So we are, hopefully, going to have 20 ducks by the time this is all said and done. Because both sets are straight runs (you get what you get in terms of male and female), I see some rehoming in our future (let me know if you might want a drake. :D ). You have to be careful about the balance of males to females because the males will overmate the females and kill them.
We don't have a fence and that is a bit of a concern, but we do have an acre pond. We are hoping that, by putting the ducks on the pond at night, they will be more protected from predators. If not, we will have to come up with a plan B.
TWS has already built two duck habitats. One of them is just a floating platform with ramps so the ducks can get up into them. The second is a floating duck chiki with a roof, no walls, but with a nifty solar powered light. It freaked the mess out of the dog the first time he saw this glowing THING on the water! They are both anchored with old tires that are bolted together and are partially filled with concrete. We needed some underwater habitat for fish anyway since our pond is flat and featureless on the bottom of it.
TWS will also build two actual floating duck houses. These will (hopefully!) be where the ducks nest. Each platform will have a "box" with four openings and inner walls. These two houses will be attached to a cable that we can pull on shore to fetch the eggs (though, to be honest, I find the idea of paddling out in my canoe to get eggs to be fabulous!).
Here is a picture of the Duck Chiki. You can see the copper cap and the black solar receptor on the top, plus the walking ramps.
This is the anchor that keeps the platform and chiki from floating too far. It was a very delicate operation to float the anchor into the middle of the pond using a canoe and the flat platform!
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