Delta Waterfowl’s Hen House Program Receives Grant from Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund

The grant will support Delta’s Duck Production programs in Manitoba, benefitting hunters across Canada and the United States

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA — A grant from the Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund is providing valuable resources to grow Delta Waterfowl’s Hen House program and enhance duck production efforts in Canada.  

The $21,320 grant will fund the construction and installation of 100 new Hen Houses in Manitoba. Field work for the recently approved project will begin near the end of 2023, targeting areas with suitable wetlands and a high density of nesting mallards. Project Hen Houses will be ready for mallards at the beginning of the 2024 nesting season.

“Our Hen House program has grown substantially in recent years,” said Matt Chouinard, senior waterfowl programs director for Delta Waterfowl. “Grants like these are critical—they make an integral difference in our programs, especially as we continue to scale them up as part of the Million Duck Campaign.”

Hen Houses, which are used primarily by mallards, are nesting cylinders made with wire fencing and flax straw and erected on a post in small wetlands. Hens and their nests are safe in Hen Houses from many predators including red foxes, badgers, and skunks that frequently destroy duck nests in sparse patches of grass. Research has shown that mallards using Hen Houses in some intensely farmed regions of Canada are 12 times more likely to hatch a nest than a mallard nesting in the grass.

The organization also received a grant from the Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund in 2022 ($37,000), which funded the installation of 200 new Hen Houses in Manitoba. No doubt many of these Hen Houses are already being used by mallards in 2023.

“Hen Houses are the most cost-effective management tool to produce mallards,” said Chouinard. “This grant, through the Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund, helps to expand our Duck Production Programs and benefits ducks and duck hunters in Manitoba and throughout North America.”

The Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund, created in 2014, fosters an important partnership between the provincial government and Manitoba’s hunters and anglers.

In 2022, Manitoba made a historic $20 million investment to establish an endowment fund with The Winnipeg Foundation, which aims to ensure the long-term funding support for projects that enhance Manitoba’s fish and wildlife populations. Additional funding contributions include 10 percent of the annual fees collected from the sales of angling, hunting, and trapping licenses in Manitoba.

In addition to the Hen House grants in 2022 and 2023, the Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund Grant also committed additional funds to support and expand upon the pressing need for hunter recruitment efforts in Canada. The funds will support Delta’s R3 programs such as First Hunt, the University Hunt Program, and Defend the Hunt.

Delta Waterfowl is The Duck Hunters Organization, a leading conservation group working to produce ducks and secure the future of waterfowl hunting in North America. Visit deltawaterfowl.org. 

For more information about Delta Waterfowl’s Hen House Programs, please contact Matt Chouinard at [email protected].