UGH! Getting a duck pen built=DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!

[Baybrio]

Nettie,

I sent you a PM.

 

[nettie]

I live in a town house that is owned by our family. We technically rent, but we have permission to build whatever house we'd like. Their current pen is the main reason they need a new one...

I built the original one for two ducks last summer.... But they we got Joe's ducklings, and Vinny and Ollie became ours in the same week, so we need a bigger better home for them. So we "added" on using book cases from ikea, (3 separate add-ons) that have tarps for floors and duck tape for sealant. lol. It was meant to be a quick fix for a few months while we got a newer bigger pen built. We're not entirely sure how long we're goig to stay here, but it's long enough to require a decent pen. We'd really like to have a house built, but we're not sure yet if we can afford it (We'd have to sell a condo, and have no clue what it would go for, if it'd sell at all in this market), so we tentatively would like to move out sooner (1 1/2 years) but it might be longer.

We looked into sheds, but they are either all too high and won't fit under the ceiling, or they are slightly too wide to fit into the room, or they are too small not giving them enough space.

I'm never given a reason for not wanting to to the project, I just get an excited contractor, who then never calls back. I even had one guy who built ferret houses and used to have ducks and was all for it, but just never contacted me again... ugh.... not sure why they do that. I had a contractor call me today telling me he could come out and look at the space and plans for $95.

Unfortunately, based on our address, people think they can over charge us. We live in a part of the city that's now booming and full of south side "yuppies". But when our family acquired the home, it was a rather seedy part of town, so it was cheap... It built up nice around it, so now the townhouses go for quite a bit of money. Most contractors just assume we must have a ton of cash to afford a place like ours (even though it's been paid off forever, they's have it for 30 plus years). ONe contractor wanted $4500 just for labor! CRAZY! It's essentially a room inside a room with a table/ramp and a drawer.

I was getting frustrated last night because I couldn't get my 3D program "Sketch up" to work right. We decided to build the duck pen in the 2nd bedroom (one they are currently not in) so we could take our time disassembling their old pen. So I have to re-do the plans to fit into the new room. The new room also allows for a better use of materials, making it easier and cheaper to build.

Baybrio sent me some neat ideas and potential help! I will keep everyone updated on the process.

 

[love_a_duck]

now, that you mention vinny and ollie,
any recent pics i have missed?
my first pic of a duck on a lead was vinnie.
i love that duck.

beth

i am sure this will work out fine nettie,
you dont seem the type to let a couple money grubbin contrators get you down.

 

[L0rraine]

Whatever you do, don't sacrifice EASY TO CLEAN. I built myself three small (not so easy to clean or collect eggs from) houses for my first couple of years with ducks. Finally I built a 4 x 8 house I can walk into, with nest boxes that I can access by opening from the outside. It's made all the difference in the world for me and the ducks. I'm still not completely finished and I've been working on it since last April, but I did manage to have it accessible enough for the last batch of ducklings and all the ducks happily tuck themselves into it at night and I only have to shut the doors up before turning in for the night. I'm afraid I'm traveling for the next two weeks, but I will try to get pictures of it posted by the end of the Summer. I'm sooooo glad I decided to finally tackle it. I actually did the majority of it myself, but my husband helped with the roof and he helped me get the chicken wire in the windows tight.

Hopefully someone will come along to help you get your dream house built.

Shannon