build new duck pen

[Michelle K linnane]

I have a pen for my ducks but need to expand it so they can get on grass,
The pen has a roof over it and cement along with a little pool area for the birds. But it is pain to keep clean and would like them on the grass in an area that we dug a little mud hole pond. The first year I did this I use a chain link fence but with every rain the ducks would play in the mud and dig out and have holes. So this time I am going to bury the fence in the ground a little and then throw crusher run on both side so they will not puddle in that so much.
I was thinking of using a welded wire with 1 inch sq does not have to go all the way up the wall and then met them and use chick wire. If I go up like two feet on the welded wire will be cheaper and then use a 3 feet roll of chick wire for a 5 foot fence. I have even thought of some the cattle panels but the panels with more smaller squares are not cheap and even the smaller square are to big for this. I will set my posts
about 10 feet apart.
Does anybody have any better idea for pen. Will use a game bird neetting on the top.

 

[forgeblast]

Around our chicken coop i used hardware cloth for the first 3 ft, I bent 1' of it to put it in the ground to keep other critters out, then i put chicken wire up the rest of the way.
Its worked great.

 

[leveled]

that is kinda what we did with are pheasant pen. But we attached the wire fence to a board and buried the board about 12 inches in the ground then used the netting on the top high enough to keep out the hawks. right now I am working on building a chicken coop.

 

[duck spy]

I raise ducks also ducks are messy if you are building a pen so they can have grass sorry but don't, where ever you put them just a matter of time untill the pen will be a mess,not sure how many ducks you have but for a small amount a chicken tractor works well,for more there is a elec. field fence that you could set up and more once a week to a new spot.I've tried every thing from putting rocks down to chicken wire to try to stop them from digging holes but I gave up years ago,the hatchery were I get my birds from only uses concrete floors,but he is also doing 20k ducks a year.Or you might try using like a cross fence in your pen to give the grass some time to rest,kind of like grazzing cattle but fear with time you will just end up with barron ground.
good luck

 

[Jimcro55]

You could use a heavier alternative to chicken wire, maybe like a 1" square welded wire cloth material?

I know they sell rolls of 100' of this stuff pretty cheap, and with that amount you will have plenty to make a nice sized area for them as well as having left over for the top or to make this higher if necessary.

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