DIY Mallard House

So, I took a crack at building a mallard house over the weekend.  It’s a poor man’s mallard house, to be sure, but I wanted to build it exclusively with items we had around the garage at the cabin.  So here’s what I did:

1) I took about 6 feet of chicken wire and laid it out.

2) I built a platform using scrap lumber.

3) I “borrowed” two of the floating noodles from the kids.  I secured them to the platform with duct tape (I know, I know, it’s not waterproof).  The duct tape is actually just to protect the noodles from the plastic zip ties, which are what really holds the floats to the platform.

4) Then I made the chicken wire into a cylinder by rolling it twice, filled it with swamp grass, and secured it to the platform with staples.

5) And finally, I launched it from the duck boat in a place that I’ve seen ducks nest before.

Watch this space for an update as to whether any mallards move in — or whether it sinks or floats away!