Plans to Build a Mallard Bird House

Mallard Ducks are usually nesting right on the ground, fairly close to the water. They do this naturally because they need a body of water near by to feed and to bring their babys into shortly after they hatched.
But this nesting habit is a high risk one because their nest is extremely vulnerable.
Besides being exposed to all the ground predators around, the eggs are also treatned by a possible water elevation that occured near a lake or river.
The aim of building a nesting shelter for the Mallards is to keep them safe fron predators and to protect them from the elements.

Your first step will be to build a floating platform to support the nest. The ideal size is something about 3 by 4 feets, preferably shaped as a rectangle to avoid the whole thing to tip over when the water gets agitated.

Use a thick sheet of styrofoam and cut it in half. This will work great the keep the nesting house floating. Then you need to attatch those two pieces of styrofoam together , leaving a space in the middle with wood boards to create a solid floating platform. Make sure not to use any type of treated wood, which is known to release toxins in the environnement.

It will be much better not to have the duck house sitting right on top of the platform. The Mallard house needs to be elevated a little, this is good for a floating house as well as a house on solid ground. This is necessary to protect the nest from getting wet from the rain and the possible waves of water coming on the platform on windy days.

For houses on the ground, the possible variations of water elevation in the pound may flood the duck house after a big rain storm so you need to keep that in mind.

To build a nest for the ducks, get a piece of plastic covered fencing that has about tree feet high by 5 feet long. Cover it with some straw hay and roll it like a cylinder of about 12 to 15 inches. Roll it completely and attach to fence together to make it stay tight. Thigh wraps will do the trick. Install the nest on the floating platform giving it an elevation of about twelve to fifteen inches.

You can do that by installing two pieces of wood across the platform. Them build a roof by using two pieces of plywood and installing them on the top of the nest forming a triangle shape all the way to the platform.

Make sure the roof is longer than the nesting tube to provide protection at the entrance and the exit of the tube. This is a very basic design but that will make the Mallards happy and a will be a safe place to lay their eggs.

You can find other ideas to make a more stylish Mallard house and still make it with materials you may already have at home.

The example above is an easy mallard nesting house you can build at little or no cost, just with material you probably already have around your house. If you can build them , you will see them being occupied within a very short period of time!

If you want to get a more esthetic and elegant mallard house floating around your property, there and no limits to your imagination and you can build several different models. Just make sure the floor is sturdy enough and that the floating platform won't sink under the weight of the house.
You sure can get fancy while doing it but don't worry if yo dont have an idea, just a simple dog house design will do.

You should easily find everything you need to build your mallard nesting house. You can fing plans to build a mallard bird house by clicking on the Woodworking4Home Package Below.

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