A shared Coop for the ducks and 'dottes

The front door to the coop as it was on April 2015

 

The old aviary is a fantastic building.
(from memory) 8 metres long by just over 3 metres wide, constructed of brick and wood with a concrete floor, good quality hardware cloth covered windows (and part of the roof) let in plenty of light to two big separate rooms.
But there was still a lot of work to do to make this place more than just a home for spiders.

A massive grape vine, piles and piles of dirt and wasp nests plus once clear plastic polythene were removed from the roof and replaced with corrugated clear roofing where needed (thanks for helping T!) The wire netting obviously did nothing to keep out the rain so thick clear polycarbonate panels were put into each gap.
Onwards, to the inside!

Interior small room early April 2015

 

This room I designated the storage/ possible hospital/ time out room, or if really needed maybe a separate duck room. You can still see a tiny nesting box (spider house) and the little white thing on the ceiling was a tiny feeder. Front and centre you have (most of) a work bench.

It masterfully hides a pretty degraded wall, unfortunately time and the weather haven't been kind to some of the wood inside, as you can see inside the bigger room

 

Interior Big back room

 

Yep that's pretty green!

There is an old roost hanging from the roof and one of two huge old nesting boxes (spider houses) to your right. That dark corner in the back looks pretty good for a chicken roosting area, but there's a wall that comes out at an odd angle, the riddle of how to attach roosting bars would plague me pretty much until the babies were ready to move in.

Once the plastic windows were in, roosts and spider houses removed (hey, the chickens might like the roosts, but I have no idea what kind of bugs still may lurk within) we swapped the rotten walls with signboards, not reeeeally designed for construction, but miles better than mushy wood.

 

 

The smaller room 2.0, 1 month B.C (before chickens)

 

My old greenhouse didn't make the move with us to the country, but its solar lights live on in the coop!

No, I don't plan to supplement light in winter, the birds can all do with some down time. It's just nice to have the option of lighting if I want it, it meant the aviary became my gardening workshop during the anxious time of waiting for the babies to arrive.

Also during dark very early spring nights I could plot my next move.



Bigger room 2.0, Late November
(omg look at that pile of clean shavings!)

 

The coop on the day our buddies moved in!

The nesting box I made late one night and dragged out. The ladder is made from decking timber and held up with metal brackets for easy removal. The roosting bars are held in place with smaller brackets but not attached so they can be removed for cleaning and replacement.
At first they were both level as I had heard it would stop the birds fighting over the highest spot.
After discussion with a workmate I decided on deep litter for the floor (we'll see how that goes with ducks! all good so far) wood shavings are kept in place with more brackets and decking timber.
I've managed to create a space by the entrance where water dishes can be kept on bare concrete to keep the shavings from becoming saturated during a crazed duck water fight.
What is the cardboard box for? well Frankie duck liked to sit in it with Nigella, I figured they would still enjoy it in their new home. (Nope)

28th of November, first night in the coop

 

They all loved their new house! There was so much room!

The ducks celebrated by claiming their sleeping spot right under the roost, the chickens celebrated by kicking shavings everywhere.



The place is still a work in progress,

Late March 2016

 

The Roost now has 3 levels so the chickies can get up and down easier, they all sleep on the top bar with Chuck spread out right in the middle. The ducks usually sleep in the wood shavings along the wall to the right. I'm just glad they don't usually sleep under the roosts as the chicks poop a lot at night!

The tarps to the left create a nice dark, private corner where Whitney duck digs a crater to lay her eggs, you can sort of see her plastic training egg hiding away.
I've added more decking timber to hold a higher level of wood shavings, the ducks can clamber up the brick stairs but usually choose to throw themselves over the wood ledge anywhere they please

 

 

 

I know... curtains on the nesting box? it helps make them darker, apparently laying chickies prefer a bit of privacy! hopefully the chickens will appreciate the effort and lay in the boxes.

The red plastic container is used to hold a water dish overnight. It helps keep the shavings dryer during an early morning duck water fight.

 

I was convinced that the ducks were hogging the doorway between the two interior rooms in the morning so T helped create an extra door by carving out part of the wall (which became a ramp). The birds as usual are wary of the ramp, but I have seen a few chickens brave enough to venture down. Horizontal foot holds have been screwed to the ramp, but the birds don't spend long enough inside to really worry that they aren't super excited about the new addition.

(they still aren't really using the feeder, more on that another day...)

 

 

 Sunny checks out the doorway

 

I have plans to screw hinges to more plastic windows so we can open them. It will be interesting to see how the birds handle things in their home over the coming winter months!