In last Mondays I mentioned that the ducks got out of there pen AGAIN. Today I am going to elaborate. A few months ago me and my dad built a chicken (duck) tractor. It has a rectangle base made of PVC pipe, with 8 thinner PVC pipes arching to the top on each side. On the top we connected each PVC pipe with a connector in the shape of an x or a +. In the front we used some wood to make a frame for the door. The door is actually a sliding door also made of PVC pipe. Then we wrapped the whole thing in deer netting in way that would give some people a heart attack. We fastened the deer netting to the PVC pipe with zip ties.
After we thought we completed the chicken (duck) tractor we moved it off our driveway so we could drive on it. As we were moving it we realized quickly that it was getting torn on weeds and the deer netting wasn’t going to work. We didn’t want to get rid of the deer netting though so my dad just wrapped the bottom in steel mesh. Problem solved.
With our chicken (duck) tractor completed we caught the ducks with a net. This net was made of left over deer netting, a branch from our sumac trees, and some zip ties. I think we chased these ducks around for over an hour before we eventually caught them all. A day goes by and everything is going smoothly and then one of our ducks, Mia escaped. We checked the tractor and there didn’t look there were any holes. Then it turns out Mia had a nest she was sitting on so we figured she got out from pure determination.
The next weekend my parent had to both leave town. (this was actually the weekend my dad went to get the bees) Since my parents were gone my grandma stayed with us. This weekend happened to be rainy and windy, but we still decided to go to a few greenhouses. When we got back we saw ducks all over our backyard. I went to go look at the chicken tractor and it had moved a few feet. This led us to believe that the chicken tractor had blown in the air long enough for 10 ducks to run away. After my dad got back we moved the chicken tractor back to it’s original spot. Because we never wanted it to blow away again, we staked it down. So now it won’t tear and it won’t blow away. So now the ducks can’t get out.
It took us a few months to catch the ducks again. Long enough for three of the ducks to hatch more ducks. But after we did finally capture the ducks once again, we woke up to find that some had escaped. My dad inspected the chicken tractor and as he did so he witnessed one of the ducks break free. That is how we learned that they were getting out where the deer netting ended and the tarp began. To fix this problem we added chicken wire everywhere we put the deer netting since that wasn’t working. ( I know we should’ve noticed that when it tore on the weeds) Now we are in the process of adding a bunch of zip ties to secure the chicken wire, steel mesh, the tarp, and the PVC pipes. I hope that the ducks will not be able to get out of the improved chicken tractor and I will let you know if they do.
