Duck pond, housing/ bedding and pen-ADDED PICTURES

[moenmitz]

I am still thinking on that! I went in to this pretty unprepared, I dont even know WHEN they start laying-I haven't even figured out if I have males or females or both yet! Pretty sad, I know. As the ducks get bigger, they will be free ranging the yard during the daytime, which is 5 acres, so I am trying to figure out how to encourage them to nest where I will be able to find it-I assume they lay during the day? Or maybe if I put nesting boxes in their house area, they would come their to lay? Since that is where the pond is, I dont imagine they will spend too much time very far from that area.

 

[Cara]

My ducks seem to lay eggs just as they're walking around! I find them all over the place in their run.

 

[FisherMOM]

what a WONDERFUL PEN!!!! Lucky duckies!!

 

[White Elk]

Quote:
My lifes work has been a little of this and a little of that. All of its been using my hands. In most jobs I often find the need to improve the logistics of things. And so I frequently draw sketches and floor plans to try and help others understand whats in my head. I also do it to help formulate my thoughts on things. For near 20 years now I've been using pencil and paper. Just recently I've been playing around with MS Paint; and this duck water project seemed like a good place to practice it. Although I like to draw up plans for things, I do often wing it and work in stages and figure it out as I go. Like with the chicken coop design. I'll figure it as I go.

Its not looking good for my duck water recycling plan. My folks aren't as interested in it as I am due to added cost. I'll still look around and see if I can find deals on the storage tanks. And I will design the various water collecting projects that we MUST do so that I can later tap into them for the pond if I ever get that oppurtunity.

 

[moenmitz]

Try putting an ad on FreeCycle- never ceases to amaze me what people will give away if you just ask! Alot of times they have stuff just sitting in the garage or basement that they didn't want to throw out, but didn't think anybody would want! It is worth a try!

 

[White Elk]

I checked Craigs list last night and found what appears to be six 55 gallon rain barells for $60! I sent an email to the seller to see if the price is per piece or total, but she only answered my question about how early I can call. Two more hours and I shall know! I sure hope its $60 for the lot and not $360 (she's selling them as all or nothing). Man I hope I can realize this concept!!

I will check out FreeCycle! I'd never heard of it before. On CraigsList I was surprised to also find some fill dirt I need and also 140' of weatherd cedar fencing for Free! I'm sure to find other things I need on both sites. ty for the tip!

 

[Scrambled Egg]

"Honker's Haven"!! How cute!!! Those ducks are sure looking intensely at something in their new home in that pic!! Very cute! Good luck

 

[moenmitz]

Quote:
I am sure it would be $60 total-unless she is smoking something! $10 a barrel is about right. Freecycle is a community group, most towns have one. Everything is FREE. If you want something, you ask for it, if you have something, you offer it. Very simple really. I have gotten a dog house for the ducks, some milk crates for nesting boxes, and some fencing off of there.

Quote:
"Honker's Haven"...yes, it was SUPPOSED to be a goose house is why! But my 11 geese were tiny babies, and it seemed like SO much room for them at the time...now they are gigantic poop machines, so they got relocated to another spot. The ducks took over (only 8 of them, but it is still a bit crowded. Might have to eat some to make it roomier!) Anyway, currently it is a turkey home (for a week or two anyhow) so, I don't know...Gobbler Ghetto? lol

 

[White Elk]

It turned out it was $60 for the lot. It wouldn't have surprised me if they were $60 a piece though. I'm finding new ones for over $100, and over $120 for the higher quality ones. And those came with connecting hoses, spigots, filters and more.

But I missed out on them dangrabbit!! I had seen the ad about 2hrs after it was posted (9:30pm). I sent an email immediatly and asked what time would be good to call in the morning. About 6am (S)he responded that 8am would be cool and so thats when I called. But someone called before 8am and snagged them up! I was trying to do the right thing but lost out on a great deal for it. I figured (s)he would respect my respect and give me first right of refusal. Oh well, the early bird gets the worm. And the nice guy finished last. Will keep trying. Got to find them soon if I'm going to avoid a whole lot of extra retrograde work.

I'm definitly checking out FreeCycle! There are alot of things I need that people often need to get rid of. I'm looking for fill dirt, old cedar fencing, water tanks, concrete blocks, bricks, lumber, etc etc. And I can do the demo work to retreive the materials which might open up some extra oppurtunities. ty for the tip, and ty again for sharing your duck muck solution.

 

[moenmitz]

Oh that sucks! I feel your pain. That is the one thing I hate about Craigslist-the deals go FAST, and people are not very respectful. I emailed a lady about a tag along bike for my son, told her I would DEFINITELY buy it, she emailed me back and said, OK, when can you get it...I live an hour away, so I said "would Thursday work? (it was Tuesday) She emailed me back that she sold it to someone else who could get it that day. Argh! I never said I couldnt come NOW, I just asked if it would be ok to come in two days! Then, I calle don a guy who was giving away 120' chain link fence-he said he needed a few days to take it apart so could I come on the weekend. Well heck yes! Then he emails me back that his wife foudn somebody else who would also come and take the fence down themselves, so he told them they could have it instead!

And now I have hijacked my own thread to rant about inconsiderate people...lol I hope maybe freecycle works better for you!