Destruction and Genesis

[cayugaducklady]

I honestly have no idea if it will deter predators from entering. I have a similar set of predator birds in our area. We placed regular ole livestock fence wire on top of our kennel and affixed at it at the sides. We didn't use hard ware cloth because we also get a fair bit of snow and didn't want the snow to crumple the wire.

You may need to lay support for the wires since it looks like you have some longer runs than we do.

Maybe lay down wire and put the pretty light arrangement on top?

In my movable forage pens I use aviary netting. It is lightweight but i think it works because it looks like a solid boundary to our high soaring predators. I would never trust it on a permanent pen though. If the rapid I "affectionately" call "big bird" wanted to challenge it he/she could easily win. I have no idea what it is but i swear it looks big enough (even at distance) to haul off a short middle aged peson!

 

[Tevyes Dad]

OK, this last summer I finished the secure area including all phases but 1.

Here is the finished area from the yard:

and from the porch:

The hula-hoop at the peak is tied to both the net and the lights so the lights don't get tangled up when the wind blows. The net is a high strength high spring net that is normally used for soccer goals and I expect it to last a while. I can't see and bird weighing over a pound being comfortable perching on it because of the bounce and so that larger birds such as owls don't sit on the top of the kennel and tear the net strand by strand, I put a dissuader over the top of the kennel. 80 linear feet of spikes were very expensive no matter what and would be a pain to maintain especially with the possibility of having to replace the net. so I came up with this:

I mounted an angle iron to each corner of the kennel and using a small bungie on each end, I strung steel wire around 6" above the kennel. It is so springy that even the little birds won't perch on it, and a big bird wouldn't want to be sitting on the top of the kennel getting smacked in the chest/face with it.

I ran 3 lines of electric fence around the whole kennel. The fence is switched by a wi-fi outlet switch that has a built in timer but can be switched manually from an app on our phones. I put a light fixture on the house with a red LED bulb in it. It draws very little power and is bright enough to see during the day but not too bright at night. It is mounted in such a way that I can see it from the yard...

...or the porch. Also it can be checked by the security cams. Now I realize that the light only indicates the function of the outlet not the fence itself, so every weekend, I hook a tester up to the fence and turn it on to make sure that the energizer is still functioning and the voltage/ground situation hasn't changed.

The wires are suspended on t-posts that are fastened to the cage for stability and they go right up to the house on both sides, but are insulated so that the plates they are fastened to on the inside of the house never see a charge.

The back side of the kennel was spaced so that I can maintain the grass behind it and the cows on the other side of the fence can't mess with the electric wire. I inspect the entire perimeter for evidence of digging / damage at least weekly. The small gate is just to keep the ducks from going back there.

Here is a shot of Kaine's new jail. Since it is inside the secure area, he no longer needs to be herded in the carrier at night and he can use his house or not. He is not currently in the jail, and all of last summer/fall until he calmed down he never used the house, but if it gets too windy for him, the house is there. The fence is a wonderful plastic modular fence that we bought two 8 panel sets. Normally you make a ring of some type and it is stable on its own, but since we were running a long straight line, we drove rebar into the ground approximately every other hinge point. The fence is a little wobbly, but the secure area is make to fend of larger animals. This fence is only to keep Kaine from getting out or the other ducks from getting in. And I am sure it will do that for years. Also, we always let Kaine in/out through the door in the fence so he doesn't get the idea of flying over it.

Here is his food and drink.

And on the other end we made a spot for his own private kiddie pool (Just because he's in jail doesn't mean he doesn't get spoiled). The little triangle holds the pump, the extension cord and the hose needed to maintain it. It also holds his drinker when he isn't in jail.

When he doesn't need the jail (like now), we just take the pieces out and put them inside a ring that goes around the center pole. I also made some lengths of 2" PVC with caps on them to put over the rebar when the fence isn't up so they are easier to see and if we were to fall on one, it wouldn't stick us in the ribs. This way all the ducks can use all the space in the kennel. Also we turn the opening of the house into the hardware cloth so critters can't get in it, but we just need to toss some straw/bedding in and rotate it when we need it again.

One final detail. The hardware cloth around the entire kennel is a single piece and it is sunk a foot in the ground. This means that there is a cut edge that has to be attached at each doorway. Since ducks have such delicate feet, my answer here was to get the bump guard you can get at an automotive store to keep you from chipping the edge of your door, and put in on the cut edge then wrap the entire thing with the steel wire used for the electric fence. It runs through the the hardware cloth about 2 holes back, then goes over the edge holding the trim securely on the hardware cloth and the base of the kennel.

Here is their storage area. Each chest holds 8, 5 gallon buckets. The left one is overflow and the right one contains one bucket each of grit, oyster shell, cracked corn, and worms, and 4 buckets of food. It is impossible to open either chest without having the entire flock show up. Even if they are sleeping on the other side of the yard.

Next to that we have three drinkers. They are three large dog bowls with sprinkler access housings in them. The housings keep them from swimming in them. Next to that is the greatest idea ever! A sink so we can dump out the bowls and it has a faucet fed by a water hose. The water hose was real cheap and ended up with several holes in it. So we ended up dragging the normal hose with a sprayer on it in through the door. (This was going to be winter mode anyway.) I am not sure if we will re-run the faucet in the spring or not because dragging the hose actually works quite well. Note the drain goes through 2 inch PVC and 2-90* elbows (to create the required angle going through the fence across the back space and into the backyard/swamp area. THERE IS NO TRAP. Traps are to keep swamp gas from your septic tank out of your house. First there is no tank therefore no swamp gas. Second the basin is already outside. Third a trap would freeze and break in the winter. The idea here is to flow the water as fast as possible so that it doesn't freeze in the pipe. If snow and/or buildup causes it to freeze significantly in the winter, we are hoping a pot of boiling water will fix that.

Then past all of that is their primary feeding station. They have their food/oyster shell available there all the time. Their secondary is another feeder in Kaine's jail area. It is secondary because they lose it if Kaine has to go back to jail.

Kaine stayed in the new jail for about a month after this was completed and nobody got to him so we left the door open and the ducks have the choice to stay outside, or go in there house. Most of the summer/fall, they stayed outside. For the last month they have been going in the house. This weekend, I will be closing the hole above their door and will put the heat lamp back in the house (it only turns on below 10* and I put it on the far side of the house so they can choose how much to use it) so they will be ready for the real cold to set in.

 

[Jacob Duckman]

love the cozy setup. i've got some serious backyard envy here

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Thanks, we put a lot of work in to make our yard look unkempt.

 

[drumstick diva]

Just popped in to check this out - one thing I am most certain of - YOU really love your ducks.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Just popped in to check this out - one thing I am most certain of - YOU really love your ducks.

Although it is true, we do love our ducks, a lot of this effort was for the selfish reason that we could grab some time for ourselves (while not compromising their safety). For example, in the summer, if we wanted to leave to go someplace at noon and come back the next day at noon, we would need a sitter to make sure the ducks got in at night and got out in the morning. No way we could lock them in their house the whole time. We can however lock them in the secure area for say up to 48 hours if we make sure all their waterers are full and their feeders are full. Not very often, but it is nice to have that capability without putting them on the raccoon's menu.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Another advantage to this setup is that Yvonne gets home from work well after dark this time of year. Previous years she needed the "duck of the day" program to see the ducks at all during the 2 months that night falls much too early. Now when it isn't too cold, we can visit with the ducks after work inside the secure area. They don't mind if we bring treats

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Tevyes Dad I don't know how I missed all of this till now but golly what an awesome set up.. I love all the hard work you put into it to keep everyone safe and be able to leave overnight and feel good knowing they are okay. You did a great job making your yard look unkept.

My question is when are you coming here to do that for me?

 

[Tevyes Dad]

@Tevyes Dad
    I don't know how I missed all of this till now but golly what an awesome set up.. I love all the hard work you put into it to keep everyone safe and be able to leave overnight and feel good knowing they are okay.  You did a great job making your yard look unkept. 

My question is when are you coming here to do that for me? 

I would love to visit you again, and as i write this I'm not too far away as the duck flies. The leveling that would be required at your place would make my head spin. But you have a good setup. Your biggest problem would be feeding. We just have ducks.- mallard derivative only. You have ducks and chickens and halfway in between Muscovies and dogs and fish and geese, plus some squirrels and song birds. All of them have to eat and not eachother... That is the tough part.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I would love to visit you again, and as i write this I'm not too far away as the duck flies. The leveling that would be required at your place would make my head spin. But you have a good setup. Your biggest problem would be feeding. We just have ducks.- mallard derivative only. You have ducks and chickens and halfway in between Muscovies and dogs and fish and geese, plus some squirrels and song birds. All of them have to eat and not eachother... That is the tough part.

PS Bring a bull dozer.

Your so right it would be hard and actually there isn't any place I'd rather be than right here with my babies.

Except I'd love to come to Montana and visit yall too. But your all set up now so we expect to see you and Yvonne in the next year or 2.