Duck house/coop and run

So here is the duck house/coop and run I built for my 3 ducks. I bought the house second hand online and it was quite easy to assemble. It could probably fit 6 ducks as it’s very spacious. The run is actually a dog cage I bought from farmfowl.com, it is 3m long, 1.5m wide and 1.5m tall. The covered roof allows for shade from the sun. It has a ‘smart lock’ on the gate that animals such as raccoons can’t open.

Where I live, there are lots of foxes, so my main goal was to make it fox-proof. I began by digging a kind of trench to surround the coop and filled it with heavy bricks. The purpose of this is to make an underground wall that a digging fox couldn’t burrow through.

I covered this back over in soil so they were hidden underground. Then I assembled the coop and run and put them in place.

My next digging proof technique was to lay down chicken wire on the surrounding ground so that foxes couldn’t get under the run and into it. I also put an extra layer of chicken wire on the walls of the run to make the holes smaller so no small animals could get in or even reach their paws in. I connected the chicken wire to the run using cable ties. I held the chicken wire down on the ground with heavy bricks which I turned into planter boxes (for aesthetics).

When this was done, the whole thing was pretty much finished but I later added some extra components.

As you can see in the very first picture, I bought some roll out grass to lay down inside the run. This helped to keep the ducks cleaner and also gave them something to snack on. I also put a second hand sandpit in which was used as a pool. The bricks inside and outside the pool act as steps for them to get in and out.
Finally, I put some flower pots and stones in for decoration, but also as another snack for them to eat.


The whole process took about 4-5 days and 4 people (although I’m sure it could’ve been done with 2 people). Overall I’m very happy with how everything turned out, I have no regrets or changes I would’ve made. The total costs came to about €450 but it would’ve been more expensive if I didn’t use second hand items too.

Tips/what I learnt:
1. If you make this design for your ducks, make sure you situate the run close enough that your hosepipe can reach to refill the pool.

2. Don’t put a pool in the run unless your ducks are 4 weeks or older. They can drown when unsupervised.

3. Be aware that any plants you leave inside the run will be destroyed, my plants were fully eaten in 1 day.

4. Try to use second hand items where possible.