Please critique my duck coop

[johnElarue]

Hi all,

I've got three 6 week old ducks, so they're still eating and pooping alot. I think I have a problem with my coop/ark as it has a sweet/sour smell and attracts insects. Now I know it's gonna stink and have bugs but...... should I be concerned?

It's 3 feet wide, 9 feet long with a sleeping area in the rear. You can see from the pics. It rests on a 4 inch deep bed of gravel. It is all covered with 2 layers of 1/2inch chicken wire. We have fox, badger, marten, weasels, cats, dogs, .....

I put dry straw on the floor and rake it out every few days as well as hose it all down. The problem is the poop and feed don't seem to wash out well. And it's impossible to get 100% of the straw out with the wire there.

We have a very wet climate, about triple the rainfall of the central/eastern US cept Florida maybe? Mild winters temp wise but good amount of snow. Also the ducks go out 2-3 times per day weather permitting.

Options:

1. Raise it up on blocks and put dirt/mulch under the coop to absorb stuff, change it out as needed.

2. Put raised plywood floor on all areas, cover with straw.

3. Build a real coop with full fencing and netting all round.

4. Please feel free to criticize my setup, I want what's best for my ducks.

Thanks for reading this.

When it rains I can cover the front, or leave it open to clean the floor.

The floor as clean as it gets sometimes(this is then covered in dry straw)

The night area raked and hosed, This gets covered in straw, by morning its a poop fest.

Konichiwa!

 

[hatchcrazzzy]

ducks are dirty anyway looks good sounds like your doing a good job

 

[momma's chickens]

I think your set up looks good, however I am wondering if you did raise it up on blocks if it would help. You could rake the poo that falls underneath and that would discourage the insects.

Have fun with your ducks and yes they are messy, but I love my mine.

 

[spook]

Great job on the duck coop. All critters (human or feathers) can be messy! I would suggest that you hose down the bottom each day and it would help out the smell.
Eventually they will need more water to sozzle and bathe in. At one point I used a plastic baby tub. It worked out nicely.
Good luck and thanks for sharing your work, critique...its great, may steal the idea of the light from you!

 

[lilchick]

If you raised it up off ground a few inches( air circulation ) and used pine shavings instead of straw, it would stay drier.
Ducks are the messiest creatures on earth! Watery, stinky poo and no way to change that.

Pine shavings do absorb the moisture and make it smell better. good luck...

 

[johnElarue]

Hi again and thanks for all the replies,

Glad to hear I'm actually doing this kinda right.

I like the idea of raising it up for ventilation/cleaning but worry about giving predators a whole new 'window' to try and reach through. We'll see how it goes through the fall.

Anyone with a raised coop ever have problems with animals coming underneath?

Also I saw some pics here on BYC of a cool raised coop with river stones inside on the floor, but can't for the life of me find it again using the search engine, I think it was from Idaho, anyone know or can point me to that thread?

I appreciate your help,

johnE