Duck Tents and Laying Boxes

My ducks are mostly down in the small orchard area behind the house, so I keep them confined with a movable tempfence. With cold weather coming on, it would seem that some sort of shelter might be advisable so I'm trying...

Duck tents....

This is a 9x12' plastic tarp that I've stretched over the wire support for some grape vines. Large nails anchor the tarp on either side...5 nails through the grommets on the sides.

I put in a floor cover of alfalfa straw, and put in two nest boxes. The runner ducks were very wary of the new, disturbing change at first, but after tossing feed inside it for a few days, they came to accept it as part of their environment.

Toward the rear of the photo, one of the mixed bantam roosters is eyeing me. Gonna try to fight with me again?? Ok, let's do the ole shuffle dance and foot lift...I also crow too. :) And...I win every time.

I moved the nest boxes out of the duck tent and added a third smaller nest box, originally placing it on the right in the photo. The use of the boxes by the ducks caught my attention, and I've gone into more detail on the page dealing with science.

The nest boxes are made from old cabinet drawers with pieces of tin attached to the sides with drywall screws. I have some straw inside, and in each I have a dummy egg made from a blown duck egg which I've filled with Plaster of Paris.

Soooooo....when it rains and pours, the ducks have a nice dry place. But...they don't use it much. They play out in the rain...feed...have a good time. Perhaps when winter comes on with freezing temperatures, snow, ice, and biting wind they'll find it helpful. I may put some bales of hay on the far end of the tent to make a better wind break.

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