Building “Fort Ducky Disneyland” - your input please

[u/commonwealthlawyer]

My wife and I will soon move to a place where we will set up as predator resistant a set up as we can for our duckies, while we also build an environment within their enclosed space that is as enriching as possible.

Because we have the opportunity to build this from scratch, whether we have a body of water on the property already or need to set them up in a pool, it would be very helpful to understand from those who’ve already done this what they would do again what they wouldn’t do again or what they wish they’d done.

Some of the broader design points that I’ve been considering for the “day space” -

1. Elevated pool with a large drain out point in the middle of it to allow easier draining and cleaning

. I can certainly find uses for that drained material in the garden

1. . Not sure yet how many separate drinker stations we would use so that they’re not compelled to go and drink from the pool.
2. Elevated pool necessitates an elevated platform for duckies to access the water and for me to get in there and drain it, whether that is steps in the form of large pavers gently climbing up the side or an all the way around kind of a deck and ramp set up.
3. Overhead netting via a tall pole or two in the centre of the ducky party area.
4. We have to consider how far any predator is likely to dig and how best to guard against it. It could be a case of digging down three feet and putting in a T profile of metal which projects both in and out of the enclosure to keep it stable and to prevent access by anything digging close to the fence.

5. I’ve seen a lot of poultry people use tanbark type media on the ground, but we obviously have to deal with waste clearing

   and replacing the media. That rise as a question about how we then dispose of the tanbark.

They obviously need a place to roost at night and in the cold, and we will work our way through the different options on that but it’s going to be a fairly robust enclosed structure.

We also intend to set it up so that we’ve got an option if the boys get too rambunctious to separate them from the girls, but not deprive them of quality of life. That could end up just being a partition down the middle of the enclosure at the relevant times of the year.

I haven’t really been able to find any books out there suggesting how to build something like this so it’s very much a case of looking at what other others have done and what has worked and what hasn’t.

[u/bogginman]

our ducks prefer steps, not ramps. Each step is level and they get used to taking steps. Ramps are inclined and usually narrow and they don't like them so much. I use a combination of solid half (4") and standard full (8") cement blocks so each step is 4".

A 24" skirt of hardware cloth buried around the enclosure is generally accepted as good enough.

Non-muscovy ducks sleep on the ground or floor, muscovies like to roost on shelves and horizontal posts, except mamas who are nesting.

Good fences (partitions) make good neighbors.

[u/anaxjor]

Sump pumps are your friend.

[u/pandy37615]

No drinker stations will compel them to drink clean water. They prefer the swampiest, filtiest mud puddle they can find.

Mine free range and will climb OUT of a crystal clear spring fed creek to drink from their unchanged overnight water tub, or some crusty old puddle from a rain storm.

[u/Automatic_Berry_7492 → u/pandy37615]

They love mud so much haha mine will be swimming in a clean pool, will lean over the sides, and dig their bills into mud. It’s honestly hilarious how much they love to be dirty birdies.

https://reddit.com/link/p8ge1nh/video/sg0e2gr2x6oh1/player

Here are three of my khaki campbells enjoying a mud puddle this morning

[u/notasfatasyourmom]

I installed a 200-gallon garden pond with two 50-gallon barrels under this setup: https://youtu.be/dD-TETPOzd0?si=awBOkowDXeTfksdp. It keeps most of the solids isolated to the filter barrels, keeping the water in the pond itself relatively clean (except for algae, which is too small for filtration, and grass, which the pump doesn’t filter very well). I have had good luck with it, but isn’t enclosed.

[u/Individual_Candle4 → u/notasfatasyourmom]

Impressive!!!

[u/notasfatasyourmom → u/Individual_Candle4]

It was done out of necessity. It was a hassle to replace their water every day! I also considered an elevated pond with a drain, and I do think that could work, but you would need to run a hose or pipe outside of the enclosure.

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