Lakewood Office Space

Urban farmers: Crystal and Josh McKibben

Coop name: Coop John B.

Cast of characters: Party, Bill, Meatloaf, Lizard and Wood

Security level: Teched-out

The McKibben coop isn’t for chickens. It’s for ducks.

This year, it will be the first duck coop ever on the tour because Crystal wants to talk with neighbors about raising domestic ducks.

Crystal says she wanted ducks because they’re “much cuter than chickens.”

“I mean, they splash in the water!” Crystal says. “But I’m the person I want to warn against.”

Like many chicken owners, Crystal has had to learn the hard way how to protect her ducks from the neighborhood riffraff.

Not long after the McKibbens adopted ducks, a bobcat began periodically paying visits to their backyard, but it has never been able to get inside the coop.

Unfortunately, the bobcat isn’t the only unwanted visitor. Earlier this year, the McKibbens’ duck Richard — a female Indian runner duck whom we featured in last year’s pet issue — was killed by a hawk.

“I felt like I was responsible for her survival,” Crystal says. “I feel like I let her down. As a poultry owner, I was told I should expect to lose half of my flock, no matter what. It was a statistic I knew going into it, but when it became a reality, that was hard.”

At the time the McKibbens had only two ducks, but when Richard’s mate, Party, lost his friend, he became lonely. So the McKibbens allowed some of Richard’s eggs to hatch, and also found two full-grown female ducks to even out the male-female ratio.

They also amped up the fortification to protect against future invasion.

They have a pen made with wooden siding and a wire roof for overhead protection. Inside the pen are two plastic tubs where the ducks can splash around.

Beside the pen, the duck coop is a large domed structure covered in hardware cloth. Inside the coop is a cozy wooden nesting box.

The McKibbens also set up a video camera that live-streams video footage online, so the McKibbens can check it anytime.

As an unexpected yet pleasant surprise, the McKibbens have found they’re not the only ones who enjoy watching the ducks’ shenanigans.

“People from all over the world log in to see, What are the ducks doing?” McKibben says. “It’s fun.”