My Last Minute Peeper Palace

In May of 2018 I took a trip to Rural King with my family. Little did I know this trip would bring so much joy to my life. Every time I go here I always find myself at the brooders full of baby chicks. This time, the little peeps sounded different. Upon looking in I found the cutest little mallard ducklings and I knew I had to get some. I decided to get two.

I have never had ducklings before, never planned on getting ducklings, and had no idea what I was doing. Though, we recently got chickens for the first time and I planned on putting these ducklings in with our chickens. Well..that didn’t work out. Our duckings and chickens didn’t get along so I quickly had to put together a coop. At 6 weeks old, I knew I had to get them out of my bedroom and into an outdoor coop, so I bought a small outdoor coop as their temporary home.
I then immediately began searching for the perfect coop. I found a used chicken coop online and snatched it up. It needed some fixing up, so we immediately got to work. All it took was some thick plywood, a few 2x4s, and a whole lotta love.
We disposed of all of the rotting wood and replaced the whole coop with new. We also made a ramp using some spare wood we had laying around. We then added a cheap outdoor dog kennel to use as a run that I also found online and- TA DA! A duck coop and run complete within a few weeks. Here’s a picture of the chickens checking out their new neighbors.
Their coop may not be as pretty or luxurious as everyone else’s, but I’m posting this to show that it doesn’t always have to be! My ducks love their “palace”, are warm and cozy, and have a coop that gets the job done. Did you decide to get poultry at the last minute and need a coop? Me too! Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be a mansion or gorgeous, just a coop to get the job done. Also, the internet can be your best friend. Check out Facebook garage sale sites, they’ve been my best friend during this process. I’ve also decided to expand this summer and will be doubling the size of their run, I will keep everyone updated!