Temps dropping soon and inadequate "coop"

[Weeg]

This week/the next couple days, the temperature is supposed to drop down down between 18-8 degree's (fahrenheit) degrees pretty quickly. 5 degree's on Monday. Its been in the low 30's, maybe dropping to the high 20's at night, but the ducks haven't had anything this cold for a while. My "coop", is a 6x6 outdoor chainlink dog run, wrapped in 3 different types of wire, in at least two layers. It works to keep predators out and is great in the summer, but you can probably already imagine my problem. Theres no walls. Not sure if its supposed to get windy or not, but I'm definitely concerned.
It also gets pretty wet on one side, though the far right hand corner stays pretty dry. The roofing on top doesn't keep all of the water out since some of it is holey or inadequate length. We built this coop long before I joined BYC or new hardly anything about proper day duck housing, so we did our best at the time.
Either way, I currently have a good layer of semi wet chopped straw. Its starting to get muddy on the drippy side because of duck poop, and excess water, I put it in 3 days ago. One of the corners is still dry and clean. So far, my plan is to wait for the wet bedding to freeze, then empty a thick layer, (entire bag) of Flock Fresh on top. Its supposed to stay cold from Saturday night until Tuesday night with snow fall. I'm not seeing anything about wind, but is a layer of Flock Fresh going to be enough? I do have tarps I can put up around the coop, if necessary, would that do the trick?
Thanks for your help everyone! I have a grand plan for a beautiful duck run and coop ready to go, the hardest part is finding time to do it. Hopefully by next Spring I'll have it done, but for now I'll have to work with what I've got. Thanks again for your suggestions!

 

[STACEYH]

I don't know how many you have but it sounds like you need to get them in a garage or basement,

 

[Weeg]

I don't know how many you have but it sounds like you need to get them in a garage or basement,

Forgot to include that information. I have 10 ducks. 2 Mallards but all are larger breeds. 3 of which are drakes whom I separate in the summer.
We do have a large garage, but now good way to house them in there for 3 days. I don't even have enough dog crates, and that would be to small a space anyway.
Thanks for the help.

Ps. Its supposed to be dry since it will be so cold. I'm not to concerned about the bedding getting wet at such low temperatures, so everything should stay dry.

 

[Peas4Ducks]

In my experience, I’m always WAY more stressed about cold temps than either my chickens or ducks are. I think they are almost always more cold hardy than we give them credit for. I think your plan of putting down fresh bedding is a good one. If I were you, I would probably wrap the tarp around the bottom four feet or so of the run as a windbreak, as well.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Can you put tarps over the top, or are you expecting lots of snow? I have a kennel with a welded wire roof that's supported by vertical 4x4s and covered in tarps. We get a little bit of snow, and our set up holds fine. You might also be able to create wind breaks using cheap shower curtain liners.

How many birds we talking? You might be able to get a dog house (add ventilation, of course) or something similar off craigslist or even use pallets of hay bales to create somewhere for them to go.

Just some thoughts. May not even be good ideas. I'd just try to come up with something to keep them dry and out of drafts.

 

[STACEYH]

They should be okay if you can keep them dry and the wind off them. I was/am concerned about the wettness.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I was typing when I saw your update about how many ducks you're talking about. My ducks looooove the cold weather. If part of it us dry, you're probably fine. If you're worried about wind, use the tarp for a wind break.

I knew you had ducks, but for some reason, I pictured chickens! Lol

And it's in the duck forum.

I need sleep.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Go to craig's list free section and pic up some big cubboards and put tarp on the top. at night you may have to round up your ducks. But at least you will have something.

 

[Weeg]

Can you put tarps over the top, or are you expecting lots of snow? I have a kennel with a welded wire roof that's supported by vertical 4x4s and covered in tarps. We get a little bit of snow, and our set up holds fine. You might also be able to create wind breaks using cheap shower curtain liners.

How many birds we talking? You might be able to get a dog house (add ventilation, of course) or something similar off craigslist or even use pallets of hay bales to create somewhere for them to go.

Just some thoughts. May not even be good ideas. I'd just try to come up with something to keep them dry and out of drafts.

I think the forecast said 2-4", maybe 3-5" depending on the day. We do have more roofing That I could probably throw up there, but the most affective thing to do would be to take all of it down and replace it with seamless, correctly fitting chunks of roofing snapped together. I was hoping I would get to start working on my new coop before I had to do that though.
I have 10 ducks 8 of which are large breeds, the other two are Mallard females. I have been looking on Craigslist and Marketplace for something of the sort. Shed, dog house, kids playhouse, chicken coop. Everything is either real expensive, or to small. I did find one that looked decent, but the seller never messaged me back.
I like the hay bale idea, straw bales would probably be a better bet, but thats definitely a good suggestion. We made our feed store run yesterday sadly, so I wish I would have thought of that before hand. Maybe we'll get a chance to pick some up Christmas day on the way to family's house. I'll keep that in mind for sure.
Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Weeg]

I was typing when I saw your update about how many ducks you're talking about. My ducks looooove the cold weather. If part of it us dry, you're probably fine. If you're worried about wind, use the tarp for a wind break.

I knew you had ducks, but for some reason, I pictured chickens! Lol

And it's in the duck forum.

I need sleep.

In my experience, I’m always WAY more stressed about cold temps than either my chickens or ducks are. I think they are almost always more cold hardy than we give them credit for. I think your plan of putting down fresh bedding is a good one. If I were you, I would probably wrap the tarp around the bottom four feet or so of the run as a windbreak, as well.

Same haha! Were always so concerned about them, we don't fully realize that they have a full blanket of feathers to keep them warm. I'm just hoping nothing gets to wet, and as long as theres no wind I'm to to concerned.
These are all great ideas encase I need them. The forecast says no wind, but thats still a few days out, so it could easily change.
Thanks Aunt Angus, I'll do some tarps around at least the bottom of the coop, then a thick layer of straw. Hopefully the weather is just cold and dry, that would be ideal.
Thanks everyone!