Chickens and ducks don't belong in the house, or the garage. We brought our chicks and ducklings home on March 3rd when it was still very cold outside. At first we kept them in a 20 gallon fish tank in my office with a heat lamp. They were so cute and it was fun while it lasted but they quickly grew out of the fish tank and were still too small to take outside. The next step was our dogs old crate. This I would not recommend, it was a mess and they got those pine shavings everywhere. When the weather finally warmed we took that crate to the garage. Although the mess was no longer in the house it was still a mess, just in the garage. We took them outside when we could after work and on weekends but I couldn't wait for the day when we could keep them outside for good.
We had built our coop when we lived on the farm. It was supposed to be a chicken tractor, but moving it takes two to three people because we built it out of 2x4's in an attempt to make it a sturdy structure, not thinking about how heavy it would be. But it survived a year on the farm, the trip to our new house and only needed a little bit of rewiring for our new flock in our new yard.
This past weekend we were finally able to fix it and keep them outside permanently. I added a little paint to the side to match my daughters tree house and so far so good. The only complaint is that when I let my daughter choose ducks as her project. I didn't realize that they don't like to clime, so when the chickens have gone to roost for the night we have to collect the two ducks and pick them up and carry them up to the coop. I don't know if I can do this nightly, and I read online that they will do just fine with some straw on the ground to sleep at night but I don't know about what kind of critters would come for them while I sleep. Maybe when it gets warmer at night I will give it a try, but for now I will carry them to bed.
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| Here they are enjoying a nice day outside. Bringing them in at night was a major pain. |
This past weekend we were finally able to fix it and keep them outside permanently. I added a little paint to the side to match my daughters tree house and so far so good. The only complaint is that when I let my daughter choose ducks as her project. I didn't realize that they don't like to clime, so when the chickens have gone to roost for the night we have to collect the two ducks and pick them up and carry them up to the coop. I don't know if I can do this nightly, and I read online that they will do just fine with some straw on the ground to sleep at night but I don't know about what kind of critters would come for them while I sleep. Maybe when it gets warmer at night I will give it a try, but for now I will carry them to bed.
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| Lovely pink roof. The board is not permanent. lol. Just forgot to remove it for the picture |
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| These ducks are making good use out of my daughters sled. Tip of the day, in the summer use your useless plastic sled as a watering hole for your ducks. That little Bantam chicken loves her duck buddies. |
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