Sunday, April 15, 2012

Duck Pallet House

Phil and I have been working on a new duck house today; well, mostly Phil. I did get to take the old one down myself but he did all the building of the new duck house. The pallets, of course don't come perfect. He had to take several slats off and turn the pallets around then add a full layer of slats on the one side. It is hard to explain but it took a bit more than the pig house because it had to be dog and raccoon secure.
I took a few pictures as he built.
The first three walls.
The front and door.
And the finished product, with hinged roof . 
The inside. 
The only thing that might be a problem is that I may have to get a stool so that I can reach in to get the eggs as the sides are a bit high. So far the ducks haven't tested it out but they will when they get used to it.

18 comments:

  1. That's fantastic!
    What a great use of palettes.
    Carolyn

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  2. Replies
    1. There are 11 ducks right now. All the time I have had ducks only the hens have used the houses (no matter what size) to lay eggs in. They don't take shelter in the houses.

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  3. I don't follow you on dog and coon safe if there's a door where the ducks wander in and out.

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    1. The door is on the side where the pen is. So the ducks wander out into their pen. The whole pen is dog and coon secure. The ducks only free range when I let them out and watch them.

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  4. That looks great! I was wondering how I was going to design and build a duck house. Now all I have to do is find some pallets and build it. Thanks for posting. - Genevieve

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  5. I made a compost bin the same way a long time ago.. and made a duck house out of a dog house... and also straw bales with a plywood roof. That's a nifty design.

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  6. Is there nothing a pallet can't be used for? Great work.

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    Replies
    1. There's nothing I can think of that they can't be used for.

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  7. We are building a pallet coop to raise quail in this summer. After the quail are gone, we will probably use it for chickens.

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    Replies
    1. Really? I will be interested to see that. I have quail myself in large cages. I believe they are a 4'x 18".

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  8. That's great! Lucky Ducks ;)

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  9. You can't go wrong with pallets, especially if they are free.

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    Replies
    1. Yup, all free and I believe his boss is happy to be getting rid of some of them as they just sit out behind the shop piling up.

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  10. This is great. Do ducks need a separate nesting or egg box at all? How do you keep the nightly droppings off the eggs? I,be heard they don't need a roost, so I was going to try to make duck hq on the first floor of the chicken coop.

    Also, any tips on where to go to pick up old pallets that do not have treated wood?

    Thanks! Emily

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