Floating Duck House

[alexsbuddy]

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to round up our ducks at the end of the day (they preferred staying on the pond at night), my wife and I decided to provide them some shelter on the water using a repurposed small chicken coop. Here is a picture of our floating duck house....the SS Moby Duck:

Basically it is a 2x4 base frame with a plywood deck (measures 4'x7') with seven 4" PVC pipe pontoons that each measure 7' long. I covered all of the open areas of the coop and cut out a small entrance for the ducks to go in and out. It is secured to both sides of the pond via marine rope and posts. Will be adding a ramp to make it easier for the ducks to go from the water to the deck and will paint the whole thing (exterior only) this spring.

It took the ducks a couple of days to figure out that the newcomer to the pond was not going to eat them and they are now using it. At least now they have a sheltered place to go to get out of the weather and it keeps them safe from the predators.

 

[EddieWalker]

Neat idea. Do they use it?

My ducks used to all sleep along the shoreline. Then one day two coyotes came along and killed seven of them. They took two of them and left the other five just laying there. After that I ran three rows of hot wire to keep them out and haven't had any losses to coyotes since then.

I also built a two stall horse barn that the ducks seem to really enjoy during the summer, but now that it's winter, they are not using it. Once again, they are all sleeping along the shoreline.

 

[scdeerslayer]

I wouldn't put a ramp on it unless you want the turtles to get in there. And thinking about it now, a ramp would also make it easier for a fox or other predator to get into the house.

 

[KubotaToy]

I did just a floating platform in my pond, but the ducks hardly use it. The only time they use it is if I want to catch them. They mostly sleep along the shore but sometimes on my pier. I have a fence to keep most animals out but the foxes seem to find the weak spots a lot.

 

[s219]

Cool idea!

 

[alexsbuddy]

My ducks are using it off and on. Last night it got down to 7 degrees and most of them (seven) were on it when I checked at dawn, but one was missing. Unfortunately, I found some evidence along the bank that indicated she fell victim to coyotes. Tonight the remaining seven decided they wanted to bunk up with chickens so they are all safe and snug.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

Shoot, I thought we were going to talk about duck blinds

Cool idea, and I'm sure the ducks like it.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Very nice! My mallard and pekin ducks want nothing to do with my 2 acre pond. They think it is the pond of death! But I have wild wood ducks, mallards and canadian geese that stop by on a regular basis in spring, summer and fall. I've been planning on building a large island and your floating house gives some good ideas.

View attachment Pond View.jpg

 

[Zockel]

Well done on the construction. I did something similar a few years back but skimmed on the pontoons. It sank after a couple of months . The PVC pipes are a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
How are you going to retrieve the duck eggs come spring? Mine figured out pretty quickly that this was the save place for laying.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Well done on the construction. I did something similar a few years back but skimmed on the pontoons. It sank after a couple of months . The PVC pipes are a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
How are you going to retrieve the duck eggs come spring? Mine figured out pretty quickly that this was the save place for laying.

Zockel, what did you use for pontoons that didn't work out? I was thinking 2 liter bottles, and wondered if that is what failed.

I was thinking of putting a clothes line setup going across the pond, over the man made island. I would hang a feeder from the clothes line and run it out over the island to attract more wild ducks. Then I could pull it back when I need to fill it up again.

For eggs, you could use the same concept and pull the entire duck house back to shore. I am not worried about eggs since I am targeting wild ducks.