Double decker mobile duck coop for hilly terrain?

I’ve been sketching out plans for our duck/guard-geese coop. I have a small lightweight cart that I plan to use as a base for the coop.
I chose a rather narrow cart (it’s about 70cm x 140cm or 27”x55”), because our hilly terrain and narrow terraces don’t allow for wide carts to pass. I need something light, narrow and manoeuvrable, so unfortunately many of the existing chickshaw and portable coop design would probably not work on my terrain due to them being to wide.
I want to be able to keep at least 4 ducks and 2 geese together, but given the small size of my cart, doing one level would not be big enough to house all of them.
So I figured, what if I build the coop in two levels, doubling the available space. Perhaps making the ramp small enough that only the ducks can move to the second level while the geese stay below? That way the ducks can get some space if the geese are grumpy.

But would ducks (I’m intending on keeping Indian Runners), want to move to that second level?
And what about cleaning? I originally intended to create a mesh bottom for the coop so the poop would fall through, but with a second level on top that doesn’t seem like a bright idea.
Maybe a mesh lower lever and then bedding on the second level that I change ever so often? How much headspace should I account for the bedding? Would 3-4” suffice?

Speaking of headspace, given that Indian runners walk upright, how much headspace should I provide on each level so they don’t hit their head? Same goes for the geese (I’d be keeping Sebastopol geese).

Does a double decker Portable coop Seem like a bad idea? Please do share your insights with me!

Hiya! Interesting idea!
Couple of things I would consider...
Depending on your climate, your Ducks might get a little toasty up there. Where I live it would be way too hot and muggy up there with geese in the bottom half too. Ventilation will be important - could you make the roof a bit higher?
Also, in the current design, the ducks need to make it past the geese (in close quarters) to get to the laying boxes. Might not be a problem if the geese are nice and the ducks are brave, but could be stressful for a duck that likes to lay as much as an Indian Runner to run the laying box gauntlet every morning. So, I’d add a laying box at duck level, or at least provide some straw for then to lay in on their level.
If you don’t have your heart set on IRs, Muskoveys might be worth looking into. They roost, like a chicken, and like to be up high, so might work better with your double decker design as long as the geese have some form of protection from muskovey projectile poo lol. They are a bit different to a mallard derived duck breed though.

Or, if your heart is set on IRs, what about making the coup longer, rather than higher? So it’s no wider and can get through your paths, but has a second space (chamber?) for the ducks at ground level? Would be easier to manoeuvre On hilly terrain with a lower centre of gravity but would be harder to get around tight corners. Would allow for a bigger space with better roof height/ventilation though.

I’ll keep thinking on it!

Caitlin Mac Shim wrote:Hiya! Interesting idea!
Couple of things I would consider...
Depending on your climate, your Ducks might get a little toasty up there. Where I live it would be way too hot and muggy up there with geese in the bottom half too. Ventilation will be important - could you make the roof a bit higher?
Also, in the current design, the ducks need to make it past the geese (in close quarters) to get to the laying boxes. Might not be a problem if the geese are nice and the ducks are brave, but could be stressful for a duck that likes to lay as much as an Indian Runner to run the laying box gauntlet every morning. So, I’d add a laying box at duck level, or at least provide some straw for then to lay in on their level.
If you don’t have your heart set on IRs, Muskoveys might be worth looking into. They roost, like a chicken, and like to be up high, so might work better with your double decker design as long as the geese have some form of protection from muskovey projectile poo lol. They are a bit different to a mallard derived duck breed though.

Or, if your heart is set on IRs, what about making the coup longer, rather than higher? So it’s no wider and can get through your paths, but has a second space (chamber?) for the ducks at ground level? Would be easier to manoeuvre On hilly terrain with a lower centre of gravity but would be harder to get around tight corners. Would allow for a bigger space with better roof height/ventilation though.

I’ll keep thinking on it!

Hi Caitlin, thanks for your response. You make a couple of very valid points to consider.
As for my climate, I live in the Northern Alps. Summer can get nice and warm, but nothing too extreme. The creek that runs trough our property, which is a little valley in itself, cools down the temperature to a pleasant athmosphere. We also have a lot of tree cover, so the coop would never have to be in full sun. Nevertheless you comment on the ventilation is a good one. I will see if I can raise the roof a bit more, but right now I'm actually considering making both sides of the coop with mesh paneling, that can be closed partially or fully depending on the needs of the season.

As for your comment on the nesting boxes, that's a really good point I hadn't considered. I'll be raising both ducks and geese together from the eggs, so I'm hoping they will imprint on one another and cosider each other as family, but still. Maybe it would be an idea to build a separating wall with a hole too small for the geese to go through on the side where the ramp to the upper level is, and have the nesting boxes on that side of the coop so the geese can't get to them. Our geese only lay about 30 eggs a year, and if I'm not mistaking, they prefer a nest consisting of some hay on the ground, rather than a nesting box, so I might just give them a bit more hay to lay in in the egg-laying season? The only consequence would be that adding the hay to the bottom level would kind of defeat the purpose of the mesh bottom, and make cleaning out the hay more difficult.

I do have my heart set on IR to be honest. Might get some muscovites in the future, but those would be for meat production, while these IR would be more intended for their eggs, slug control, and just as pets because I'm so fond of ducks and the IR ducks are a treat to each.

I don't think making the coop much longer would be feasible as we have to make some sharp bends to navigate our terrain.

I too have hilly terrain. Plus, a lot of clay. So mobile carts get really heavy, especially when its been raining.

So ive been experimenting with modular chicken tractor that so fsr is working well even on the steepest terrain.

I use galvanized (I know, a bit ick) utility panels that are 5' x 20' s 4 inch grid. I use carabeeners to connect them at each end, top and bottom. I only use two panels at a time so the run ends up the shape of a spade (think playing cards). I have cut a few 2"x2"x10' with notches that help the run stay wide, and a few 2"x2"x4' to hold up food /water containers on each end. Then I drape a mesh tarp (UV tolerant) across the top and secure that to the carabeeners as well. I used some long thin sawmill castoffs for roosting about 6" off the bottom. All in, maybe 80 USD. It works for containment and the chickens seem to feel pampered and secure.

Now the gotcha. I dont move the run exactly. I build a new one adjacent and then open the end up so they can run to the new space. Then I disasemmble the prior one and store it nearby until it again becomes the new one. At 20' long, its a two person job. At 12' it would likely be manageable for one person. I added a large plant container on its side and tossed in leaves. They use it as nesting box happily.

S. Bard wrote:

Hi Caitlin, thanks for your response. You make a couple of very valid points to consider.
As for my climate, I live in the Northern Alps. Summer can get nice and warm, but nothing too extreme. The creek that runs trough our property, which is a little valley in itself, cools down the temperature to a pleasant athmosphere. We also have a lot of tree cover, so the coop would never have to be in full sun. Nevertheless you comment on the ventilation is a good one. I will see if I can raise the roof a bit more, but right now I'm actually considering making both sides of the coop with mesh paneling, that can be closed partially or fully depending on the needs of the season.

As for your comment on the nesting boxes, that's a really good point I hadn't considered. I'll be raising both ducks and geese together from the eggs, so I'm hoping they will imprint on one another and cosider each other as family, but still. Maybe it would be an idea to build a separating wall with a hole too small for the geese to go through on the side where the ramp to the upper level is, and have the nesting boxes on that side of the coop so the geese can't get to them. Our geese only lay about 30 eggs a year, and if I'm not mistaking, they prefer a nest consisting of some hay on the ground, rather than a nesting box, so I might just give them a bit more hay to lay in in the egg-laying season? The only consequence would be that adding the hay to the bottom level would kind of defeat the purpose of the mesh bottom, and make cleaning out the hay more difficult.

I do have my heart set on IR to be honest. Might get some muscovites in the future, but those would be for meat production, while these IR would be more intended for their eggs, slug control, and just as pets because I'm so fond of ducks and the IR ducks are a treat to each.

I don't think making the coop much longer would be feasible as we have to make some sharp bends to navigate our terrain.

Sounds good!
I was wondering... do you reckon the ducks definitely need the laying boxes? I mean could they just lay on some straw too? When I was a kid our ducks just lay on a nest of straw in the corner of their pen. They slept there too, and seemed not to actually poo that much in their nest (they would poo more in the pen floor space around it). This could just have been those ducks though, and might get troublesome with a lot of ducks (trampling of eggs and such).
But what I’m thinking is... if you didn’t need the nest boxes, you could give each level a place to sleep/lay on straw, and a place to hang out/poop that is more geared for poop issues? Ie a floor the poo can fall through on the bottom level, and a catcher trey for the top? Or a solid slightly sloping floor for the top?

I'll second Caitlin's comment about not needing nest boxes for the ducks. I keep four Khaki Campbells in a small, portable house. They just have a flat floor with some bedding. They all lay their eggs together in one corner each morning and they seem to poop and trample away from the eggs. Seems to work fine. As to the main question of getting the ducks to go upstairs, I've no idea if that will work. But I will say that my ducks do not always do what I want them to do.

I just wanted to give an update on this thread to let you know that in the end we've come up with a different solution, that doesn't include wheels at the base.
I've posted about it in THIS thread.