Building for Plants and Animals

This summer brings more than it's share of projects, all self-inflicted, of course

When this summer began, I had a handful of project-related goals: continue building out our vegetable gardens, add trim to the chicken coop, and replace our greenhouse. That was more than enough to keep me and my wallet busy. And yet, barely a month into summer, I’ve already grown the list before even starting it to include a coop expansion, and a new duck run, coop, and “pool.”

The first project was the easiest: expanding our raised garden beds to double their depth. I cut up some 1x6 cedar planks, built new boxes to match the 4x8 footprint of those that already existed, and then set the new ones on top of the existing ones. I used short stakes as splints I could use to screw the boxes together and then filled the expanded boxes with well-rotted compost. The taller boxes should give my plants more rich soil depth for their roots, and less bending over for me.

A second tier of cedar doubles the depth of my garden beds, making my back and my plants much, much happier.

Then I turned to the chicken coop. Ever since I build the mega coop last summer, I’ve been wanting to get back to it to add trim and make it look less, to use a technical term, “constructy.” I decided to use the same cedar lumber that I used for the garden beds, so I made my measurements and picked up a truckload at the local lumberyard. I never cease to be surprised by all much lumber I need for projects like this, and how much it ends up costing.

As I discussed this plan with my wife, she asked if while I was working on the coop, I could add an extension to it to give the girls more space and more sunlight. Access to sunlight is a primary factor in egg production. Sure, I said, So I picked up lumber for that project as well.

I figured I should extend the coop before trimming it out, so I laid down pressure-treated 4x4s and then built walls in the same fashion as the original coop. The addition — or “chicken wing,” as we’ve taken to calling it — measures 8 feet square, only slightly smaller than the original coop’s footprint.

Once the walls were up and a door added, I added stain and then hardware cloth to keep predators out and chickens in. I opened up the wall between the original coop and the wing and the chickens quickly and happily explored the extra space.

Then I made a huge mistake. I turned to my wife and said, “there’s enough room here for twice this many chickens!” As the words escaped my lips, I saw my wife tear down the driveway to the local livestock supply store.

With the chicken wing added, it was time to add the trim. Using a battery-powered circular saw, I cut the 1x6 cedar planks to length and screwed them to the coop. Several pieces needed to be ripped to a narrower width, which I did on the table saw. Except for a few funky angles, the trim went on quickly and the improvement was instant.

The coop prior to the addition and trim, with the addition being built, and with it all trimmed out.

I will admit that I have not (yet) trimmed out the entire coop. To save money, I focused only on the sides that we usually see. Maybe sometime later I’ll add trim to the other sides and really give the coop the final finishing touches.

Duck, Duck, (But, Thankfully, No Goose)

When my wife returned from the store, she not only picked up 9 more chicks, but five ducklings as well. She figured the ducks could live in the chicken coop — surely there was plenty of room in this expanded cluckmansion.

Alas, a few minutes of Google searches suggested that wasn’t such a great idea. Ducks are notoriously messy. They love and need lots of water, which they splash everywhere. They also poop as if they have chronic diarrhea, which if that prompts you ask, “why did you get ducks?” all I can answer is “fair.” Anyway, it seemed giving them their own space was the smarter way to go.

Duck coops differ from chicken coops in a few ways. For starters, chickens like to roost and they like their nesting boxes to be a few feet off the ground. Domestic ducks, on the other hand, don’t do well with steep ramps or steps, can’t fly, and need larger nesting boxes. With that knowledge in hand, I found a duck coop plan that seemed reasonable, so I trudged to the home center to pick up the necessary materials.

Construction in the shop went quickly. I hauled the new duck house to its eventual home near the chicken coop, gave it a coat of stain and a metal roof. I added outrageously overpriced white silicone sealant to the floor of the coop to waterproof it.

Then I 10 ten eight-foot-long 4x4 pressure-treated posts around the coop to create the outline of a 16-foot-by 24-foot run still to come.

Along with 9 new chicks, a handful of baby ducks spawned the construction of a duck coop and run.

With some of the leftover cedar, I added a bit of trim to the coop and made a note to add more later to help finish all of the edges and seams.

Next, I addressed the ducks’ need for water. Did I want to go with an in-ground pond or an above-ground pool? An in-ground pond would certainly look nicer, but not only would it be more difficult to do, I was worried about keeping it clean. An above-ground “pool,” on the other hand, seemed like something I could do fairly easily and would give me something I could clean pretty simply.

My plan was to build a raised deck that I could drop a small tub into. A shallow ramp would make it easy for the ducks to walk up to the tub. In the tub itself, I’d insert a drain that I’d plumb with 1-¼-inch PVC piping and a ball valve.

The above-ground pool with a duck-friendly ramp and a valve on the drain to make cleaning easy.

My thinking was that whenever I wanted to drain the tub, I would open the valve and let the water run out into an existing drainage ditch above a patch of wildflowers. (The “nutritious” water should make the flowers very happy.) Based on what I’ve read about ducks, I might need to do this quite often.

I bought some pressure-treated five-quarter decking and put the assembly together within a couple of hours. Once I dig a trench to bury the PVC piping and build the run’s walls, it will be ready for use.

Still To Come

By the first of August, the ducks will need to move into their new home. That’s now my deadline for building the fenced-in run that will surround the pool and coop and keep the quackers safe. I also plan on installing a new yard hydrant near the coops to make cleaning and refilling water containers and the pond easier. Once those are done, I can finally turn my attention to building a new greenhouse, because apparently anything worth doing is worth doing twice.