- May 28, 2012
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Last September my grandpa and I built a duck house based on Elliot Coleman’s duckingham palace. We made it 3’x 5.5’ so it would fit in my car (outback). I added the handles and wheels when I got it home.
This spring I finally had ducklings to put it in. It works so well! The floor is hardware cloth. I got coated so it lasts longer and isn’t sharp. 1/2” holes. All the wood is cedar to avoid rot. The tin is recycled garage doors grandpa had in his stash. The wooden part of the roof is from an old hot tub. The end caps were some cedar ship lap he had. Then I bought the rest of the cedar, some caulking, screws, etc. Oh, and the wheels were off a bike trailer that fell apart. Grandpa had a steel rod to use for the axle.
It’s not super reproducible but we used what we had as much as possible.
I hang heatlamps to keep the ducklings warm. The first couple days after hatch I put felt like fabric on top of the floor. Probably not needed but I felt better. The droppings washed right out when I was done. It has been fairly cold (lows mid 40s) so at night I cover the open end with a blanket. They stay toasty warm in it.
I can move them to fresh grass daily. They can’t get eaten by the cats (my old brooder box lost 2 babies to cats
). I can add a duckling fence for more room. I think it will work well for up to 20 ducklings. As they get bigger and need more space I can leave them in my electric pig net (same spacing as poultry net but shorter). Overall I’m incredibly happy with the finished product, and it was great spending time with my 89 year old grandpa working on a project.
This spring I finally had ducklings to put it in. It works so well! The floor is hardware cloth. I got coated so it lasts longer and isn’t sharp. 1/2” holes. All the wood is cedar to avoid rot. The tin is recycled garage doors grandpa had in his stash. The wooden part of the roof is from an old hot tub. The end caps were some cedar ship lap he had. Then I bought the rest of the cedar, some caulking, screws, etc. Oh, and the wheels were off a bike trailer that fell apart. Grandpa had a steel rod to use for the axle.
It’s not super reproducible but we used what we had as much as possible.
I hang heatlamps to keep the ducklings warm. The first couple days after hatch I put felt like fabric on top of the floor. Probably not needed but I felt better. The droppings washed right out when I was done. It has been fairly cold (lows mid 40s) so at night I cover the open end with a blanket. They stay toasty warm in it.
I can move them to fresh grass daily. They can’t get eaten by the cats (my old brooder box lost 2 babies to cats
). I can add a duckling fence for more room. I think it will work well for up to 20 ducklings. As they get bigger and need more space I can leave them in my electric pig net (same spacing as poultry net but shorter). Overall I’m incredibly happy with the finished product, and it was great spending time with my 89 year old grandpa working on a project.
