Quack-shack

[Enigmius]

I’m still building the duck house but I would like some other input.

First let me explain the design:
The front, with the windows, will be a solid wall just like the left sided wall is solid. The windows will have hardware cloth in it. The right side, which is still open will have hardware cloth also. The back will have extra nesting box area with lid which opens upward. It hasn’t been built yet, and I may build it later to save time. For the flooring I plan on doing smooth pea gravel or beach pebbles for ease of cleaning. Here is s video of the basic design I “borrowed” with some small changes.

Ok, now that I got that out of the way, I want to talk predator protection, specifically the diggers. If I lined walls of the duck house, on the inside, with wide cement paver stones and then covered the floor with the pea gravel, would that be sufficient?
I was going to place the paver stones on the outside of the duck house’s parameter, but thought that might make it harder to mow around. So, would the inside work?

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is such an awesome house I really love it and think you need to go on the coop forum and share it...

Okay thinking about diggers. a determined dog or coyote if digging under could possibly move pavers unless they weigh quite a bit I haven't ever tried to pick any up when I have been at Lowes so don't know and may depend on size. too. Just wondering about hardware cloth covering the whole flooring area and about half ft up the side then attached to the wall all the way around then adding your gravel or what ever your going to use. How do you plan on cleaning out your house the pea gravel? going to be a lot of poop. Probably wide pavers would be fine Just in my mind I could visualize something digging under with out a floor of some kind.

 

[Enigmius]

That is such an awesome house I really love it and think you need to go on the coop forum and share it...

Okay thinking about diggers. a determined dog or coyote if digging under could possibly move pavers unless they weigh quite a bit I haven't ever tried to pick any up when I have been at Lowes so don't know and may depend on size. too. Just wondering about hardware cloth covering the whole flooring area and about half ft up the side then attached to the wall all the way around then adding your gravel or what ever your going to use. How do you plan on cleaning out your house the pea gravel? going to be a lot of poop. Probably wide pavers would be fine Just in my mind I could visualize something digging under with out a floor of some kind.

Ok! I’ll share it on the coop forum, when it’s all finished, complete with some progress photos and perhaps the autocad plans.

Oh yeah, I guess I could put the hardware cloth on the ground inside and then cover with the smooth gravel/pebbles.

About cleaning: My back yard is on a slope, so I was planning on just spraying the gravel down with a water house for a bit every day,which I’m sure the ducks will love, and then once a week rake the gravel so that it turns over. That’s the plan anyway....I’ve heard that spraying down the gravel in winter is tricky for some folks, but I live in Texas(dfw area) and we hardly get more than a couple of days that don’t rise above freezing in the daylight hours.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like a good plan, can't wait to see those lil Runners in their new digs they are going to love it.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Wow! Ima’ Soooo jealous looks like something I’d put my mother in law in! (Just kidding don’t have a MIL) Good job

 

[Aquachick]

When we built our coop we attached hardware cloth to the lower portion of the wall and then bent it out and down making a backward L so 12 inches were lying flat on the ground. We then buried the cloth that was outside the coop. This prevents anything from digging under the run or coop. I hope that this makes sense.

 

[Lil Drake40]

Another great possibly and might be less expensive too than the floor.

 

[TSOWOATNKC]

The larger the paver, the heavier they are. The bottom of our duck shelter has 1ftx1ft pavers with mason sand to fill in cracks. A 1 inch thick paver weighs 11 pounds per sq ft.

 

[TSOWOATNKC]

I’d suggest that you use 12x12 pavers. I’d also suggest that you dig down half the depth of the pavers to inset them. Invest in a paver lifter or have two people to place them. You really have to put them absolutely straight down to get them to fit.

The house door in the video isn’t going to work. We did that previously, and cleaning it out was horrible.

If possible, build the house floor with a drain, and at a very slight slant so you can hose it out and not have it hold water. The floor and bottom of the wall can be lined with stick on tiles, then put a drainage mat over top, and bedding of your choice on top of that. Those little doors make it basically impossible to completely clean it out. With a tile and drainage mat you can hose it out. I bought a huge metal dustpan that we use to scoop bedding out, then we hose it out and leave it to dry for the day.

At least that’s what I’d do in retrospect.

 

[Enigmius]

Makes sense to me. Thanks!

The house door in the video isn’t going to work. We did that previously, and cleaning it out was horrible.

If possible, build the house floor with a drain, and at a very slight slant so you can hose it out and not have it hold water. The floor and bottom of the wall can be lined with stick on tiles, then put a drainage mat over top, and bedding of your choice on top of that. Those little doors make it basically impossible to completely clean it out. With a tile and drainage mat you can hose it out. I bought a huge metal dustpan that we use to scoop bedding out, then we hose it out and leave it to dry for the day.

At least that’s what I’d do in retrospect.

I think you are talking about the nesting box area in the video, is that right?

If so, I can kinda see your point. You would need to hose that box down after a while, or get in there with rags and a cleaning agent. If you hose it down, some of that water isn’t going to drain out through the inside door. Hmmm good catch.

My yard is sloped uphill to the back of the coop/run house thing, but you are right. The water isn’t going to drain well because the inside door to the run.
I do want to line the nest box-house area with vinyl tiles with caulked seals. I might have to raise the nest box-house I little off the ground to create a drain system. That will also mean there will need to be a slight ramp into their box-house. I’ll probably need to put a strainer around the drain to prevent clogs.
Hmmmm.