screen for duck floor

[sweetflower]

So Roark once posted he would build a duck house with screen floor and washable tray underneatb. What mesh size screen; plastic or metal; did this work out? All I have seen is it is OK to use screen under only the inside waterer, never the entire duck house floor.

 

[sourland]

I would guess that screen/wire might be hard on duck feet (especially in the cold weather), but hopefully someone with experience will reply.

 

[jebber]

I've got a duck tractor & used chicken wire for the floor & 1/4 inch hardware cloth for the raised center (food & water area). The chicken wire rusted out in ~9 months, replaced it with PVC coated chicken wire. Ducks could care less.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gander007]

I have not had my ducks on with other then the brooder .....

 

[Tivona]

Only time I remember hearing about plastic mesh for ducks flooring was on the Metzer Farms blog. Their next blog post was where to get the mesh. Seemed like a good idea to me but I have a different set up with rubber mats. Pretty easy for me to shovel or hose off as needed.

 

[alehmann]

We did that exact thing. We used 1/2" hardware cloth that is galvanized metal. It is very clean inside as we can spray it out every morning. I am wondering about the longevity of the metal and I considered plastic mesh, but the plastic seemed like it may become droopy. So far the ducks love their new home, and their feet are fine so far. They only sleep in the house, so I'm hoping that since they are sitting for the night it won't bother their feet. My next question is should I put straw of bedding in the house when they begin to lay?

 

[jebber]

We have khaki Campbell's & I put straw in their house for winter, before they had started laying. Once they started laying they built a nest every day door the eggs. One week ( I move the bed every week) I only put a small amount of straw, the next day we had eggs scattered everywhere in the bed. I now put enough straw down for a nest.
Another plus is they don't crap in the nest side of the bed. (There's a saying in there, somewhere)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Alice28]

We have a very sturdy wire on the floor of are duck house, then put large shavings down over the wire. Standing on wire doesn't sound comfortable to me. It's about 1 1/2 inches off the ground, so moister sinks through and it stays fairly dry. Then I'm able to change the shavings and spray the house down. Works great my husband and four year old son built the house. He made it so the roof can come off for easy full cleaning and airing out, but Preditors can't get in.

 

[Judith Sharpe]

How about the house you built? Might you tell us about it. Sounds pretty neat.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How about the house you built? Might you tell us about it. Sounds pretty neat.

Alice28 hasn't been on since 2017
Welcome to BYC @Judith Sharpe