How to build a duck house at home with your own hands, dimensions and drawings

To build a duckling house with your own hands, you need to develop a detailed structure plan taking into account the planned livestock, decide on the materials and the progress of work. In order for ducklings to grow and develop normally, they need an appropriate environment where it is warm, clean and light. The buildings can be of a temporary type or a main one, made more permanently, from reliable building materials.

Requirements for a duckling house

Even such an ordinary room for keeping poultry requires an integrated approach, where everything needs to be thought through and prepared. It is recommended to build a house for ducklings on a foundation; if for some reason this is not possible, then it is necessary to correctly select a place for its construction.

It is optimal to build summer and winter shelters on a hill. So that both rainwater and snow during the thaw period do not form puddles under it and do not spread dirt. In addition, with this arrangement, there will be no dampness or mold in the room for livestock, which will have a detrimental effect on its health.

Advice! To prevent rodents from entering the nesting house, a mixture of clay and broken glass should be laid around the perimeter of the area, after diluting it with water.

Types of structures

There are only two varieties of ducklings. These are summer (temporary) structures and winter ones, which are an insulated version of the poultry house.

Temporary

Such buildings require keeping ducks only for one season or if it is not possible to build a permanent house. The enclosure is made of mesh, which makes transportation easier if necessary. It is also good to provide a canopy so that the ducks can hide from the rain and sun. Such a simple pen effectively protects poultry from rodents and predators. If the number of individuals is small, then a house is built on the territory of the enclosure.

Wooden

If you plan to use the duck house for a year, then you need to make it as a full-fledged home for the bird. An all-season room must be reliable, well heated and dry. Most often, a poultry house is constructed from various bars and boards. This is an environmentally friendly structure, warm, and relatively inexpensive. The main thing is to pre-treat the wood with antiseptic and protective agents.

A wooden nesting box turns out to be warm and does not take much effort and time. You can make it in just a few days. The process of wall insulation is carried out at the stage of its construction.

Made of brick or aerated concrete

Unlike a wooden one, a brick/aerated concrete roofing shed is much more expensive in terms of financial investment. In addition, when working with these building materials, certain skills are required. Among the advantages of such a building it is worth noting:

• long service life;
• strength.

The disadvantages of a brick duck house include:

• cold walls;
• the need for additional insulation of the barn.

It is generally problematic to warm up an aerated concrete nesting box in winter; the heat practically does not stay in it.

Polycarbonate

A duckling made from polycarbonate sheets is more relevant for regions with relatively warm winters. The design is obtained in the form of a greenhouse. It retains heat for a long time, there are no drafts and it is light enough throughout the day.

Drawings and dimensions

To achieve high efficiency when keeping ducks, indo-ducks, mulards and any other breed, it is necessary to build a barn taking into account 1 sq. m per bird. But there are situations when the owner does not have the opportunity to provide living creatures with so much free space, and for 1 sq. m there are 2-3 individuals.

It is recommended to indicate all dimensions of the duck house in the drawing. For example, in a barn for 10-11 birds, the length of the walls will be 5 m, and the width of the room will be 3.75 m. Here it is imperative to provide a vestibule, which will reduce heat loss in the room. Thanks to it, a microclimate that is comfortable for domestic animals is maintained inside the poultry house. If desired, it can be expanded to prepare space for storing feed and equipment.

To walk ducks you will need an aviary. It is recommended to combine these two buildings with a common roof. It’s not difficult to build a duck-house at your dacha with your own hands if you calculate and plan everything in advance. It can be made from scrap materials available on the farm.

Tools and materials

In most cases, the duck house is built from OSB boards, plywood sheets, edged timber and boards. To build a house you need:

• cement M-300 (4 bags);
• 3 mm wire;
• metal fittings (20 m, diameter 12-16 mm);
• timber (100×200 mm)/board (22×200 mm);
• edged timber (50×50 mm);
• boards (10 pieces, 6 m each);
• timber (20×20 mm, length up to 20 m);
• for tying a wooden grillage;
• timber (20×20 mm, length 4 m);
• edged board for cladding (22x100x6000 mm, 18 pieces);
• OSB boards (2440×1220 mm, thickness 6.3-8 mm);
• board (20×100 mm, length up to 40 m);
• timber (50×50 mm, length 25 m);
• roofing material;
• mineral wool (thickness – 10 cm)/extruded polystyrene foam (thickness – 5 cm);
• pipes (length – up to 22 m, 40×40 mm);
• chain-link mesh (length – 12 m);
• polyurethane foam (2-3 cylinders);
• roofing felt;
• self-tapping screws (length – 50 mm);
• corners (50x50x35 mm).

The tools to successfully build a duck barn include:

• electric drill;
• jigsaw;
• plane;
• screwdriver;
• concrete mixer;
• pegs;
• shovel;
• saw/hacksaw;
• level (2 m);
• rope;
• container;
• square;
• plumb line with cord;
• fasteners.

Making a duckling house with your own hands

Before installation, you should not only carefully consider the project, but also decide on a suitable location for the poultry house. Prepare the type and quantity of building materials according to the plan.

Selecting a location

The area for the ducklings should be chosen as safe as possible for domestic animals. The walking area should be surrounded by a fence or thick hedge. It is better to plan the shed away from a residential building or yard. Of the materials, preference should be given to natural wood, the thickness of which is at least 19 mm.

Foundation

To build a quality shed, you need to mark the foundation using pegs and rope. The process looks like this:

• Remove a layer of top soil, 200 mm is enough.

• Dig holes at a distance of 75 cm from each other. There are 10 of them in total, with a diameter of 300-400 mm and a depth of 100 cm.

• Place sand in each hole, layer thickness - 10 cm, and compact. For the manufacture of formwork, pipes or roofing felt rolled into a tube are used. 4 rods are installed in each hole and secured with wire. The height of the pipe above the ground level is 200 mm, the height of the rods from the formwork is more than 250 mm. The voids in the pits are filled with sand and compacted.

• Fill the pipes with concrete.

• Cover to prevent concrete from cracking. If work is carried out on hot days, then water it. The next stage of construction of the duck house takes place a couple of weeks after pouring the concrete solution.

Walls

Breeding ducklings at home requires the creation of optimal conditions for their development. The best option for building walls is to use wood or brick.

First, a frame is built according to the plan, and then covered with boards. From the outside, the gaps are treated with polyurethane foam. It is good to use tow inside.

Roof

Most often, a poultry house is made with a pitched roof. It is also thermally insulated and all gaps are closed.

The main thing is that the duck house should be warm, dry, and have good air circulation.

Arrangement

A properly equipped duck coop is the key to a comfortable existence for poultry. Everything is important here: the feeding area and the rest areas.

Feeders

You can also furnish your barn with store-bought feeders. Or you can make them from boards or sewer pipes. It is safer to install containers closer to the wall; fill them only 1/3 with food.

Drinking bowls

One duck consumes up to 600 ml of water per day. Place drinking bowls at a height of 15-20 cm from the floor. You can also buy containers or make them yourself.

Nests

For nests, it is better to choose a place along the walls, opposite the feeding area. They are made from wooden boxes or bought ready-made, their sizes are 60x60 cm, 70x70 cm. For 10 individuals there are only 5-6 nests. Straw and sawdust are suitable for bedding.

Features of building a joint chicken coop and duck house

In a “dormitory” you need to take care of effective ventilation and thermal insulation. For chickens, poles are installed at a height, and for ducks on the ground, straw nests are installed. Elevated places are chosen for roosting. The feeding area may be shared.

Building a duck shelter is not a difficult task if everything is calculated correctly. Wood should be used as materials; it is better to build a barn on a hill. With the right approach, you can make a poultry house for both ducks and chickens.