Building a Safe Duck House

What ducks actually need from a house

Ducks are hardier than chickens and spend far less time indoors. The house is not their living room — it is a safe, dry place to sleep. Three things decide whether it works: it stays dry, it moves air without being draughty at floor level, and nothing can get in at night.

Space

Plan for roughly 4 square feet (about 0.4 m²) of floor per duck as a working minimum, more if they are shut in for longer stretches in bad weather. Ducks sleep on the floor, so floor area matters and perches do not.

Dry floor, deep bedding

Straw or wood shavings, kept deep and topped up. Ducks carry water in with them and are messier than chickens, so bedding needs refreshing more often than you would expect — damp bedding is the single most common cause of foot and respiratory problems.

Ventilation without draughts

Vents high up, above head height. Air needs to leave, but a cold draught blowing across sleeping ducks does harm.

Predator-proofing is the part people get wrong

• Use hardware cloth (½ inch welded mesh), never chicken wire — a raccoon or a fox will tear through chicken wire.
• Bury or skirt the mesh outward at least 12 inches to stop digging.
• Use two-step latches. Raccoons open simple hooks.
• Cover any gap larger than ½ inch. Weasels and rats need very little.
• Shut the door every night, without exception. Most losses happen on the night somebody forgot.

Water outside, not inside

Keep drinking water available at all times, but position it outside the house or in a drainable corner. Water inside the sleeping area means wet bedding, and wet bedding means problems.