Moved Peep and Nibbler outside

[RJKnott]

They are not fans of their new pen
I get why people say put wood chips or something down. They were covers in mud today
Some of my back ordered hardware cloth came in so took the plywood walls down along one side and covered it with hardware cloth so they can have a view and I can see into the pen while I’m working

My dog Buddy has taken it upon himself to guard them when he is outside and chases away anything that’s comes close like frogs and birds and has marked it all around. The ducks love buddy and come right up to him at the fence and seem a little more secure when he is around

Once I get some more HWC I will use it to reinforce the back but will keep the plywood there

That’s the back of the yard and any major predator would likely come from that direction

 

[DuckyDonna]

that's awesome! whats over the top? We put welded wire fencing. It was so easy to do, not that expensive and I'd pay money to see a hawk, falcon or whatever fly into it!

 

[RJKnott]

Right now we have a few things on top

The whole pen is covered with bird netting. Then the Back 1/3 is tin roofing sheets. Then some hardware cloth nailed to the top. To finish covering the back half of the pen. Then the rest is covered with an anti rodent Mesh. There’s lots of tree cover so I’m not too concerned about a hawk but I was thinking of putting some wire fencing over it too just for some extra protection

 

[DuckyDonna]

Right now we have a few things on top

The whole pen is covered with bird netting. Then the Back 1/3 is tin roofing sheets. Then some hardware cloth nailed to the top. To finish covering the back half of the pen. Then the rest is covered with an anti rodent Mesh. There’s lots of tree cover so I’m not too concerned about a hawk but I was thinking of putting some wire fencing over it too just for some extra protection

ya, I feel good about the welded wire. 2" x 4" holes but super easy to work with compared to hwc which is a literally bloody disaster. I was absolutely dripping with blood putting all that up on the sides. It was awful. My husband wanted to do the whole top in it and I pitched a fit.

We have a small tin roof over the barn overhang. We did learn a valuable lesson and that is NOT to run water pipes over the tin roof and on top of the run if you should ever decide to put faucets out there. Even though we put that foam (pool noodle looking stuff) over the pvc pipe the water gets hot as fire and you're on the same climate we're on. The insulation stuff that was on the tin roof over the pipe actually melted! I thought that was a bad idea to begin with but I was thinking more about in the winter when it gets cold but this is pretty bad. I think we're going to have to shut the water off completely when it gets cold.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That’s a nice big pen area for them great job but listen hawks flying are not near as worrisome as the one sitting in the tree waiting I found that out last year when one got my tiny rooster.

 

[RJKnott]

That’s a nice big pen area for them great job but listen hawks flying are not near as worrisome as the one sitting in the tree waiting I found that out last year when one got my tiny rooster.

Wife and I were talking about getting some wire fencing to cover the top with. Sounds like a definite now

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

They are not fans of their new pen
I get why people say put wood chips or something down. They were covers in mud today
Some of my back ordered hardware cloth came in so took the plywood walls down along one side and covered it with hardware cloth so they can have a view and I can see into the pen while I’m working

My dog Buddy has taken it upon himself to guard them when he is outside and chases away anything that’s comes close like frogs and birds and has marked it all around. The ducks love buddy and come right up to him at the fence and seem a little more secure when he is around

Once I get some more HWC I will use it to reinforce the back but will keep the plywood there

That’s the back of the yard and any major predator would likely come from that directionView attachment 2209024View attachment 2209029View attachment 2209030View attachment 2209031View attachment 2209033View attachment 2209034View attachment 2209035View attachment 2209036View attachment 2209037View attachment 2209038

That is an amazing pen !

 

[RJKnott]

Moved them back into the house temporarily as when I went to check on them just now apparently some large fire ants thought the pen was a nice place to make a home.

They were in the food and water dish and all over the pool

So laid some poison down and will hopefully be ant free in a day or so

 

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

Moved them back into the house temporarily as when I went to check on them just now apparently some large fire ants thought the pen was a nice place to make a home.

They were in the food and water dish and all over the pool

So laid some poison down and will hopefully be ant free in a day or so

Would they not clear them themselves like it was a fast food ducky drive thru ?

Round where we are, there are ants nests all around the outside of our perimeter fence, none on the inside - somehow the word is out that they won't last five mins near our lot....

Ours are standard black ants tho !

 

[DuckyDonna]

Would they not clear them themselves like it was a fast food ducky drive thru ?

Round where we are, there are ants nests all around the outside of our perimeter fence, none on the inside - somehow the word is out that they won't last five mins near our lot....

Ours are standard black ants tho !

Fire ants don't work that way. I have some that make "nests' in the duck run at times but the ducks don't seem interested in eating them. They will make a nasty bite on you so maybe the ducks know this instinctively. I had an armadillo that lived in our barn for years but unfortunately, he got chopped up recently when they hayed the field out back of us. Now we have nothing to deter them. Poor Porky, RIP.