Ducklings' New House

   The ducklings recently were moved into a new temporary house, until they are old enough to live with the rest of the flock. When they were first born, they lived in a old guinea pig cage that we had. The problem with that was when ducks drink they put their bills in the water and take a sip then shake their heads back and forth  making everything wet. When you combine that with all the crumbs that fall out of their bills when they eat and the wood shavings it turned into a soupy mess in less then 24 hours. Then next house I tried was a quick wooded box with an old house screen on the bottom. I put the box and them in the garage so we didn't have to smell them. It work for a little bit but, because the box was on the cement all the water and waste stayed right under them. Again making a big soupy mess. Their new house is made to go outside and be moved around so the bottom can air out. What I did was take a old pallet I had and put some metal screen that someone gave me on the bottom. I also used the same screen for one of the sides, it's 3/8 of an inch spacing screen. Next I used some exterior plywood I had and put up some walls and a roof. Cut out a door and used some old hinges for it. I still need to put some wood siding and shingles on for a better look but so far it hasn't cost me anything to make.
   On a sad note, we're down to three ducklings. When they were living in the garage, something got in there and took some of them. We're not sure what it was but, made sure that the new house was built tight so nothing can get in.