The ducks are now 3weeks old and really REALLY enjoying their big outdoor pen. I enjoy how the weather has been cooperating (meaning warm enough) so they can be outside for most of the day, only having to come back inside to the brooder at night. Now that they are in the bigger area, I can really see how they stick together like a herd. Spot seems to usually be the leader, but surprisingly sometimes Penelope is (she was the one who always hung back and was less adventurous when the ducklings 1st arrived)
Their outdoor pen is an old metal framed carport/tent shed we had (it’s about 20′ long by 8 or so feet wide) that I covered in chicken wire and welded wire fencing on the sides and top, then covered partially with a tarp on top to increase shade, and buried fencing out around it to discourage predators further. I built a swinging door out of some 2x4s, plywood we had lying around, chicken wire and hinges, and made sure it was big enough to fit a wheelbarrow through for easier coop cleaning.
As the coop is set up on our concrete paver patio, I then lined it with some rubber mats from Harbor Freight, and covered the area under the tarp with straw bedding as well. They have a small 3′ square or so A-frame house (literally, I made it out of an old wooden agility a-frame that could no longer be used for dog agility) they can go in and out of if they choose.
I took a wooden patio couch frame I found and covered the seat area with some wire and plastic mesh, as well as made a ramp to it out of an old x-pen panel. This elevated space will be where their food and water will go eventually to decrease waste and mess and make things easier to keep clean.
