Yates and Company

and in with the new - duck house, that is.

With the addition of the 13 new hatchlings in 2006, the old 10' x 22' house no longer "fit the bill."  This all-new duck house needed to be completed before the new ducklings could join the flock.  The new housing is framed for a total size of 16' x 24'.  The joists are of pressure-treated 2x4s and cypress.  We chose to use wood flooring with this new house, as our experience was that the hardware cloth on the floor led to some foot injuries and/or pressure sores for the ducks.  The framework is 2' on center and the decking - 1" x 6" pressure treated wood -is spaced with no more than 1/2" gaps.    

The sides are framed with pressure-treated 2x4s, at a height of 4'.  There is a larger "porch" area and a smaller hen house area.  The porch area measures 11' x 24', and is enclosed with 1/2"x 1/2" hardware cloth on 3 sides and the roof.  This provides security against the most determined predators, yet provides plenty of ventilation for the ducks.  The 1/2" spacing ensures that raccoons cannot reach through the wire to grab the ducks.  The hen house area measures 5' x 24' and is enclosed on 3 sides with tongue and groove panels to provide solid walls to a height of 35".  Above the solid walls are hardware cloth "windows" for ventilation, to the complete height of 4'.  The roof over this area is tin, with a small area extending into the porch to provide a dry area for feeding, as well as food storage. 

A ramp was made for the ducks to enter and exit at the "people door" - a rippled surface will give them better footing than a smooth surface would.  After completion of the duck house exterior and floor, T-dividers were made and put into place.  We chose to make 4 dividers, which creates 4 hen houses of approximately 5'x5' each, but any variation could be used.  The dividers were made from plywood with a 5" piece "T-ing" into pieces of varying lengths, and all at a height of 32".  The T-dividers are heavy enough to stand alone without having to be attached to the flooring, yet light enough to maneuver them around within the big house to create individual houses to the desired size (or remove if/when fewer dividers are desirous).

To this effect, the house may also be easily temporarily subdivided at any time by the simple addition of detachable chicken wire (strung from divider to hardware cloth), to create breeding pens, a sick-bay, older-duckling brooder, etc.  The nest pictured was moved intact from the old house to the new quarters.  The hen (Surely) was re-placed, and she set as though she'd been there the whole time!   All the ducks seem to love their new home, and it is a breeze to clean and work in.

My heartfelt thanks to all my helpers and supporters...my 2 sons, daughter, daughter-in-law, and especially my husband!  Couldn't have done it without y'all!

Construction of the secure day pen, which adjoins the duck

house.  Photo at right shows hardware cloth dig-barrier

attached to the outside wire of the pen, extending 3 feet

out, and buried approximately 6 inches under ground.

This is the product of the 2nd expansion of the original duckhouse.

We began with a 6' x 10' building for our original 9 ducks.  Quickly we saw the need for more room and, therefore, added another 4' x 10', making the total 10' x 10'.   

With the addition of the 13 Holderread's ducklings in 2005, another expansion was in order.  To the 10' x 10', we built an additional 10' x 12.

This duckhouse totalled 10' x 22' and housed 14 ducks.  This house was disassembled in July 2006 to make use of salvageable materials for the all-new house above.  The basic designed was reused above, since it served well for the time it was utilized.