4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Duck-Noob]

Busy Day today as some might know i decided to make some space ready for my 2 new ducklings to live in when there big enough Heres how the day went......

 

 

First up i cleared an area in my garden that wasnt really used for much really just a corner where not much would grow (Thats Robert enjoying the Sunshine in one of my earlier projects )

 

Then i bought a rigid pond...

 

I proceeded to Dig the hole for the pond ....

 

Eventually the hole was big enough for the pond to sit in flush....

Little bit of sand in the bottom of hole to help level it out ...

In the mean time while i am hard at work pecky and daisy are having fun in olivers tent ...

The pond was ready for filling now so as to determine its final position. suprise suprise oliver is interested now

It doesnt last long till he is bored though and its put on auto-pilot ....

When full i proceed to put rocks around the pond hopefully so that not much gets dragged in by the ducks

Were getting there now

 

That was gonna be it for today but its nice outside and i am on a roll so one short trip to B&Q later and i return with 6 bags of wood chippings and some lawn edging...

I nail one edge of the edging to existing fence then proceed to lay the rest out so as to make a pen for the duckies...

 

I add the wood chips to the floor area Hopefully this will mean the area wont get as messy as if it was just grass/Mud and the wood should be easy to pick out from the pond...

 

When i get round to making the Duck House this will be the view from it

Finally finished for the day..

I introduce the little ones for a quick look around

They seem to approve

 

I also took a couple small videos too of their first look around and somewhat Forced Swim

 

http://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn154/ftm2008/?action=view&current=SS850053.flv

 

http://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn154/ftm2008/?action=view&current=SS850054.flv

 

 

All in all quite a productive and enjoyable day Total cost up to now =

 

Rigid pond :£43

Wood chippings £30

Lawn Edging £30

Lawn edging posts £3

 

 

To Be Continued

[gooner.girl]

WOW! Thats a hard days work. And great pics - what breed of ducks do you have? They will love their new accomodation and pond.

 

Can you come round and do my garden when you have finished?! I need summat like that at the end of my garden for mine!

 

[Duck-Noob]

I was told they are silver appleyard and aylesbury time will tell i guess

And sure i can come round and do your garden .

If anyone can see anything that i missed out or did wrong please feel free to let me know or even some improvements i am a new duck keeper not even a week old yet so i am making it up as i go along really

thanks for the kind comment gooner.girl

[gooner.girl]

They're gorgeous whatever they are! They will grow up SO fast though....

 

Pond looks fab - only thing i wondered was how are you going to clean it? cos ducks get their water dirty SO quickly... Bale out the water and replace via hose or do you have a pump you can use? If so what sort of pump do you have cos i need to get one for my pond!

 

So... when are you coming round?! Theres a cup of tea and a choccy biccie in it for you!

 

BTW any questions just ask - one of us duck keepers might know the answer!

[Duck-Noob]

I plan to get a submersible pump which will do the job of emptying the dirty water, as new as i am to ducks i also never had a poind before but my plan was to get a net and trawl through to check theres no snails and large parts of soil etc then use the pump to get rid of the dirty water.

Theres a selection here :

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Tool-Shop/Automatic-Submersible-Water-Pumps

the more you spend the better your gonna gte of course but any of those would do the job some can actually pump out large particles too but i figure that its best to use the net first in case of frogs or other wildlife.

Hope this helps, Feel free to post pics of your setup if you have any or anyone else for that matter its always nice to get ideas from others

[gooner.girl]

So how exactly do those sort of pumps work then? Do you attach it to a hose and aim the water down a nearby drain? At the moment i have this set up for my ducks...

 

 

Its a proper duck pond from the Domestic fowl trust (ridiculously expensive for what is just a huge seed tray really ) We have it below the water tap in our garden and empty it by bucket and fill it up. Thats a bit labour intensive and i'd like to move it elsewhere in garden but need to sort out a hose and pump first. I'd like to bury it like you did yours and put some rocks around it but am not to good at DIY/gardening.

[Duck-Noob]

Basically theres a dongle type thing that sits in the bottom of the pond and it sucks the water out and pushes it through a hose where you can indeed aim to a drain or water a plant maybe when the water is all gone the pump will automatically switch off and stop pumping you will be left wit a little of course but this can be mopped up easily (i hope ).

As for your pond it looks as if that would be easy to sink into the ground all you need to do is measure it and make sure its level etc, if you need help regarding this feel free to private messgae me or maybe you have msn or something. Either way I am sure its well within your capabilities to do this and just think how proud you will feel afterwards .

Nice Ducks by the way.

 

Steve

[gooner.girl]

Thanks. They're moulting at the moment and the girls are a real pale brown now and the boys (the call ducks) have changed colour round their heads and chests. Is interesting to watch!

 

When i get a pump (thanks for the explanation btw - am a bit thick about that sort of thing! ) then i may well try to sink the pond into the ground into the ground and no doubt will be pestering you by PM or msn for some advice.

 

Are your ducks girls or boys? What sort of duck house are you getting them? They living inside or out at the moment?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's a hard day's work you've put in there . It looks fab and your little ducklings are so cute . Love the videos .

[Duck-Noob]

Pecky and Daisy are both Girls, as for the duck house i am unsure yet so any advice on that would be appreciated i will probably build my own i think but if you have any tips on what to include etc i am all ears,At the minute the ducklings are inside in a box at night anyway but i try to let them out through the day as much as possible to get used to the garden.

As a side note can you tell me what kind of drinker and feeder is best to buy for the Duck house when its finally made (probbaly next weekend).

 

Thanks

Steve

[Duck-Noob]

Appreciate the kind comments Ain't "Ooops, word censored!"ody Here

feel free to post your pics of set up too, I am New and so keen to learn

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Don't have ducks I'm afraid . I was just impressed by all your hard work and lovely photos .

[gooner.girl]

Ahhhh. just spotted your first post introducing them. Must have missed that before!

 

Something like this -

 

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/acatalog/Dinky_Duck_House.html

 

whether bought or made would be ideal i should think - though it does depend on how tall they will grow so is best to research what sort of height they might reach in adulthood (aylesburys are quite tall i think) before purchasing/making something to small. It doesn't really need anything special inside it - though perhaps a simple nesting box if they're both girls (not that its any guarantee they will lay in there Mine currently lay down the side of the garage which requires an assault course to get at them!) Mine don't actually go in the eglu at night anyway i don't think - they stay in the run - though obviously yours will have to learn to 'go to bed' so you can keep them safe from foxes. As for feeders and drinkers. As well as a grub and glug mine have a trough like this

 

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/acatalog/Galvanised_Troughs.html

 

for their layers pellets. A simple bowl will do for their water - one that can't be tipped over easily or another trough. You'll be refilling it pretty much every day - they get drinking water WAY dirtier then chickens do (not sure why... )

[Duck-Noob]

Thanks looks like a great website and they deliver too which is what i have been looking for if you have other useful websites feel free to share them

i was also wondering do i put glug and grub inside the sleeping quarters or just in the enclosure is ok ?

and as far as i know there are no foxes round where i live so thats one less thing to worry about hopefully

[foreveryoung]

Hi it looks great!! there is only one thing that concerns me and I do hope Im not speaking out of turn....................

 

 

I noticed they had trouble getting out of the pond, Im sure your not gonna leave them unattended depending on how big they actually grow too, they still might have difficulties with this.

 

could I surggest mabe some sort of walkway into and out of the pond?, the walk way Helen (gooner.girl) has would do the job! and if not needed at a later date can be removed!!!

 

 

Emma

x

[Duck-Noob]

Point taken and no offense at all taken .

I had planned for this occurance and there ius a escape route built into that particular pond which i purposly put smaller rocks in the vacinity and lone behold after 5 minutes watching them struggle to find a way out they found it and happily jump out with no problems i think one of the pictures shows daisy standing on said place .

The problem now seems to get them to want to come out

thanks for the post and concern this is exactly what i am looking for in case i have overlooked something like that

Thanks again

Steve

[Lesley]

We use a water butt attached to one of these

http://www.ascott.biz/acatalog/Eltex-Round-Galvanised-Ball-Valve-Drinker-PY86.html

 

We top the water butt up from the hose, and it lasts a long time. They keep this quite clean. We have the same pond as Helen and it sits on a sump pit filled with stones and gravel. We just tip it up and all the dirty water soaks into the sump.

[Egluntyne]

Super pics.

[tara]

Just love what you have done for some one new to ducks you really have done a good job It might be an idea to take a rock awat for a while so they could get in and out.I found 2 of my ducklings had drowned in there water and they were about 5 weeks old so never leave them until you have watched them get in and out a few times with out difficultly.Your ducks are so cute you have hours of watching ahead of you.As for your little boy my children are the same they want to hold them or just do the water when the cleaning out needs to be done there no where to be seen .Mind you l love cleaning out my chooks and ducks some people say to me how do you find the time but l find it relaxing.As for your duck house if you run a long the eglu idea you cant go far wrong as for the size that depends on how more you add.

[Duck-Noob]

Probably another 2 Ducks at most, Then maybe some chickens later seems i have the bug allready .

[debbie26pet]

oh wow thats great, now then need to work on hubby to do some altering to my garden, of to work on him

[chelsea]

lovely pictures and very adorable ducks.

 

They have a lovely pond and duck "area" what lucky duckies!

[SAB]

Lovely step by step pictures. I do not have ducks but am intending to make a wildlife pond soon and will definately refer to your photos when doing so.

 

Your ducklings are gorgeous!

[Duckmomma]

Well done!

It's a lovely enclosure and your ducklings are so cute

[Duck-Noob]

Well its been a while since last on here but i thought id update and as a few questions

in the end i bought a rabbit hutch which they both live in they seem very happy in there.

I was thinking of buying a couple of indian runner eggs and incubate them myself has anyone any advice where to buy and maybe a guide as to how to do it?

secondly when will these ducks start to lay approx ? they are 5 months old now.

i was also thinking of trying to hatch some chickens probably 4 maybe 6 would like a variety of breeds if possible again any advice on where to get eggs from much appreciated i also wondered if there is a way to be sure i get hens and not a cockeral or is there no chanceof this happening (remember im new to all this )

thats it for now thanks in advance for any help .

I will post pics of the ducks soon and maybe someone can confirm what they are