Environment

Companion ducks depend on their owners to provide them with everything they need in their life. It is a guardian's (owner) responsibility to check their ducks’ environment every day, and make sure they have everything they need, and that nothing in their environment can harm them. 

When it comes to your flocks’ living environment – the bigger the better! The more space you provide for your ducks, the more places they’ll have to explore and express normal behaviours and the happier they’ll be! They’ll also need to have a secure, sheltered indoor area where they feel comfortable and safe, and of course lots of sources of water for swimming. If you live near potential dangers, such as roaming dogs or cars, this outdoor area should be fully enclosed to keep your flock safe as well.

Here is a basic guideline of what should be in your ducks’ environment ALL of the time:

• Nutritious duck food and clean drinking water should always be available both in your flocks’ inside and outside environments. Look at our Nutrition section for more information.
• Shelter: all duck enclosures should have safe, sheltered places for your ducks to go.
• Swimming water: ducks not only love water, but they need water for natural behaviours as well.  
• Bedding/nesting area: for laying eggs and resting.
• Long grass and other natural enrichment items

Just like your home does for you, your ducks’ shelter needs to be able to protect your flock from the cold, strong winds and rain, as well as direct sun.

Not only do ducks not like being in the direct sun, but they’re also vulnerable to the heat. It’s extremely dangerous if your ducks’ shelter gets too hot as ducks can die from heat stress. Insulating your ducks’ shelter is a great way to help prevent it from getting too hot and too cold. A warm, dry shelter is ideal.

Ventilation is also key. Your ducks’ home should have good air flow and a great way to do this is my installing windows. Ideally, the windows (or vents) in your ducks’ shelter should be easily opened or closed and placed on the bottom and top of walls. This means you can choose where you want to allow air to flow through.

Ventilation not only helps reduce the temperature when it’s hot, but it also helps remove dust and moisture particles.

The size of your ducks’ shelter needs to be appropriate to the size of your flock. Your ducks should be able to have enough room to perform natural behaviours, move around with comfort and ease, stretch out their wings, and exercise. This includes entrances that are tall enough that your ducks do not need to be squished or bend down down in order to enter or exit the shelter.

Competing for resources can be an issue in flocks, which can result in bullying. To help avoid this, provide them with the appropriate amount of nest boxes, food and water sources, pools and ponds, as well as multiple entrances so that all of your ducks are having their needs met.   

Your flock will be most happy with a space where they feel relaxed and like they are not competing for resources.

It’s important that your flocks’ entire environment is safe from predators as well. This includes a safe enclosed shelter and secure fencing around their foraging and swimming areas. Ducks are a prey species so this will help them to feel safe and secure in their home.  

Netting not only keeps them safe from predators, but it can also help prevent the spread of disease from wild animals. You must check their fencing frequently and ensure there are no places where your ducks can become injured or trapped.

Inside of their shelters, ducks need an area to sleep, rest, and a place where female ducks can lay their eggs. As ducks usually like to sleep on the floor, the nesting boxes can be placed on the ground and filled with clean, dry wood shavings, or straw. These materials are important as it will help keep your ducks comfortable, cosy, and if they are laying eggs, they will be able to bury their eggs in the nest.

Be sure to make their nesting areas private, so that they can have a quiet place to be alone, where they can feel safe and secure. These areas should be big enough for your duck to stand up and stand around comfortably.

Appropriate flooring is extremely important for your ducks. Ducks have soft feet, therefore, if they only have concrete or other rough, hard surfaces to walk on, they can develop painful foot sores.

Some suggested materials that are good to use to cover the majority of the flooring space is the coverings of rice grains (called rice hulls or rice husks), wood shavings, and straw. These materials are soft for your ducks’ feet, are comfortable, and is easy to replenish and cleaned as needed.  

In their outside environment, grass and dirt make for the best, natural surfaces for your ducks to walk on. It’s recommended that duck guardians turn the dirt and/or re-sod 1-2 times per month minimum. If your ducks’ environment is on the smaller side, this should be done even more often. This helps prevent dangerous parasites and bacteria.

Pools and ponds are extremely important for ducks. As you probably know, ducks spend a great deal of time in and around water – about 80% of their time. Clean water helps keep ducks clean, regulates their temperature, and helps prevent parasites.

Pools and ponds should be at least 2 feet of water for adult ducks, as this is deep enough for ducks to dunk their heads.

These pools also need shallow sides so that your ducks can get in and out of the water with ease. If you set up a new body of water in your ducks’ environment, you must supervise your ducks to make sure they’re comfortable getting in and out before leaving them alone with it. Even though ducks love swimming, they can get tired and to be able to rest on land as well, just like you would if you were swimming!

Because ducklings do not develop their waterproof feathers until a certain age, they need to be kept safe from deep water for the first few weeks of their life. Supervised swimming in shallow troughs should be sufficient.

Artificial pools and ponds are fun and easy to build. In fact, these are often better as you can keep the water fresh by draining and cleaning it each day – an important factor to you ducks’ wellbeing.

Filtration and clean reeds and/or water plants can be used as natural filtration – this is important so that the ammonia in the water is kept under control.   

Just like other farm animals need shade, ducks do too. The easiest and most natural way to do this is by having lots of trees in their environment. Other shelters can be built to provide this shade as well. You can give creative in order to build the ideal duck paradise!

Areas of long grass, hollowed-out logs, and natural platforms are also great for ducks as it gives them an enriched environment in which they can hide, play, and forage, among other natural behaviours.

Appropriate outdoor space is just as important as appropriate indoor space. Ducks love to explore and forage, so grassy space is essential. Having a bigger space for your ducks will also allow you to section off different areas of your pasture to allow the grass to recover so your ducks can enjoy the area again and again. This also minimizes the risk of disease.  

Something you can be sure that you ducks will do often is poo – therefore, it’s important that you’re cleaning their shelter and environment every day.

Not only does their enclosure need to be cleaned often, but it’s important to ensure that all duck water and food sources are kept clean as well. Ducks will need fresh, clean water every day, and the water they swim in needs to be kept clean as well.

A clean environment will help keep your ducks healthy and parasite free!

If your family are going away, try to find someone to care for and meet your ducks’ welfare needs within their familiar home.

If your ducks have to move to a different place, try to ease the move by keeping them in the same enclosure and together with their friends.

Make sure you provide your ducks’ carer with the phone number of your ducks’ vet, in case of an emergency.