Pavers for coop walls, suggestions?

[snowyswampchick]

We plan on getting 4-5 khaki campbells for eggs next year. we’ve been told to get their housing ready before even looking for ducklings.

Our plan is to build 2 of these 4x8 paver sided garden beds next to each other, one for a house and one for a nighttime enclosure. We’re leaving one paver spot open as a door between the two.

These are 2 feet tall and with the roof we plan on raising the total height to 3”, and using hardware cloth for the sides of the roof for ventilation. The top of the enclosure part will also have hardware cloth on top.

This gives the ducks 8 square feet of house space and 8 square feet of safe enclosure space during the night, they’ll be out in a fenced yard with a wet lawn during the day.

These are the beds we built for the garden which sparked the idea.


Any suggestions/tips/vehement objections? Thanks in advance

 

[Ursuline Chick]

How easy will it be to keep 3' tall enclosures clean?

 

[ruthhope]

Four or 5 ducks can sleep in one 8'x4' coop. I am unsure of the purpose of your planned second enclosure. Having ducks sleep in a dark duck house is OK, but I think the enclosure space maybe too dark if the ducks are to use the space when awake.
How will the roof be attached? If it lifts up -- hinges along one side for example. you will be able to get inside a 3' duck house and clean it out through the door to the side. My son's coop is less than 3 feet high but has a curved roof that hinges out. An A-frame roof on hinges would also work. It is easy to manage. So my concerns aren't about the height if the roof opens, its about the second enclosure purpose, and it being dark

 

[snowyswampchick]

How easy will it be to keep 3' tall enclosures clean?

Hinged roof should give us proper access (walk-in)

 

[snowyswampchick]

Four or 5 ducks can sleep in one 8'x4' coop. I am unsure of the purpose of your planned second enclosure. Having ducks sleep in a dark duck house is OK, but I think the enclosure space maybe too dark if the ducks are to use the space when awake.
How will the roof be attached? If it lifts up -- hinges along one side for example. you will be able to get inside a 3' duck house and clean it out through the door to the side. My son's coop is less than 3 feet high but has a curved roof that hinges out. An A-frame roof on hinges would also work. It is easy to manage. So my concerns aren't about the height if the roof opens, its about the second enclosure purpose, and it being dark

Oh the pictures are awesome, we're indeed planning a hinged A-frame! We're considering whether to install a window either on the south side of wall or on the roof as we have lots of left-over window panes.

The extra 4x8 space will also be their winter outdoor space when we inevitably get buried in snow. Though we probably will have to enlarge it for that.

 

[ruthhope]

Oh the pictures are awesome, we're indeed planning a hinged A-frame! We're considering whether to install a window either on the south side of wall or on the roof as we have lots of left-over window panes.

The extra 4x8 space will also be their winter outdoor space when we inevitably get buried in snow. Though we probably will have to enlarge it for that.

I would put the window in the south side of the duck house. You will need to include ventilation in your design. I caution against using glass window panes in the roof -- it needs to be made from light, non-breakable materials. My son's original design was flawed: he made a flat hinged roof with a corrugated galvanized sheet and a corrugated plastic sheet. But he didn't include a slope in his design and rain pooled on the roof. Also the corrugated plastic got sun-damage and became brittle, then broke under the weight of pooled rain. When I remodeled the roof, I decided against making an A-frame using the corrugated galvanized sheet and a second corrugated galvanized sheet, as sealing the ridge would be a problem to me. So I made the curved roof and covered it with tarps. Light, not elegant, but works! My own duck coop is also covered with a tarp, but I bought a clear/white tarp on-line. It lets light through but it was expensive compared with grey or blue tarps from Walmart or Harbor Freight. As my lumber was all repurposed and donated, and didn't cost me anything, investing in a $33 tarp didn't break my budget. You might consider using a tarp over your A-frame roof, and using a clear/white tarp for the winter run.

 

[snowyswampchick]

I would put the window in the south side of the duck house. You will need to include ventilation in your design. I caution against using glass window panes in the roof -- it needs to be made from light, non-breakable materials. My son's original design was flawed: he made a flat hinged roof with a corrugated galvanized sheet and a corrugated plastic sheet. But he didn't include a slope in his design and rain pooled on the roof. Also the corrugated plastic got sun-damage and became brittle, then broke under the weight of pooled rain. When I remodeled the roof, I decided against making an A-frame using the corrugated galvanized sheet and a second corrugated galvanized sheet, as sealing the ridge would be a problem to me. So I made the curved roof and covered it with tarps. Light, not elegant, but works! My own duck coop is also covered with a tarp, but I bought a clear/white tarp on-line. It lets light through but it was expensive compared with grey or blue tarps from Walmart or Harbor Freight. As my lumber was all repurposed and donated, and didn't cost me anything, investing in a $33 tarp didn't break my budget. You might consider using a tarp over your A-frame roof, and using a clear/white tarp for the winter run.

That looks super cool! Has it been tested by snow? Ours won’t be in the shade so we’ll go with a solid tarp or roof during the summer months.

We’re gonna leave one or two pavers out for the door, and the triangles on the roof will be hardware cloth for vents.

 

[ruthhope]

That looks super cool! Has it been tested by snow? Ours won’t be in the shade so we’ll go with a solid tarp or roof during the summer months.

We’re gonna leave one or two pavers out for the door, and the triangles on the roof will be hardware cloth for vents.

Snow? I'm in Florida so no, no snow and I hope none to come. From what I have seen on this forum, plenty of people use tarps up north where they have snow.

In the winter you would add bales of straw to give insulation. We do have nights here that drop down to 30F and I added pine straw bales to my coop and my son's. My muscovies loved climbing on the bales and even my son's pekin female climbed up on the bales when his roof was open.

 

[snowyswampchick]

Snow? I'm in Florida so no, no snow and I hope none to come. From what I have seen on this forum, plenty of people use tarps up north where they have snow.

In the winter you would add bales of straw to give insulation. We do have nights here that drop down to 30F and I added pine straw bales to my coop and my son's. My muscovies loved climbing on the bales and even my son's pekin female climbed up on the bales when his roof was open.

Nice thank you for the pointers