Wood Duck Houses...

[HuntinTom]

Anybody got any info/experience on building wood duck houses? I'd like to put up one in a little pond next to me this year. last year the ducks made a nest and laid some eggs only to have a raccoon eat all the eggs...

[GeauxLSU]

Tom,
There's several plans on the web. Here's one from out friends at DU. http://www.ducks.org/conservation/woodduck_box.asp
I'd probably hinge it so that the side opens instead of the top (easier to clean). I made some very similar and they worked well. I used a router to 'etch' a criss-cross pattern in the front inside for the hatchlings to climb out. It worked like a charm. Fill the bottom with cedar shavings and they're loving you. You can get multiple hatches a year if you tend them.
GET A PREDATOR GUARD!
Occasionally people on here with various conservation groups sell 'em pretty cheap. Mine were out for about three years and are still workable (I should just change the hardware) but I'd like to just buy some made from cypress or cedar. Mine were pressure treated (pine, which theoretically you shouldn't use due to chemicals).
They are amazing creatures and sure are fun to have around.
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil

[bigunga1]

it is best to use rough cut lumber from a saw mill..... if you can find some let me know where...

i was told there was a saw mill somewhere around lanett alabama but have not had time to go find it...

cypress or cedar is best but its hard to find... pine will last for years if you predrill and screw it together.... nailing is a waste of time and money....

the preditor gaurd is the most important and most expensive part...

i like to hinge the front up... put the hinge above the entrance hole and the hook on the bottom of the box...

gadawgs with the atl chapter of delta waterfowl sells boxes every year ...

"gwa" ga waterfowl assoc. also sells boxes and preditor gaurds....

[CAL]

I built 6 this last spring too late to be used.For a predator guard I used a piece of valley tin 3 ft.wide and did a wrap around the post.I don't think anything can climb this but time will tell!I built mine out of treated plywood and tacked hardware cloth up to the hole for the little ones to climb out on.When the smoke cleared I had $10.00 each in the houses.
To clean them out I put the bottom in with screws to be removed for cleaning.