Backtrack just a little...
We got our first Muscovy ducks this past Autumn and created a little pasture for them with fencing and a converted truck cap for shelter. When we added a couple more Muscovies and a pair of Ancona ducklings this Spring, we took another piece of fencing and split the area in two so the babies would have a safe place of their own. This was all supposed to be temporary and worked great (right up until a few days before we were going to transfer everyone into the new pen, of course, and THEN we had an attack. Grr.).
This is what it looked like before...
And here are some pictures of the new digs!!
There was a large shed in this spot, built by the previous owners. It turned out to be filled with trash. After much gross work, we got the building emptied and tore off all the metal siding and roofing. We tore down half the shed. Seeing this half still had excellent framework, we gutted it down to its skeleton and started building from there. We're also tearing down our garage, so we recycled the wood planks from the interior of the garage to make the walls for the duck house. You can't really see it in the picture, but there IS wire mesh around the base of the house and along the venting above the door.
The main run is the same depth as the house. We built a 'bachelor pad' in front of that. In this picture, MamaDuck (our aggressive male) is being housed in there, but we've had to re-merge him with the others, so we could put BabyDuck and the ducklings in there. (Still to do: we're reusing the fencing from the old pen as the roofing for the new pen. We still have to put that up.) There is a layer of wire netting under the whole pen. We leveled the ground, laid the wire, then dirt, grass seed and straw. There's a little grass growing, but we'll probably have to wait until next Spring to have anything lush and thick. You can also see there is plenty of foliage cover overhead -- as the sun goes over, the pen has a nice dappled sun/shade combination. No more scorching sun or heat stroke for our birds! *cheer*
For the two pool areas, we used slate stones from our property to build squares then filled them with smooth pond pebbles. The one in the main pen has a new rubbermaid stock tank on it. The bachelor pad has a smaller pool (it's the base of a ferret tower cage). It's been awesome not having the muddy mess we had in the old pen, whenever we have to change the water. (Still to do: add a drainage hole with hose to the pool, so I don't have to muscle it over to empty it AND I can also use the water for the gardens.)
This picture shows the wall between the main pen and the bachelor pad. When there are no babies (or troubles with aggressive males), we can leave the door between these two rooms open, to give even more room for everyone, access to two pools, etc.
BabyDuck and her ducklings in the bachelor pad. We were worried about the ducklings putting their heads through the poultry netting wall (which they showed us they could do) and having MamaDuck snap at them, so we took two leftover roofing panels and screwed them into the support beams along the wall. They can all still see each other, but no one will lose their heads.
This picture also shows the pool area of the bachelor pad.
The inside of the house, showing the clear paneled roof. (My husband loves me --
-- before we had the roofing, I made comment how it'd be so cool to just leave it open, like a giant skylight... so he specifically looked for see-through roofing, so the ducks would have more light, and I'd have my "skylight.")
We drilled a ton of circulation holes in 5 gallon buckets and lined them up along the back wall. They're secured by a 2x4 that rests before them. This picture also shows part of the window to the right.
Another picture inside, showing MamaDuck in the duck door going to the pen, Patches (the Ancona) and Wade (our sweet male Muscovy). You may note the eggs in the middle bucket... those were Echo's we tried to save by moving them and her over to the new set-up. It didn't work.
(A shame, because they were so close to hatching. My husband apparently got curious when he was tossing them and cracked them open... they were all viable. *sigh*)
Personally, I don't see how 5 gallon buckets are big enough to make a comfortable nest, but we'll see. One of our chocolate Muscovy girls has already investigated each of them (I thought for sure she was going to start nesting again already). It was funny to watch her squeeze in, turn around, arrange straw, and then go try another. *chuckle*
Still a couple little things to do, but with the exception of Freckles, who's still living in the basement and healing beautifully, everyone is living in the new coop/pen and seeming very happy. And safe.
We got our first Muscovy ducks this past Autumn and created a little pasture for them with fencing and a converted truck cap for shelter. When we added a couple more Muscovies and a pair of Ancona ducklings this Spring, we took another piece of fencing and split the area in two so the babies would have a safe place of their own. This was all supposed to be temporary and worked great (right up until a few days before we were going to transfer everyone into the new pen, of course, and THEN we had an attack. Grr.).
This is what it looked like before...
And here are some pictures of the new digs!!
There was a large shed in this spot, built by the previous owners. It turned out to be filled with trash. After much gross work, we got the building emptied and tore off all the metal siding and roofing. We tore down half the shed. Seeing this half still had excellent framework, we gutted it down to its skeleton and started building from there. We're also tearing down our garage, so we recycled the wood planks from the interior of the garage to make the walls for the duck house. You can't really see it in the picture, but there IS wire mesh around the base of the house and along the venting above the door.
The main run is the same depth as the house. We built a 'bachelor pad' in front of that. In this picture, MamaDuck (our aggressive male) is being housed in there, but we've had to re-merge him with the others, so we could put BabyDuck and the ducklings in there. (Still to do: we're reusing the fencing from the old pen as the roofing for the new pen. We still have to put that up.) There is a layer of wire netting under the whole pen. We leveled the ground, laid the wire, then dirt, grass seed and straw. There's a little grass growing, but we'll probably have to wait until next Spring to have anything lush and thick. You can also see there is plenty of foliage cover overhead -- as the sun goes over, the pen has a nice dappled sun/shade combination. No more scorching sun or heat stroke for our birds! *cheer*
For the two pool areas, we used slate stones from our property to build squares then filled them with smooth pond pebbles. The one in the main pen has a new rubbermaid stock tank on it. The bachelor pad has a smaller pool (it's the base of a ferret tower cage). It's been awesome not having the muddy mess we had in the old pen, whenever we have to change the water. (Still to do: add a drainage hole with hose to the pool, so I don't have to muscle it over to empty it AND I can also use the water for the gardens.)
This picture shows the wall between the main pen and the bachelor pad. When there are no babies (or troubles with aggressive males), we can leave the door between these two rooms open, to give even more room for everyone, access to two pools, etc.
BabyDuck and her ducklings in the bachelor pad. We were worried about the ducklings putting their heads through the poultry netting wall (which they showed us they could do) and having MamaDuck snap at them, so we took two leftover roofing panels and screwed them into the support beams along the wall. They can all still see each other, but no one will lose their heads.
This picture also shows the pool area of the bachelor pad.
The inside of the house, showing the clear paneled roof. (My husband loves me --
We drilled a ton of circulation holes in 5 gallon buckets and lined them up along the back wall. They're secured by a 2x4 that rests before them. This picture also shows part of the window to the right.
Another picture inside, showing MamaDuck in the duck door going to the pen, Patches (the Ancona) and Wade (our sweet male Muscovy). You may note the eggs in the middle bucket... those were Echo's we tried to save by moving them and her over to the new set-up. It didn't work.
Personally, I don't see how 5 gallon buckets are big enough to make a comfortable nest, but we'll see. One of our chocolate Muscovy girls has already investigated each of them (I thought for sure she was going to start nesting again already). It was funny to watch her squeeze in, turn around, arrange straw, and then go try another. *chuckle*
Still a couple little things to do, but with the exception of Freckles, who's still living in the basement and healing beautifully, everyone is living in the new coop/pen and seeming very happy. And safe.
