Thanks for the update I sure do look forward to their new accommodations it’s sounds perfect! I like that you wanted them where you could keep an eye on them from your room to. I have my birds close too for that reason. You’ve sure come along way from where you started when you first brought Ferguson and Downy home from the pond! Good job!!
Hello
@Miss Lydia,
Hope you been having a good morning, I have some pictures for you.
This is what we have done so far on their inside/outside pen, we're not 100% done with it yet. But so far we are more then halfway completed with it
On the outside we covered the dog cage with wood, to turn it into more of a walk in coop.
We also found this awesome long tarp at a local shop for $4, a very nice find that keeps half the cage pretty rain proof. We still need a another tarp that matches for the other side, luckily they are easily findable on amazon/ebay, and not too expensive either.
we also wrapped the entire cage in burlap material, a cheap material that helps with frost and wind blow.
For the outside pen, we did flexible poles, and bird netting to cover the entire daytime pen.
In the future I would like to cover the top of the bird netting with hardware cloth, for better protection from predators.
The net is just to slow them down enough, until I can get out there (luckily I work from home, so I'm pretty much here 24/7)
Nighttime pen with door closed
once we get another similar trap, it should be long enough to cover it to the pen door. The heavy duty traps are only going to be used on extremely rainy or snowy day, maybe even on sunny days for extra shade.
Nighttime pen door can still fully close, and lock onto outside pen to create one ginat pen for ducks.
Still need to add bird netting on the gap between the door.
On the inside of their night pen, we still have the hardware cloth up for protection. We also put down burlap cloth on the bottom for extra protection from wind blow and rain.
Inside the night cage we made them a bench or a nesting box to go in, and lay their eggs, or just for extra warmth.
It's also nice for humans to sit on, and watch the ducks play.
We also have extra panels, so we can replace the ones they have already been destroyed, as seen in the picture lol
Also that's a nest the ancona girls made in the last picture, wasn't to sure if it was easy to tell what it is from the bad lighting lol
Downey doesnt want to lay her eggs in there with the other girls, but that's okay lol
we also put up a shelf just to make sure the heating lamp, and food stayed extra dry. The shelf is also useful for extra pans, bowls, and food bags lol
Underneath the shelf is were the food, and calcium bowls are kept. Far away from all of that messy water lol
And that's how they enter and exit the bench, or laying box
And lastly, here are some pictures of the flock.
They've all been doing pretty good with all of these changes to their daytime and nighttime pens, but they sure had to get use to it first lol
Anyways, I think that's all I have for you for the moment. But I'll be sure to keep you, and everyone else who still reads this thread updated on the future changes, and what not.
Thank you again, Miss Lydia, you have been such a great mentor though all of this, and i cant thank you enough for all of the info you, and everyone on this thread has taught me.
. Thanks for stopping by y’all have done fantastic with all you’ve done!!
