I have a ramp going into my duck house they don't have any problems with it or the small set of steps going into the goose house either. just not a steep incline.
I use pine shaving for my house because it absorbs the moisture better. I even use deep litter and just scoop out the nasties everyday.
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If your closing them up tight at night and hopefully you are because of preds, yes it needs much ventilation. where are you located? in the winter the windows in my coops never close I have old windows picked up at salvage places[ habitat for humanity resale for one] and the top windows stay open in the winter for ventilation, ammonia build up is a killer for poultry including water fowl. so if you don't want to buy windows which I paid top price of 3,00 a piece then just cut windows in the top of the walls and cover with hardware cloth which is what my windows are covered in because window screens will not keep out preds. but all along the top of your wall where your pool is cut one long window or 3 smaller ones then do the same on the other side also for cross ventilation. and maybe a window cut into the door and back too the more the better and if you keep them up above their heads they won't get the draft coming in on them in the winter. and remember they are wearing down under them feathers and can take very cold weather. so no need to worry about them being cold if there are windows open. Maybe you can ask around and someone you know might have a piece of metal roofing laying around that would work for the top. like that color purple very nice.Here's our home made duck house.
The last picture is their new swimming pool set up, raised so that we could install a drain and clean it more easily.
The pen is also twice the size now (and the house painted purple
I had a tarp on the roof because it was leaking pretty bad. The bedding is a mix of wood shavings and hay.
Anyone has comments on improvement we may need?
I was wondering if we needed more ventilation. I'm just worried about it getting too cold int he winter.
Also, our girls should be starting to lay eggs in a month or two. Should we set up the inside in a particular way? Give them some privacy or something? or will they figure out by themselves.
Thanks for the input
Give them plenty of bedding and they will take care of the rest. you might want to make a lil partitioned are inside their house over by the far wall I used a piece of ply wood in my gooses house since it was all open inside it only comes up half way on the wall but she goes behind it and sleeps so next year she'll use it as her nest. My ducks sleep in stalls since I have 3 adult drakes that would never sleep together with causing havoc, your ducks will most likely lay in the same nest. I have the night guards on all my building and a game camera and have seen raccoons walk right up the ramp of my ducklings house with the night guard right there flashing so yes you dif want to make their house as secure as you can They need to be locked up tight at night. a metal roof with over hang would help just keep the windows on the side where the rain comes from the most, here it is usually from the west, up high windows cut in at say 12X12" would work and probably if up high wouldn't get much rain inside. My largest windows face south I like the open air coop idea lots of ventilation. If interested go to search at top of page and type in open air coops, lost of ideas. and here is a link to ventilation you might enjoy. sorry forgot the link... https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coopWe're in upstate NY (Binghamton).
Right now, we locked them in the shed at night, the "door" only being the wire fence you can see in the first picture. Do you think we build a real door to make it safer?
We also have just installed Nite Guard lights. I don't know how efficient they are, but they seemed like a good idea.
I will open some windows on the side. I'll need to find a way to keep most of the rain out, finding a piece of roof may work if it's big enough to go over the sides.
Thanks for the advice
Any tips on how to make the girls comfortable for when they are ready to lay eggs?
