Duck pen

So new here and daughter convinced us to get ducklings. Right now soaking tub in master bathroom is brooder, thank god for pee pads. Here is my question we have foxes, Coyotes, and several other predators that would love a nice juicy duck. I have an enclosure I'm building for when they are big enough to go outside that will be completely wrapped in wire sides and top also have a partial area that will have top for sun protection. It is 10' wide and 20' long. Have a concrete pad that I can fit two of the enclosures on one for ducks with there only little pool and another for chickens. So now that I've painted the picture what bedding should I put on the concrete to protect there feet and in the there actual coop that I will secure them in at night for safety reasons. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking deep litter system just not sure best material to use. I have no issue mucking out as needed.

Welcome to Permies! Although I have had chickens, my duck experience wouldn't fill a thimble but I think others will be along to offer helpful suggestions.

Someone on here just published a duck book I think, off to find the link.

Duck Book

Welcome to permies Jonathan! And welcome to duck wrangling!

Lots of questions!

1. Wire needs clarifying: I recommend something strong like chain link with a lining of 1/2" hardware cloth (the square mesh stuff - there are different names for it) with the kind of predator pressure you're describing. The old saying "build it and they will come" can equate to, "get animals and every predator for 100 miles will show up, including the ones you didn't think of. Half inch will exclude rats and mice which attract other predators (not to mention eat your feed).

2. Ducks also needs clarifying: I have Khaki Campbell ducks which are known for their egg laying prowess. But they're skittish, so you will need to provide some "duck-sized" cover be it plants, tunnels out of wood etc.

3. Ducks *have* to clean their eyes and nares daily, so they need water deep enough to fully dunk their heads, and they will get it dirty in 37 seconds or less... Ducks are very messy with their water so it's *very* important to plan where that water is going to drain to. Yes, they would love something large they can almost paddle in, and some people will feel it's not fair if you deprive them of that, but the amount of dirty water that generates has to be planned for. One of my old duck locations (disassembled due to a dangerous tree) I used a short stock tank in the summer with a pipe connected that I could move a few feet each 2 days when I went to dump an rinse the tank. Where they are currently located, I can't give them anything larger than a large rubber feed bin, but other critical infrastructure issues have jammed the queue. However, the bin is large enough for them to get into for a bath, and that is critical (and messy). So I strongly recommend you figure out where the water will go, and plan accordingly. Water loving and water cleaning plants for the run-off!

4. I use chipped and shredded tree duff and lots of it for my ducks. We live in the forest and we have our own chipper/shredder (PTO off our small tractor). We also live in a high fire risk area, so clearing brush and chipping it for animal bedding is our current best option. The book Karen linked to is an excellent beginner book and the author covers a bunch of options. With you being on concrete, adding 6" of soil as a base with bedding over it could have merit.
Here's the link to the book reviews here on permies: https://permies.com/wiki/257078/Raising-Ducks-Beginners-Guide-Breeds  Kate wrote an excellent summary of the book, and I added a review also.

5. If your run is built like Fort Knox, you don't *have* to have a separate area as a night lock-up. At the moment I lack that for my group of young ducks, but the area is surrounded by greenery and a friend's Banty infrastructure, so they don't feel too exposed. The area is set up for both ducks and chickens, so there is a covered perch area surrounded by heavy tarps which they go to when the weather is particularly horrible.

In a perfect world, I would have a secure duck house/run and then multiple moderately secure paddocks they could rotate through during the day. They *love* fresh greens and to dig for worms, bugs and slugs. I have used Dog Exercise Pen fencing for a daytime area, but even with deer fencing over the top, harassments by flying predators was an issue and moving it was a huge amount of work. Ducks *can* learn to "follow you" to a run area, even if that area moves around, so long as it doesn't move too far at once. We use plastic hockey sticks to "herd" them, and once they have the idea, they're quite keen on it! However, I always had some bits of X-pen fencing to help me guide them just to make my life a bit easier. I got a bunch of it second hand and have found it very useful, but it is *not* secure from many critters, particularly mink, or a team of coons.

Permies *loves* baby pictures - the link in my signature will take you to info about how to post them here! Hopefully this helps and please ask more questions and give us more details. (Climate info is a big help. )

Thank you will definitely check it out. I'm starting out with a pen I bought that I think is a good start but the believe they only supply poultry netting. I plan on using that then goin back around and over it with more heavy duty metal fencing. As far as a pool area I probably won't go very big eventually the are around them will be fenced in and I will be able to let them free range during day a little more when that happens I plan on giving them more of a swimming hole persay lol. I was told these are straight run ducks, I'm not sure if it goes by region or not we are in north Mississippi.

The day the ducklings were brought home. Good use of soaking tub in master bathroom 😂 in the brand new house.

Jonathan Jackson wrote:I was told these are straight run ducks,

When someone says, "straight run chicks" it means they haven't been sorted for sex, at least where I live (Canada). So that means you could have 4 boys, 4 girls, or a mix, regardless of what probability says. Here, it means nothing about the breed, although they appear to likely be the standard Pekin white duck.

Jay Angler wrote:

Jonathan Jackson wrote:I was told these are straight run ducks,

When someone says, "straight run chicks" it means they haven't been sorted for sex, at least where I live (Canada). So that means you could have 4 boys, 4 girls, or a mix, regardless of what probability says. Here, it means nothing about the breed, although they appear to likely be the standard Pekin white duck.

Yes that's what I assume for here too 😂. That's what I tried to tell my daughter is until they are sexed she can't name them cause we could have 4 Fred's or 4 Wilma's or a mix.

Jonathan Jackson wrote: ...until they are sexed she can't name them cause we could have 4 Fred's or 4 Wilma's or a mix.

We got lucky with three straight runs. We named them Huey, Dewey, and Louie and then had the delightful task of renaming them April, May and June!