Needed: Duck house ideas

Hi All!

I have 2 Peking and 1 Cayuga. They will be full grown and ready for outside beginning of May. They will not be free range...housed in a pen away from predators.

Any suggestions for inexpensive housing ideas?
I would suggest you look for used materials on Craigslist, OfferUp, Marketplace, Etc. I needed to build a grow-out coop for my ducklings this year but didn't have much of a budget for it. I've almost finished this one (it's 19.5 square feet) and so far I'm at around $20. It's made from a free shipping crate on Marketplace which served as all the walls, floor, ceiling, and door, a discounted gallon of waterproof stain for $9 at Home Depot, 1/4" hardware cloth for the window for $10 at our local bargain store, and 2 door hinges for $1 at Restore. I'm still keeping an eye out for roofing panels and a latch.

This is a great way to build a sturdy coop for cheap if you have the time to keep checking the ads and grabbing deals when you see them!

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Ducks thrive on poking through grass, eating that, weeds, and finding bugs. That's what they're made for. So they can't just be locked in a coop all day - that's not natural for them. Make sure you provide some sort of predator proof run where they can move about and have fresh air and maybe access to a pool for swimming. Also, you can design a movable tractor for your yard that is somewhat predator proof for times when you're at home. I'm attaching a photo of what we made for that. I live in the middle of woods and we have lots of predators, so my coop and run has hardware cloth all the way around it, and it goes a couple feet under ground with concrete blocks to anchor it to prevent anything from digging under. My tractor has bird netting and chicken wire and I wouldn't ever leave them in there if I was away from the house, but if I'm home and peeking at them every now and then I feel comfortable if they're out there several hours a day.
 

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I would suggest you look for used materials on Craigslist, OfferUp, Marketplace, Etc. I needed to build a grow-out coop for my ducklings this year but didn't have much of a budget for it. I've almost finished this one (it's 19.5 square feet) and so far I'm at around $20. It's made from a free shipping crate on Marketplace which served as all the walls, floor, ceiling, and door, a discounted gallon of waterproof stain for $9 at Home Depot, 1/4" hardware cloth for the window for $10 at our local bargain store, and 2 door hinges for $1 at Restore. I'm still keeping an eye out for roofing panels and a latch.

This is a great way to build a sturdy coop for cheap if you have the time to keep checking the ads and grabbing deals when you see them!

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What creativity...you so rock! Thanks for the pics.
 
Following. I'm going to be starting to build our duck hut for our pekins tomorrow. I'm going to frame it out with 2x3s and using 3x5 Hardie board and keep it about 8" off the ground. Still looking for ideas, as I usually wing it as I go. Lol
Just remember, ducks, especially pekins, due to their size, have a hard time walking up ramps - they need to be very gradual. They fall and step off the sides as well, so if you don't have a little railing, make sure it's not too high that they can hurt themselves if they fall off.
 
I would suggest you look for used materials on Craigslist, OfferUp, Marketplace, Etc. I needed to build a grow-out coop for my ducklings this year but didn't have much of a budget for it. I've almost finished this one (it's 19.5 square feet) and so far I'm at around $20. It's made from a free shipping crate on Marketplace which served as all the walls, floor, ceiling, and door, a discounted gallon of waterproof stain for $9 at Home Depot, 1/4" hardware cloth for the window for $10 at our local bargain store, and 2 door hinges for $1 at Restore. I'm still keeping an eye out for roofing panels and a latch.

This is a great way to build a sturdy coop for cheap if you have the time to keep checking the ads and grabbing deals when you see them!

View attachment 3442825

View attachment 3442826
This is such a great idea!
 

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