Top 6 Factors You Need to Consider While Buying a Duck Coop for Sale
Are you a backyard poultry farmer who is searching “ duck coop for sale “? The numerous options you get online and offline may confuse you. Here is a guide to help you make the right decision.
If you’re buying a custom-build abode for your ducks, should you with a duck coop with a pool? What’s the arrangement for moisture control? What is the feature to deal with duck poop?
So many considerations you need to fathom before buying the best duck coop for your urban poultry farm. Here are a few of them:
1.Easy-to-clean Duck Coop
Ducks aren’t exactly the cleanest of creatures. They enjoy getting wet, and they like defecating whenever they have the chance. If there is no proper poop management, your duck coop will become a soggy sewer pit in no time.
Poop-filled coops not only stink and look horrible, but they also serve as a breeding ground for pathogens that may cause a variety of diseases to the flock.
Ensure that the duck coop for sale must be tall enough for you to enter and clean. Don’t let the poop get piled up inside the duck home; clean it frequently. Using a pitchfork makes an otherwise unpleasant activity completely manageable.
If you cannot have a walk-in duck coop, buy one with an easily lifetable roof so that you can clean it from the top.
You can ask the duck coop seller to customize/restructure the design and build a clean-out door at the back. Lock your latches properly to keep the predators out.
2. Duck Coop with Proper Ventilation
Ducks are water birds. They are naturally moist due to their continual dabbling and paddling. Their coop requires sufficient ventilation to prevent moisture from stagnating and producing fungal spores, mould, and other pathogens.
To avoid trouble-causing dampening, ask the duck coop builders for adequate ventilation towards the top of the coop and anywhere else on the side, wherever you feel necessary.
3. Duck Coop with Comfortable Bedding
Ducks aren’t very picky birds. They are pleased with good food, some form of water, and a coops with ample ventilation. So, they deserve restful nights with comfortable bedding. You can use either shaving or straw for the resting place of ducks.
But remember, never leave the bedding damp. As mentioned earlier, it will become a breeding ground for germs that can cause respiratory and skin diseases for the ducks.
4. Near-Ground & Wide Entrance
The ducks’ coop entry is a vital feature to consider while buying a duck coop with a pool. You must have seen how graceful they are while swimming. But on land, it is a different story.
Ducks don’t walk in a row. They are clumsy on land due to their short legs. Therefore, buy duck enclosures with wide enough entering space so that ducks can have room to enter or exit without bumping into the ducks coming from the opposite direction.
5. Raccoon Proof Your Duck Coop
Among all the predators, raccoons are the biggest threat to your flock. They are sharp as a tack, and simply latching the door cannot stop them from entering the coop. Fox, coyotes, snakes, hawks, eagles, falcons, among others, are some of the other predators against whom your ducks need protection.
Therefore, buy predator-proof duck coops. Here are some of the ways to protect the flock from various predators
- Fox and Coyote are the critters who can dig and enter the duck abode. Therefore, buy a duck coop with solid wood, cement, or vinyl flooring.
- Purchase duck houses that have proper ventilation but with hardware cloth over the windows. This will keep the birds of prey out.
- Use complex latches that need more than one step to unlock.
6. Buy Duck Coop with Pool
Ducks love to swim. They usually have ponds constructed in the rural poultry farms. However, backyard farmers can buy them a small pool with the coop. That will make them happy.
To keep the pool clean, buy a duck coop with a pool that has a bio-filter in it. A more natural way to make a duck pool easy to clean is to spread barley straw before filling up water.
Conclusion
I hope this write-up will help you buy the best duck cool for your backyard farm. To summarize, the must-have features for a duck house are proper ventilation, predator-proofing, easy-to-clean, wide entrance, and comfortable bedding.
Originally published at http://roostandroot.wordpress.com on April 6, 2022.
