Duck house completed.

[hendrix25]

My DH works on the lake, doing maintenance and repairs on boat docks. Two weeks ago they had to redeck a dock. So he brought all the old cedar boards home. All the wood has already been weather treated, so no worries about the rain!!

It took him about 2-3 hours from start to finish. I was so proud of him that he built such a nice house with scraps, and when I seen it I was so happy

.

Here are the pictures

This is the pen and the house now sits to the left side directly in front of it. Therefore, the ducks have more room in their pen to eat and play. Now that the house is finished and in place, we are going to "adjust" the pen to be easier to get in and out of. I have a little kiddie pool that I want to put in there for them to swim in during the HOT summer months.

 

[Duck Keeper]

I hope your ducks USE the thing!

They'll stay in the pool all night.

 

[hendrix25]

Quote:
LOL...they have no choice. They are locked up in their house at night. I didn't plan for them to use it during the day, unless they really want to be "inside." The main reason for this was to keep them safe at night when all the unwanted visitors are trampling through our yard...coyotes, foxes, coons, possums, wild cats, etc... During the day I'm not to concerned about those visitors. We have several trail cameras on our property and all the pest (and 80% of the deer) are on there during the night, so none of them really venture out during the day.

 

[mominoz]

ahhhh , you might want to read the "predator and pest section for a week or so" . Having had geese and chickens years ago. That pen will NOT keep out raccoons,dogs , coyotes, etc. Everyone says chicken wire only keeps birds in , that coons will chew thru it. I know those bricks will NOT keep diggers out.
I had a dog fenced chicken yard with logs around it and used to have predators dig under it all the timeThose short T posts are too far apart, a large predator could jump on top and if he has freinds with him, like coyotes, I wouldn't give them a chance.
I presently am building a new aviary and have geese and ducks again , and you need to make it a fort knox. Chicken wire could be inside another wire, but you need welded wire or some thing that can keep canines out, and then a floor or a large apron around it that is staked and weighted down. My labs used to move 10-20 lbs. rocks to dig under a fence.
Or add electric fence around it.
Don't want you to come outside to bloody body parts

 

[Duck Keeper]

Phew!

I was worried you spent all of that money for no reason...

BUT, your fence does seem a bit whimpy.
I suppose a coon or coyote could crash right through, but who am I to talk?
All I have is a dog kennel and a dog house.

And a barn for the babies. Lol.

Soon I'll have the ducks in there though! We're still working on that.
-sigh-

 

[hendrix25]

I understand where both of your comments are coming from, but during they day the coons and coyotes aren't out. Yes, I know, sometimes they do come out. But where we live is pretty rural and there's a pretty good amount of noise during the day, to keep the predators away. Both of our neighbors have dogs (that are friendly with our ducks, they've met) When I say there are coyotes and foxes, it's not like they are very abundant. I was just referring to them in my post as likely predators, because I know they are in the area. They aren't on the trail cameras much at all. Actually only about once every other month or so. Guess I should have explained my comments a little better.

As far as the pen issue, there is welder wire on the ground, you just can't see it in the picture. The pen is fully welded wire on all sides, top and bottom. Then the chicken wire on the bottom to keep the ducks in. With is being next to the shop and only 20-30 feet from the house, it's not likely the "predators" will be that much of a nuisance.

But thanks for all the feedback and concerns.

Oh and I forgot one more thing...

I'm pretty sure she has a part in the whole predator prevention!!

Plus she just loves the little ducks.

 

[headred]

hahaha! Like your pen and especially your "one more thing" comment...that should do it!! My "one more thing" is NOT that helpful!

 

[momof247371]

Wow , its beautiful... Your DH should be proud. HOw sweet of him! I hope your duckies enjoy it And what a steal at 30.00. Good way to utilize your resources!

Cute boxer also, we have a male and he is a MONSTER lol

 

[hendrix25]

Quote:
Too cute. My parents have a little dog (mixed breed) and she is the "guard dog" at their house. She has ran off more animals and other dogs than all their dogs. So never underestimate her/his size. Big attitudes can come in small packages.

BTW your ducks are so beautiful. I want to get some Campbell once I've mastered the ducklings I have.

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

I think he did a very nice job!

If you are really concerned with raccoons you could add another cross piece around the wire portion so the span is really small...
I grew up where coons were a nightly occurrence, so we used hardware cloth over the vents and screwed in the edges, but we had no protector dog. Just for a comparison...