Our Maine Duck House

[3bird]

What an amazing job you all have done. I love every bit of it, and what are purlins? lol

Your ducks will be in heaven once it's all done.

It's hot out this morning! Taking a quick break. Purlins are the boards onto which you nail the shingles. Also called skip sheathing. Here's our progress as of right now:

 

[3bird]

Yesterday was a good, albeit HOT, day. We're not used to upper 80s in June, especially this spring. With the rod of the duckhouse proper closed in, we started sheathing.



...and continued sheathing...



...and more sheathing...



It's coming together!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Looks great and thanks for info. Do you work in construction to know how to build something like that?
Looking forward to seeing the completed project. I bet you are with that heat.

 

[3bird]

Looks great and thanks for info. Do you work in construction to know how to build something like that?
Looking forward to seeing the completed project. I bet you are with that heat.

We like to build stuff, but we're certainly not professionals! Thanks for following along.

 

[3bird]

Question: We need to leave town for a little less than a week tomorrow. Our neighbors will be feeding and watering the ducks, but we are still up in the air about the run. We *think* they will have access to the (hopefully) predator proof run while we are away--maybe even 24/7. Currently most of the run is just hardpack dirt. We were thinking of putting down a deep layer of shavings and maybe hay in the run before we left. Then we would plan to rake all that out when we return and compost it so that we could do whatever we are going to do for the permanent run. Thoughts? Should we add in some peat moss? Anything else?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Is it secure so nothing can dig in? that will be the main worry. Other than that just do what you said as far as putting a layer of hay or shaving or both no need to add the peat unless you just want too. They will have a blast playing in all the bedding.

 

[3bird]

Is it secure so nothing can dig in? that will be the main worry. Other than that just do what you said as far as putting a layer of hay or shaving or both no need to add the peat unless you just want too. They will have a blast playing in all the bedding.

The run is covered in 1/2 hardware cloth and has a 24" wire apron all the way around....so I hope it's predator proof. I bet that bedding is going to be pretty manky when we get home.

We're trying to decide where to feed and water them as well...in the run or in the house. They have only eaten inside to date, so moving feeding to outside may be a challenge for our ducksitters. Plus all the ducks are not fully down with the ramp yet. Hmmmm

 

[Miss Lydia]

It can be removed and fresh added but that would be better than just the plain old dirt.

I know for a fact feeding ducks inside is going to create a huge mess so I'd opt for feeding outside and start today. All it takes is for one to show the others what to do. Can the duck sitters access the run from the outside? Meal worms or some other kind of treat they love can really motivate them into learning things pretty fast. lol

 

[3bird]

It can be removed and fresh added but that would be better than just the plain old dirt.

I know for a fact feeding ducks inside is going to create a huge mess so I'd opt for feeding outside and start today. All it takes is for one to show the others what to do. Can the duck sitters access the run from the outside? Meal worms or some other kind of treat they love can really motivate them into learning things pretty fast. lol

I hear ya there! I think the larger concern was water--if they don't want to use the ramp to go from the house to the run. I guess if we both feed and water in the run, there won't be as much of a concern of a duck not wanting to use the ramp and getting dehydrated as a result. Ugh...

 

[3bird]

Sorry for not updating folks on our duck house build in a few days. Things became really hectic, and posting Duck House pictures fell by the wayside. The ducks are not moved in! Here are some update pictures:




The two pictures above show the back of the duck house with the drop down door for clean-out in place. Below you can see the ramp in the attached run and the people door.





...and then, after their first night in the run, we added some shutters for additional protection from evenings that are still in the upper 40s! We still need to finish shingling the rest of the run.

They've become pretty good at using the ramp for breakfast. Heading back in at night is a different story...

Here's the breakfast march on day two: