Quick and semi-permanent fencing --- runaway ducks

[ericatdallas]

Our ducks ran off to the neighbors and destroyed their ornamental pond. We had chickens that we let free-range and we thought the ducks would be fine. They were for the last 4 weeks until they got adventurous and discovered the neighbors pond.

Anyway, I need a cheap and quick fence. It's not meant to be permanent, but last at least a year as we put the permanent fencing in our budget/schedule.

I was thinking a 25ftx25ft area using metal t-posts. Do I need a wooden h-brace for this or will the t-posts themselves be fine?

If I have to make the h-braces I was thinking I might as well make the whole thing wooden since it's such a small area.

I picked 25x25 because of the 100ft linear feet of fencing from a roll. The cost I priced is less than $200 and that will allow me to keep materials as deer fencing later on for a small garden.

Any thoughts?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Call around to the Farm & Ranch or Garden Supply stores in your area, ask if they carry roles of plastic fencing. It comes in various colors, green and fluorescent orange are two that are common. For ducks, 36" fencing should be enough to contain them. The roles come in various lengths, it's cheap and it works.

I used it to divide my yard when merging replacement pullets with my established flock of layers.

Yeah, once ducks find water they will be maniacs trying to go back.

When we had ducks, they took over the turtle's waterer when they were younger. They knew where every sprinkler head in the yard was located, they loved rain storms, and playing in the water tubs.

 

[ericatdallas]

I was avoiding that because of aesthetics but then I realized this is supposed to be practical and temporary. So this is the way I am going to go... thanks for the advice.

How many feet should I put between t-posts? I know standard is 8-10ft from the websites... is there a reason that the plastic stuff should be closer or can it be even further apart? Maybe I can fence in a bigger area for the ducks since it looks like the posts will be the most expensive part of the project.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I put my posts 5 to 8 feet apart, because in the summer when it gets hot...the fencing will sag if you have the posts much over those distances.

I have my fencing all rolled up ready to go, but this year my replacement flock and my layer flock integrated quite well. Couple years ago, I had Ameracaunas, and they were relentless in going after the little pullets...so the fencing was real nice to have in place.

 

[ericatdallas]

lol, so my $100 project turned into a $300+ project but it worked. We went for metal fencing because it didn't look as bad as my wife thought it would and ended up with about 200 additional sq feet.

Thanks for the help. I bought some t-post brackets to create corners but decided to just put the posts closer together and hopefully that will hold for a while.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Let's see it...how did it come out?