Wood duck houses

[tinytim]

We have a stream that runs through the property and I have built a few. Made mine out of 1" white pine, some have been out for close to 10 years and will probably last that long again. I just screwed them to trees. I put a strip of rat wire on the inside and made sure it wasn't tight against the wood, I also try to get the boxes tipping forward slightly. They worked great for us, I will be cleaning them out in the next week or 2 and adding new shavings.

 

[bueller]

Very cool Tim. Never had issues with predators raiding the houses?

 

[browndog]

Can coons and other predators not climb PVC?

I'm not sure. I think they could manipulate a wooden post with a metal cone easier than climbing a metal/pvc pipe as a post. They surely can wreak some havoc. All my houses are 6'+ off the water/ground to the opening of the box.

 

[Tree Spud]

What does everyone use for baffles? Store bought ones are pricey. I could easily attach the house to a tree but a post with baffle is highly recommended for predator control everywhere I read.

Depends what your post is. If it is a 2.0" metal ploe, you can cut a 2' x 2' pieve of galvanized sheet metal. Draw an outter cirle towards the edges. Then vut a "V" towards the center on one side. Cut a 3" whole in the center. As you draw the "V" edges together, it will form a cone.

 

[OakSeeds]

If you are not enjoying success ... and you have woodies in the area ... try mounting the box over the water AND as high as you can get it. Yes they will cavity nest as far as a mile from water and in a house on a short pole; however, if you want to max the probability a hen will nest in your box, mount it 12-15' high and over water.

 

[bueller]

I have a good number of dead oaks still standing that I'm sure provide natural nesting cavaties for wood ducks and other wildlife.

 

[BJE80]

If you are not enjoying success ... and you have woodies in the area ... try mounting the box over the water AND as high as you can get it. Yes they will cavity nest as far as a mile from water and in a house on a short pole; however, if you want to max the probability a hen will nest in your box, mount it 12-15' high and over water.

So in my case you think I would improve my chances if I moved my box over the water?

 

[wiscwhip]

Right to the edge and way higher. Within 5 feet of the bank or out in the water and at least 8' high. 12'-15' would be better, but I understand that can make for a PIA to clean it out each spring.

 

[woodduck]

The Wood Duck Society has a lot of great information on wood ducks, nest box design and box placement. woodducksociety.com. I built 2 of there house designs and placed them over a shallow pond I had dug specifically for ducks last summer that includes a small island, loafing logs and button bush I planted for cover in the future. I hope this new pond will be more attractive to wood ducks as the other pond I have on the farm doesn't seem attractive to them and they would not use the boxes I had put up around it. Time will tell.

 

[wiscwhip]

The Wood Duck Society has a lot of great information on wood ducks, nest box design and box placement. woodducksociety.com. I built 2 of there house designs and placed them over a shallow pond I had dug specifically for ducks last summer that includes a small island, loafing logs and button bush I planted for cover in the future. I hope this new pond will be more attractive to wood ducks as the other pond I have on the farm doesn't seem attractive to them and they would not use the boxes I had put up around it. Time will tell.

Sounds pretty cool, got pics?

 

[woodduck]

I do not, but I'll take some and post them!

 

[woodduck]

Here's a pic of the Duck pond and a pic of one of the new wood duck boxes. I still need to put the predator guards on them.... hopefully this weekend. Woodies should be showing up soon !

 

[bueller]

My house arrived today. Seems well built to me. Has a side clean out and it came with a couple bags of wood shavings and instructions.



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[woodduck]

My boxes are built a lot like yours Bueller, I really like the hole shape and the extra build out on your boxes. I need to change the wood shavings in my old boxes and fill my new ones. I always wait until the last minute because I always get screech owls roosting in mine through the cold winter months and they like to leave a lot of scat in them. They always seem to quit using them when the snow melts.

 

[bueller]

Is that shavings or sawdust? Don't want to use sawdust.

Shavings. Forgot to show the back earlier. It comes with a wooden "hanging strap" attached.


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[tinytim]

Very cool Tim. Never had issues with predators raiding the houses?

Not that I know of, I left the cam on this for a couple months, there were a couple flickers that checked it out and one red squirrel that I had pictures of, but she was still successful. I am sure baffles are a great idea, I don't know how I would get something big enough to go around the trees, our ground is so rocky it is hard to drive a stake in. We also do not have a high number of coons around. I think i'll put a cam on one of the boxes again this spring.

 

[bueller]

If I have a jack pine in the right spot I may just cut it off up high and screw the box to it.

 

[ruskbucks]

I just cleaned ours two weeks ago. We had another good hatch, there were eggs in every house. Once in a while there are 10-15 eggs in a house that didn't hatch, this year they were almost all egg shells. We had a pair of mergansers use our one house. Also for the second year in a row, we had some sort of owl using the houses in the winter. There were a few owl pellets along with a mouse with its head missing. All our houses are mounted on 2 inch galvanized poles 6ft high on or over water.

 

[ruskbucks]

Here's a pic of the Duck pond and a pic of one of the new wood duck boxes. I still need to put the predator guards on them.... hopefully this weekend. Woodies should be showing up soon !View attachment 8428 View attachment 8429

That's a awesome looking pond,nice work.

 

[wiscwhip]

Here's a pic of the Duck pond and a pic of one of the new wood duck boxes. I still need to put the predator guards on them.... hopefully this weekend. Woodies should be showing up soon !View attachment 8428 View attachment 8429

Really cool habitat improvement there woodduck! I don't see how you wouldn't get nesting going on there. Thanks for sharing!