I've posted on here before about wood duck nesting boxes so I know quite a few Trapperman brothers and sisters run nest boxes as a hobby. Last year I came up with a design of a new box made from 10"PVC pipe and. I made 2 or 3 last year from PVC pipe and wooden board tops and all successfully had woody hens hatch out their clutch in them. This year I made 5 or 6 from the 10" PVC pipe and instead of wooden boards for the top lid, I used part 30 gal plastic barrels that most people throw away. I checked all my nest a few days ago and although it is early I have my last years PVC boxes being used and also 3 of the one I made this year being used. These boxes are way lighter than wooden ones. I am kinda concerned about whether they will insulate as good as wood if placed in the direct sunlight. The top lids do not fit super tight so there should be some natural air movement above the entrance hole. Painting the plastic required using a special paint as regular spray paint did not want to adhere to the plastic very well. The PVC had no problem when using regular spray paint. If these work as good as last year I'll build a few every year... they should last many many years... compared to wooden one !

For those that maintain their own vehicles: The screen inner and psp outer part of an air filter makes a dandy climber for the chicks to egress the box! Without one they're stuck in there till they die.

Thanks BigBob was wondering about the egress part. I tell ppl too to angle the boxes slightly outward also to help with duckling exit.

Would an 8 inch pipe be too small? I have access to a lot of that stuff.......jk

Very Cool

I just found one (down in my woods) that my daughter made me 18 yrs ago. Tree fell and didn't crush the box.

I have it inside now to clean it out ...inspect and re hang


Is it better to attach it to a pole out in the water?

Yes, helps keep predators away, a cone shaped blocker works for Black Snakes, one of the worst Woody killers.

We found a female in the cabin chimney again, almost yearly or every other year......jk

You have a cap on that chimney?

I wonder about 5 gallon buckets upside down with a lid secured on the bottom a couple 3/16 drain holes , and a piece of tin on the top to shed the rain better and not have it pool on the top

a little hardware cloth inside to make an egress to the hole

tip the bucket out at a bit of an angle

if you paint them they would not have issues with UV breakdown of the plastic near as much size would be about right

I saw this guy just sitting in the tree this morning. It is a mallard drake.

On the inside of the PVC pipe... and all my wooden boxes too... I take a high speed dremel type tool and a thin cutting disk and "slice" a ladder ( slots about 1/8" to 1/4" apart) all the way from the bottom up to the entry hole. Mesh or screen work to but I have had people tell me once in a while a duckling will get their toe nail wedge d between the screen and box and die hanging there. I have never used mesh so I don't know for sure if that really happens.

could probably speed that up with some cedar fence boards and the table saw then cut them into strips and a screw top and bottom

Thats funny

I have all my wood duck boxes near a water source but I do know that several people have had woodies nest in trees... chimneys... other structures up to a mile or more from any water. In the town of 12,000 people where I work there have been wood ducks nest smack in the middle of a residential area in a hollow tree. I would not put the nest over water, too hard to check or take care of.

Looks like a good idea, has the price of pvc come down, at one time it was really expensive, but the good side is that they would out last most people.

Couple questions. When you used the wood for the top, how did you attach it? Also, how is the bottom made?

For the bottom I just used a 1" rough cut board and cut a circle from the board with a jig saw just the same size as the ID of the PVC pipe. Then I put it inside the pipe about 1/4" up from being flush and drilled holes in the pvc pipe and screwed it solid. I drilled 3 or 4 3/8" holes so it can drain water if need be... but should always be dry. For the top I used a 1 X 12 board with another board to kinda make an awning so rain can't come in the hole at an angle. I cut a 2 X 2 long enough so it fir on the inside of the PVC then I screwed that 2 X 2 to the underside of the 1 X 12 roof board and then placed the roof board on the top of the PVC pipe and then drilled holes in PVC and ran screws into the 2 X 2. For the new style where I used a plastic barrel curved piece..... I cut 1" angle iron into a 1/2" strip and drilled 2 holes in that strip angle iron. One hole bolted to the PVC tube with a bolt.... the other hole I put a long threaded carriage bolt sticking straight up and drilled holes in the curved plastic to so the top fits over the bolts and tightens down. It all seems to work out pretty good.

I am sure new PVC is high. I got lucky and had a contractor give me 2 20 foot 10" PVC tubes years ago. Brand new. He told me it was left over from a job in which the company that hired him to do the installation paid for it in the total bid and he didn't want to mess with taking it back or hauling it out. Told me if I got it right away I could have it for free. Also I have found a lot of short scraps of 4" PVC for my bluebird nests that contractors will give me... just dig them out of the trash bin.Same with a couple 10" scraps I got. The contractors don't want to mess with 2 or 3 foot left over on a job pieces. Just gotta keep looking and keep asking !

Thanks!

Alot of good info here from all that posted .I have put out several over the years Mostly had gray squirrels using them And sometimes owls also Once again all the cruel trappers that just want to kill everything going against that stupidity and nonsense and actually doing something to improved wildlife habitat I had some years ago built and put out a large number of bluebird boxes And it was incredible how many of them where being used by all types of birds and small mammals would rear an unreal number of young This is a good post and it can be an example to use to show kids how to get involved in wildlife There was a young boy that earned his Eagle Scout badge by coordinating a day of building different types of boxes And the boy that earned his scouting badge had contacted local land owners to find spots to place the boxes If there are county parks or public walking areas these boxes. could be a great way to educate the public about wildlife . So from locating the patterns the making the boxes and arranging for donations to purchase the materials and than setting up a few work days to get boxes built This is where the younger kids can be very useful to the process and than going out to the public or private area and hanging the boxes is a project that is valuable to the scouts too and the public And the biggest winner is the wildlife using them them