Wood duck houses

[woodduck]

I checked the boxes today and one of them has 12 eggs in it. The trail cam pictures are from the base of the nest box post. I hope I get babies this year!

 

[woodduck]

I must either be blind or I have a dump nester! It just occurred to me that I checked the boxes last week and there wasn't any eggs in them yet. Now 7 days later there's 12. I guess it doesn't matter as long as we get ducklings.

 

[Don'tWorryIHuggedItFirst]

Couple pictues of the home farm from today. I bought a wood duck house for my dad this spring after a woodie raised 21 ducklings on the pond last year. That was the first year we had any stay on the pond. She must of had a nest in the woods and walked all the way through the alfalfa to the pond. Figured, if she came back this year we could make it a bit more convenient for her.

Anyways, I was visiting my parents and asked dad if he put up the house, as I wanted to check it if he had. He told me they haven't seen any woodies, only Coots, so there was no point. Well, he must of saw me struggling so he brought down the ladder. He looked in and was super excited when he saw 5 eggs. He had to go get the camera so he could take pictures to show everyone.

Thanks everyone who posted pictures on this thread. That led me to buy the house recommended on here. The $70 was definitely worth it to see my dad so excited. I bet he will be up early tomorrow to try and catch the hen coming to lay another egg.

 

[H20fwler]

Put the waders on and stuck my cell phone in both nest boxes Friday....hens sitting in both!
Videos were blurry as crap not giving it time to focus right, hens were hissing mad like crazy and I didn't want to stress them at all...took this pic off one of the vids that shows eggs when one moved. I will try to get better pics next time.

 

[H20fwler]

Had a nice drake pic too;

I added a camera to the back pond the other day to watch the nest box on that one.

 

[H20fwler]

Yesterday front box;

 

[H20fwler]

Saturday morning after turkey hunting I checked the woody boxes to see how things were progressing with the girls.


And had a pleasant surprise in the back box...hatch day!

Today I cleaned out the back box, it had one dead late hatch duckling and two rotting unhatched eggs with half developed chicks in them. I switched out the cedar chips and have it ready for new tenants.
While turkey hunting the other day I watched hens checking the box to see if it was occupied and lots of wood duck pairs were coming and going on the back pond. Hopefully I can get a second batch yet this year. Next year I'm adding another box to each pond.

 

[Don'tWorryIHuggedItFirst]

Have 10 eggs and they were warm when checked this weekend

 

[bueller]

Nice job guys. The box I put up along a creek last spring has no activity again this year. I know there are woodies around but maybe not as many as I thought. Disappointing.

 

[woodduck]

Nice job guys. The box I put up along a creek last spring has no activity again this year. I know there are woodies around but maybe not as many as I thought. Disappointing.[/QUOTE

I put up wood duck boxes around an old pond several years ago that never got used for some reason. I built a new pond a few years ago and I put up boxes around it and have had a nesting hen the last 2 years. The ponds are only about 50 yards apart and close to the same size. I have no idea why they prefer to nest in the new boxes but not the others. Maybe next year you could move your box or put up another box in a different location and see if they use it then.

 

[browndog]

I will be checking my active boxes tomorrow. I found a ground nest today(mallard I think) dogs kicked the hen off the nest, so I checked the spot and sure enough, a very nice nest full of eggs but I didn't have my camera. I'll try to sneak a few pics tomorrow of her sitting on the nest.

 

[H20fwler]

Had a hooded merganser show up at the back pond...and the box is getting some interested new renters for round two!

 

[woodduck]

Mama Wood Duck was still sitting this morning but I expect jump day any time now.

 

[browndog]

Checked my active boxes Wednesday and the hen woody was still sitting on the eggs, jump day should be soon. The hoody wasnt in the box and the eggs are still there, eggs were really warm.
The mallard nest I found was raided and tore up, all the eggs were gone.

 

[Bill]

Had a hooded merganser show up at the back pond...and the box is getting some interested new renters for round two!

We call those Kramer ducks. Someone threw it out there one day while hunting and it stuck.

I'm waiting for the duckling pics. Should be interesting. I keep threatening to put up a box but haven't yet.

 

[woodduck]

We call those Kramer ducks. Someone threw it out there one day while hunting and it stuck.

That is absolutely hilarious !

 

[H20fwler]

I totally get the Kramer reference, he was hoot....Seinfeld was a good show.

I posted ducklings in post #147 from last Saturday.

 

[H20fwler]

While checking the boxes today I noticed this guy on the back of one of the posts. I think it is an eastern gray tree frog? I know I sure like his camo...reminds me a little of Natgear, would be great pattern for bowhunting.

 

[woodduck]

^^ Wish I could cling in the side of a tree like that too.

 

[H20fwler]

Nice job guys. The box I put up along a creek last spring has no activity again this year. I know there are woodies around but maybe not as many as I thought. Disappointing.

It is very strange how for whatever reason they pic a nest site.
A very good friend of mine has 7-8 boxes up in the best looking wood duck habitat you can imagine right in the river bottom, has boxes from six or seven feet high to sixteen feet off the ground all mounted on posts with predator guards. He has had one hen nest this spring? Plenty of wood ducks in the area we see them all the time but for whatever reason his boxes don't get used very hard?