have enhanced the dust!

The ducks just moved in here July '11, so it's still new yet, but seems to be working ok!"

galgo: Okay, some questions: This looks almost exactly what I had in mind for my shed. The little house to the side - that's their nesting area? I am guessing they haven't laid there yet? It looks large...I assume for the Sebies? Tell me more about the pine pellets - I use them for my horses so have them on hand anyway, and I do use them in my brooders, as well. I'd wondered if they'd do well, because they are so much more absorbent than shavings!!! A problem I do have is that the door is only about 3" from the base of the floor. So there's no way I could do a deep litter method like Amiga describes below. 18"??? HOLY COW - that's definitely deep! But galgo - I'm super interested - how deep do you have your pellets? How do you clean them out - stir them up daily, and then remove when they are saturated? How often do you find you need to do this? Details would rock!

celtic:
If you can find marine grade paint sealant, that is the best for waterfowl. Cleans well, protects against the wetness. Congrats on the ducks!

celtic - thanks! I'm really looking forward to them! Marine grade paint sealant - would that be sort of like a clear coat, like polyurethane or something?

Amiga:
How nice you have a shed you can use!

Our setup has worked very nicely. We needed to build it, but I think some things will translate well for you if you think they will work for you.

The duck house is 4´x8´ double walled plywood (vermiculite and perlite insulation - they don´t mold). I put vinyl sheet flooring on the floor, and went up the sides several inches. I screwed 1¨x3¨ boards across the top to keep anything from slipping down behind the flooring. I covered seams with duck tape (of course).

I use pine shavings, about a foot and a half deep. On top of that I have a few inches of straw, which gets changed out every few days. I stir the shavings when the straw gets replaced. I add about a 2 gallon bucket´s worth of peat moss to the shavings, by the way. I do that to keep ammonia from forming. And the shavings stay so dry, anyway (talking ten runners) that ammonia has not been a big issue even before I started adding peat moss, which raises the acidity a bit.

I have not painted the interior walls, but when I do, I plan to use milk paint because that doesn´t make fumes, which I don´t want to subject the ducks to (their little lungs, I am told, can be sensitive to volatile compounds).

The Veranda (a porch attached to the house) originally had sand flooring. It got aromatic quite quickly. The way I figure it, the nitrogen in the duck poo had no carbon to bind to to reduce the odor. So, the Veranda now has sawdust over the sand and that works wonderfully! I use a cultivator to fluff the sawdust every day or two in warm weather, and it can be days to weeks before the top couple of inches need to be raked out and put on the compost and replaced with fresh sawdust.

Something I try to do is capture the nutrients from the ducks and use them in the garden. To do that, I use straw, sawdust or leaves. Oak leaves are great at reducing odor where it stays damp.

I have pea gravel under the swim pans, and that area has a slight slope, maybe 2 percent. I can dump the swim pan and the water flows through a small channel to a garden where it waters and fertilizes the plants. Once a year I need to work on the gravel and rake and hose out some of the organic matter that collects in the gravel.

Amiga: Do you think the peat moss would work with pelleted pine bedding? I had not heard that it helps in keeping the ammonia down. It's dry, correct, and comes in bales? Do they have it at feed stores, or do you need to go to a landscaping supply place for it?

Milk paint? I've never heard of this - is it called anything other than milk paint?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Hey Wynette,

You will love having ducks, careful as they have their own math that comes with them. Marine grade paint is paint that can hold up against water and humidity found at marinas, docks, lakes, the ocean. We have it readily available here (on the coast), but you can use oil based (before you add the ducks, let cure a week ahead) and get a similar effect.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Miss Lydia,

Do you have any issues with the ducks burying their eggs in the litter, like I've read some other posters mention?

Thanks,

Tahai

Oh yes I have but I turn the bedding everyday so i usually find them.

 

[Wynette]

Hey Wynette,

You will love having ducks, careful as they have their own math that comes with them. Marine grade paint is paint that can hold up against water and humidity found at marinas, docks, lakes, the ocean. We have it readily available here (on the coast), but you can use oil based (before you add the ducks, let cure a week ahead) and get a similar effect.

Ah, okay. I do have plenty of time before they'll be using the shed. It currently has chicken occupants, but their new home will be ready this spring, and the ducks won't be arriving until the third week of March, and will spend the first couple of weeks in my stock tank brooder, so they'll not go out to the shed until April. Many thanks!

 

[Amiga]

Milk paint is just that. I don't know of any other term. It used to be quite common, and you can make it yourself. I bought some powdered so I just have to add water. For the outside of the duck house, I also got some tung oil to add to the paint so it will last longer in the weather.

I reasoned out that the peat moss would likely reduce ammonia from a course I took on composting. If the pH is too high (low acidity), you're more likely to get ammonia from the nitrogen in manure. Peat moss has low pH (more acidity) so it can keep that from happening. I have bought it from garden stores, big box stores and feed stores. It is dry and powdery, so I keep the ducks out of the house when I'm cleaning it up. The shavings get a little dusty, too, and I try to keep the ducks away from dusty stuff. cough! cough!

You may just want to see how the sawdust pellets work and add a little peat moss if you notice any ammonia aroma. I put my face down right near the bedding to check for it, since the ducks' faces are near the bedding at night.

 

[Wynette]

Milk paint is just that. I don't know of any other term. It used to be quite common, and you can make it yourself. I bought some powdered so I just have to add water. For the outside of the duck house, I also got some tung oil to add to the paint so it will last longer in the weather.

I reasoned out that the peat moss would likely reduce ammonia from a course I took on composting. If the pH is too high (low acidity), you're more likely to get ammonia from the nitrogen in manure. Peat moss has low pH (more acidity) so it can keep that from happening. I have bought it from garden stores, big box stores and feed stores. It is dry and powdery, so I keep the ducks out of the house when I'm cleaning it up. The shavings get a little dusty, too, and I try to keep the ducks away from dusty stuff. cough! cough!

You may just want to see how the sawdust pellets work and add a little peat moss if you notice any ammonia aroma. I put my face down right near the bedding to check for it, since the ducks' faces are near the bedding at night.

All good info. - thank you so very much! You guys have all given me a bit more confidence. I have had chickens for several years, but ducks just seem so much more complicated to me for some reason! Getting as comfortable as I can early on with them will REALLY help - thanks again, all!

 

[galgo98]

galgo: Okay, some questions: This looks almost exactly what I had in mind for my shed. The little house to the side - that's their nesting area? I am guessing they haven't laid there yet? It looks large...I assume for the Sebies? Tell me more about the pine pellets - I use them for my horses so have them on hand anyway, and I do use them in my brooders, as well. I'd wondered if they'd do well, because they are so much more absorbent than shavings!!! A problem I do have is that the door is only about 3" from the base of the floor. So there's no way I could do a deep litter method like Amiga describes below. 18"??? HOLY COW - that's definitely deep! But galgo - I'm super interested - how deep do you have your pellets? How do you clean them out - stir them up daily, and then remove when they are saturated? How often do you find you need to do this? Details would rock!

I can't take credit for the design... I spent hours pouring over all of the threads on this website. I know I stole it from someone... The little dog house is now where the runners sleep... not by choice, that is where the gander puts them at night.. The runners used to lay in the dog house or in the main area of the shed... However, they stopped laying about 1 week before the Sebbies arrived and haven't laid since.

I have heard conflicting info on the pine pellets. I tried them when the ducks were brooding in the living room and really like them. (a friend w/horses gave me a bucketful) I had tried pine shavings and they became a stinky mess much quicker. I was able to watch them when I first put them in and the ducklings would pick them up, but then spit them right back out again. I even sprinkled dried mealworms in there and they did a great job of rooting for the worms and spitting the pellets back out. I was worried that they would confuse the pine pellets for pelleted food they were going to be getting. I was feeling their necks constantly for any impactions. I did the same thing when I added pea gravel to the outdoor run..
I too thought about the deep litter method, but I am almost 6' tall, so I didn't want to be hitting my head on the ceiling!!

I do put the used litter and straw in a large "grave" behind the shed in order to compost it and use it later for the garden. The pellets are about 2" deep when I first put them in, after several days, that turns into about 3" of dust. I put a good layer of straw on top, especially since they are in the shed more now & with the addition of geese

. I remove the straw and fluff the pellets every other day, unless it is too stinky, then every day. Any large clumps of the pellets are also removed. I find that this occurs right inside the door where water can get in some.. I should mention that I do not have any water inside the shed, they have to walk outside to get to it. I have only changed out the entire area about every 1.5 - 2 months. I do close the duckie door so the ducks can not enter while I'm cleaning, it does get pretty dusty! Good luck, but ducks are well worth the "work"!!

 

[Wynette]

AWESOME - thanks for all the details!! Okay, so:

1) pelleted bedding is working well for you.
2) You're putting a 2" layer in that you fluff up every couple of days.
3) You strip it out completely every 1.5 - 2 months.

Correct?

I see you're in PA; how do you have your water OUTSIDE? covered area, in a heated water bowl, I am guessing? Question here - so, when you lock them up at night in the shed, they do not have water access - right? Makes sense, as they're sleeping anyway...

 

[Tahai]

Hi Wynette,

In regards to the water at night, Dave Holerread says, in the Storey book, that after a certain age (don't remember off-hand, but it might have been in the 8-10 week range? I'll look it up when I get time) you can let them go 9 hours at night without water, and they become accustomed to it. It will not affect egg production, if they are used to it, and you do it consistently. (Also, they don't get any feed during this time.)

 

[Amiga]

Right, Tahai, I recall that at ten weeks I kept food and water out of the brooder for overnight - 8 hours - and that was a nice break from all the food and water cleanup. Even with a splash catcher, it was a challenge to keep up with eleven enthusiastic Runners.