Our First Duck House and 26 Ducks
Our first duck house, 26 locally purchased ducks, and early lessons about construction, ventilation, and learning as we went.
On 22 February 2025, construction began on our first duck house at MNC Farms in Grand Bassa County, Liberia. After securing the land and starting the first stage of development, we were now building a place for our ducks.
During this stage, we also brought in our first 26 ducks. We bought them locally for US$10 each. Their arrival was the moment we considered the farm officially started: we now had our first flock to look after.
- Ducks in our first flock
- 26
- Paid for the structure (USD)
- $3,100
- Paid per duck (USD)
- $10
Building our first duck house
The duck-house structure cost us US$3,100. It felt expensive at this early stage, and we wanted the building to follow the design we had in mind.
The photographs show the house and fencing under construction, with people working around the enclosure. A project that had begun with open land was now taking a more visible shape.
The ventilation we wanted
Good airflow was an important part of the house we wanted. We had a clear idea of how open the structure should be, but the builders covered the sides almost all the way up, leaving less ventilation than we had intended.
That was frustrating, especially after spending so much on the structure. Working with builders became one of the real challenges of those early days. We had to deal with the difference between the building we had pictured and the one that was taking shape.
Local opportunity, and a shortage of skills
We wanted the farm to create opportunities for people in the surrounding community. That mattered to us from the beginning. Finding enough workers with the construction skills we needed, however, was difficult.
We managed to keep moving forward, even with those challenges. The experience made us more aware of the attention that building work would need, alongside all the other tasks involved in starting a farm.
Grass began coming back
Around the duck house, grass was beginning to return. After the fire and the bare ground we had seen during our first days on the land, patches of green were appearing again.
These photographs capture that change: new growth across the ground, the road through the site, and the roof of the first duck house. The land and the farm were beginning to look different.
Welcoming our first 26 ducks
We procured all 26 ducks locally. At US$10 each, the flock cost US$260. Together with the US$3,100 paid for the structure, those two purchases came to US$3,360.
The photographs of the ducks inside the house belong to this part of our story. They remind us of the small flock with which we officially began, and of the daily responsibility that came with bringing animals onto the farm.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Duck-house structure | $3,100 |
| 26 locally purchased ducks at US$10 each | $260 |
| Total of these costs | $3,360 |
Learning through trial and error
We had already accepted that this journey would involve trial and error. There would be things we got wrong, and we intended to learn from those mistakes as we went.
The first duck house gave us an early lesson in that process. We had the excitement of starting with our ducks, the pressure of construction costs, and a building that did not fully match our plans. We managed through those first difficulties and carried the experience into the work ahead.
Our farm had officially begun with 26 locally purchased ducks. Learning how to build and manage it would be part of the journey from that point onward.
Construction and duck photographs supplied by MNC Farms for this chapter.
Published · Recalling the duck-house construction that began on 22 February 2025 and the first flock brought in during this stage.