Dec 30, 2015

Recap of Duck House I

Recap of Duck House I
I have copied a very brief description of our first duck house for a fellow duck keeper, and thought readers here may be interested:

Main living area is 4' high, 4' wide, 8' long. Dutch door makes for easy access for people (one can open the top door and keep the ducks easily inside. There is a sliding door on the right side into the Veranda, a porch covered top bottom and sides with half inch metal hardware cloth.

There is a drop ceiling with 3 sliding polycarbonate panels to control ventilation and keep more warm air in, in winter. The roof is polycarbonate.

The shelter is double-walled, filled with a mix of vermiculite and perlite. Those have decent R value for insulation and do not mold.

The floor is vinyl sheet flooring, that goes several inches up the sides, and is attached at the edge with 1"x3" furring strips to keep poop and dust from getting under the edge of the sheeting. The flooring makes the rarely needed mop-out a snap.

I used a foot and a half of shavings as a base for the bedding, and topped it with a little straw - the bedding was spot-picked daily, and stirred lightly. A bucket of peat moss was stirred into the shavings to prevent ammonia formation.

Oh, and it easily accommodated eleven Runner ducks.