Just finished one half of my new duck run, and the seven-week-old ducks are in that pen tonight so their dog crate could be re-assigned to hatchling duty.
Here's what I now have:
One 12 x 7 dog kennel run with attached house (that they NEVER use, except to eat, and only because I put the food in there) and kiddie pool.
One 10 X 10 dog kennel run divided in two (so it's actually two 10 x 5 runs). Each section will have its own dog house & swimming tub.
(They have wire over and under, with hardwood mulch over the wire on bottom, covered with a deep litter bedding of straw. One locks shut at night, the other two have latches that are hard to open. I will probably eventually lock them too, but for now the difficulty in operating them provides a layer of protection against clever predators.)
One duckling brooder, in the garage. The garage itself provides protection against large predators like dogs and foxes, but not against climbing predators. So they are then in a large wire dog crate, which protects against largish climbing predators like raccoons and possums (and flyers like hawks & owls). Then, inside the dog crate, they are inside a large rubbermaid container with a hardware wire mesh for a top, which protects against small climbing predators like rats and snakes. I hope--am I missing anything?
Anyway, I now officially have more animal containment area than I need for what I have. Which is a problem, because it is going to be really tough not to fill it all up with something before spring when I have an order of ducklings coming that will pretty much take care of my excess space problem.
Here's what I now have:
One 12 x 7 dog kennel run with attached house (that they NEVER use, except to eat, and only because I put the food in there) and kiddie pool.
One 10 X 10 dog kennel run divided in two (so it's actually two 10 x 5 runs). Each section will have its own dog house & swimming tub.
(They have wire over and under, with hardwood mulch over the wire on bottom, covered with a deep litter bedding of straw. One locks shut at night, the other two have latches that are hard to open. I will probably eventually lock them too, but for now the difficulty in operating them provides a layer of protection against clever predators.)
One duckling brooder, in the garage. The garage itself provides protection against large predators like dogs and foxes, but not against climbing predators. So they are then in a large wire dog crate, which protects against largish climbing predators like raccoons and possums (and flyers like hawks & owls). Then, inside the dog crate, they are inside a large rubbermaid container with a hardware wire mesh for a top, which protects against small climbing predators like rats and snakes. I hope--am I missing anything?
Anyway, I now officially have more animal containment area than I need for what I have. Which is a problem, because it is going to be really tough not to fill it all up with something before spring when I have an order of ducklings coming that will pretty much take care of my excess space problem.
