Hi I am so thrilled with our 13 ft zip tie coop!! When I am finished with a duck door I will send more photos.
Right now I opened up one triangle and put a rubber mat over the bottom strut to protect the ducks feet. Then I have the extra chicken wire temporarily tacked across it.
One thing I noticed is that this extra chicken wire acts as a helpful guide for the chickens and ducks to find the entry when I pull one end out at an angle.
At first I was guiding them with my handheld stakes around and around the dome in a hilarious frantic chase and they would completely miss the door. Placing the wire out to catch and guide them worked perfectly.
They are only in the dome during the day.
But still it would be nice to make a triangular door for the duck opening.
Question:
Do you recommend the same principle as the human door or would something else be better?
Could a predator squeeze through the the threshold in your experience?
(The duck opening is in the far right of the photo)
Thank you so much!!!
Margie Willits
Margie,
Thank you for the pictures of your duck dome. You are welcome to send as many pictures as you can.
When I raise chickens and ducks in the dome, I never let the birds out of the dome, so the standard "flap" door with the small part of the triangle at the bottom worked well, because they would miss the exit and could not get out, even if the door was open.
But if you need to let the ducks out, you can build just about any kind of door with PVC pipe, as you can use the plumbing tees and other joints to build your door.
Joe Irey built a door for his chickens that you can see at the bottom of this customer review:
https://www.ziptiedomes.com/customers/joeirey.htm
I thought Joe's door was really well made.
Jamie Meredith made tunnels for his chickens - I don't know if that would help, but it is interesting:
https://www.ziptiedomes.com/customers/jamiemeredith.htm
If you come up with a good door design, be sure to send us a picture - as it would help other people to use your design.
I hope this helps. Thanks for being our customer.
John Hurt
CEO, Zip Tie Domes
Hi John! Thank you for the ideas on a duck door. I took Joe Ireys’ example but used pvc and 1/2 inch wire mesh instead of plywood.
The mesh overlaps on the sides and bottom. I folded it to strengthen the edges. We have so much rain up here in Washington that plywood would not last long.
The door swings nicely. I use the fiberglass pole to thread through zip ties And push it into the ground. I’m still working on the chicken wire. Then I will send some better pictures. Thank you!!!
Margie Willits
