Need pen ideas! Pics welcome!

[m496]

So I plan to get a pair of mini silver appleyards. For shelter, they will use my dog's old igloo....very roomy. I am stumped for outside pen ideas. I know for sure they will be out on grass 24/7 (in our field) but I need a small enclosure and I will probalby put wire on top. I was thinking about using a dog exercise pen (ones with the wire) outside kennels are pretty expensive and are too tall for what I'm looking for.I'd like for it to be portable. So....I'm stumped. Need something low to the ground, portable, inexpensive, and well yah! Haha please throw some ideas in my head!

Thanks!

 

[dianaross77]

I use the wire ex pens for dogs for our ducklings. They don't stand up very well on their own. They are wobbly. They are also fairly expensive and only 4ft tall with doors even smaller. I have mine strapped together and have to crouch through the door to get into the pen. Really annoying! We have our chickens in a 6x10 dog kennel and I can move it by myself by picking up the edge and dragging it. We got it at Home Depot. Since it comes in a box and not panels it was priced reasonably. But you can always find used kennels on craigslist.Welded wire fence works well for the top. I have a tarp on a wooden frame to allow the water to drain for the chickens. Ducks like the rain but would probably appreciate some shade.

 

[m496]

I'm thinking about something like this: http://www.google.com/m/search?site...l=us&client=safari&q=chicken tractor&sa=N#i=9 .but maybe a bit smaller and sturdier!

 

[jdywntr]

Depending on their size, I'm not familiar but mini=small.

If you have the doghouse for shelter you just need something around it for protection. It need not be elaborate just take into consideration what type of predators you have in your area. 4 walls, a roof, thats about it. Make sure beforehand that you are set on keeping only a pair. If you change your mind later, you'll have to rebuild. You could just use a dog pen, many do. Maybe reinforced with hardware cloth to keep out the beasties.
This is mine (unfinished in pic), I started with 7 runner ducks. After building my chicken coop, I decided standing to clean it out is nice. So I went 15X10X6

This is my chicken coop (again unfinished in pic) and why I decided to go bigger.

Also, I am in Florida so I only added a windbreak for my ducks, doesn't get cold enough to worry about real shelter.

Good luck.

 

[m496]

Thank you for the pics, they were great! Our only real big predators around here would definitely be racoons (my biggest concern) they got a ton of my chickens before we trapped the little suckers and put them in raccoon heaven also we have birds of prey. That's about it. Never had coyote problems. My dogs go in that pasture so I just don't want them to beable to tip it over! I may breed the pair and just incubate like 3 eggs so I get a very small amout of ducklings (I want some to imprint on me since I'm buying a full grown pair that may not like me lol). Since I will be moving the pen around alot I think that I will be able to keep 4 minis total. You think?

Thanks!