These three are the residents of my Duck Tractor, each duck gets 30+ ft² to flap their wings about. The picture on the left is how they looked as immature drakes, they've since become the handsome Drakes below.

— By S. L. Johnson —

Here is the Duck Tractor I built for the Boys, my version of the a Chicken Tractor. I think it's rather over built, but it will last for years and thats what I wanted.
 

I used half-lap joints based on a timber framing joint style I thought would be effective. I use mostly used galvanized deck screws to put it together, though I did use some exterior nails to build the two L-beams that the wire doors are attached to. I used green vinyl coated woven poultry wire on the inside of the structure. I have plans to put a layer of 1.5 x 2" welded mesh — also coated with green vinyl — should the yard dog and electric fence prove ineffective in keeping predators at bay. I plan to add additional strands of both live and dead wires around the bottom to further dissuade the hungery.

— Click on the thumbnail image to view larger picture —

We had planed on moving the entire structure into a nearby shop for the winter, but it proved to be easier to build a box/hut to set in to the covered part to provide protection from the elements. That hut can also be used to transport small animals and with an old dot matrix printer sound deadening cabinet set on top it works as a warmer for chicks and ducklings (notice an over building pattern developing). I put a wood and wire bottom on it so that moisture will not accumulate. I also built custom hinges for the top so that the lid pieces lie flat when closed and parallel to the sides when open.

One point of note: on both the tractor and the hut, I expect to perform yearly maintenance by putting the tractor on blocks to clean off the mud and guano and the reapply the white stain where needed. Same for the hut, except it won't need to be put up on blocks. This should further extend the life of this Duck Tractor and hut.