Duck Nesting Box (The Ducks, Part I)

(A Post By Matthew)

      As many of you may know, we have had five ducks wintering with us on the pond.  Of the nine that we received from my brother Philip, only five of them resisted the calling of their wild friends as they migrated south for the winter.  I installed an aerator in the pond to keep the ice open for them and kept their food dish filled.  They have been a source of entertainment during the long winter. 

        One of my co-workers suggested that I make a nesting tube for the ducks and showed me some plans for them on the internet.  I was able to find a roll of wire mesh, staples, a sheet of plastic, and a post out in the shed.  The only item that I didn't have on hand was some grass hay to fill the tube.  

        To start out, I made a platform out of a 2X6 and secured it to the top of the post.  I then cut a piece of the wire mesh to 100 inches and rolled the first 42 inches into a tube.  The next step was to lay the grass on the remaining 58 inches with a piece of plastic to help shed the rain.  After drilling a hole in the ice, I pounded the post in and stapled the wire mesh to the 2X6 as shown below.

Getting ready to staple the wire mesh onto the 2X6

     With the help of my wife, I rolled the rest of wire mesh as tight as possible to avoid losing any of the grass.  After securing the loose end, I arranged the grass in the tube in the shape of a nest.

The tube is a little longer than necessary but that was how tall the wire was and I figured maybe they could share.

A nice cozy nest 

The finished product

       I finished the project just in time, as the weather soon became warm and the ice began to melt.  Much to our dismay, the ducks never seemed to notice the nice nest that I made for them and have since found other nesting locations.  Two of the ducks stay around most of the time and the other three seem to have made a nest at some other location, although they come back often for the free food.

     We ruined their first nesting location when we removed the cover off the aerator we found an egg sitting on the dock.  

     After that we saw them poking around under one of the bushes in our landscaping.  When I checked it the next day there were already two eggs in the nest.

Day one: two eggs 

Day two: one egg was banished from the nest (It must have been bad) 

Day three: another good egg joined the nest.  

     I was a little concerned that the ducks were not sitting on the nest, but after consulting the internet I found out that they won't start sitting until they have laid 10-12 eggs.  After that, the ducks will take turns sitting on the eggs for 28 days until they hatch.