Duck pen -Safe Flooring

[MichelleHiggs]

Hi ya'll! I'm new to this group as well as a new Pekin Duck owner (adopted 3 from shelter). We bought a 10x10 chain link dog pen to keep them and covered the top with welded wire and the bottom with 2x3 inch PVC coated wire.The entire pen is set directly on the lawn. Is the PVC wire safe for safe for the ducks' feet? We wanted to enclose the pen top and bottom to prevent predators from getting to them while they are in the pen. We have coyotes and bobcats where we live. Thanks for any advice!

 

[gal5150]

You're going to want to cover the bottom with something, both for their feet and to help with drainage. My pen has 3" of pea gravel covered by industrial black rubber chef mats with large holes in them. It's a breeze to keep clean and kind on the ducks' feet. Takes all of one minute to spray the droppings off and they drain right into the pea gravel so no standing water or mud pools. Welcome to duck keeping! I hope you find it as fantastic as the rest of us do!

 

[Kiki to Nana]

A lot of people use hardware cloth. Just cover it with your choosing of rocks, woodchips sod. Idk whatever works best for you. There are tons of different solves. But I have not heard of someone keeping just the wire/cloth as the flooring.

 

[MichelleHiggs]

 

[MichelleHiggs]

Here are some pics. Do you think I still need to cover with something? Was going to put shavings in their house.

 

[Kiki to Nana]

Here are some pics. Do you think I still need to cover with something? Was going to put shavings in their house.

Yes because, not only to protect their feet but eventually that will eat all that grass you will end up with a mud pit. Especially if you get a decent snowfall and then it melts. It's also better protection for your babies so nothing can dig under.

 

[MichelleHiggs]

Yes because, not only to protect their feet but eventually that will eat all that grass you will end up with a mud pit. Especially if you get a decent snowfall and then it melts. It's also better protection for your babies so nothing can dig under.

Thank you so much! No worries about snow here in Texas, but you're right about it turning into a mud pit. I put some straw down and pine shavings in their house. So far so good. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

[gal5150]

Here are some pics. Do you think I still need to cover with something? Was going to put shavings in their house.

Yes, I live in CA and get no snow here but I can't begin to tell you the soppy mess that ground is going to be without something for water to drain through. Ducks "drill" with their bills creating holes which once sprayed down (you can't really just leave the poop on the surface, you'll have to spray it down for hygiene reasons) are mud spots. Add a waterer and hopefully a pool and honest to goodness within a week or two that whole bottom is going to be a muddy mess. It's a little more investment but in the long run you'll be glad you did it, I promise!