How to Make a Duck Pen

The gentle, easygoing nature of ducks has made them popular pets and farm animals. Ducks are fairly simple to care for, requiring a minimal amount of supplies to thrive. Ducks do need food, water and a pen of their own to keep out predators. A duck pen is not a complex structure to build and can be completed in one afternoon.

Things You'll Need

  • Small storage shed
  • T-posts, 6 feet in length
  • Sledgehammer
  • 48" tall roll of chicken wire
  • Bird netting
  • Zip ties
  • Wire cutters
  • 2 double-ended eye bolts
  • Hard plastic swimming pool
  • Feed and water pans
  • Duck feed
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Instructions

    • 1

      Clear an area to use as your duck pen. Ducks require a minimum of 10 square feet per duck to thrive, so plan your pen accordingly. Remove any large rocks or tree limbs that could injure your ducks.

    • 2

      Place the storage shed in the center of the proposed pen area, and set your T-posts. Place one T-post every 5 feet along the fence line, driving it into the ground with a sledgehammer. Make sure the posts sink a minimum of 2 feet into the ground to keep them from falling over as you construct the pen.

    • 3

      Unroll the chicken wire in front of one side of the pen, and use a zip tie at the bottom and top of the first T-post to hold the fence secure. Pull the fence tightly towards the next pole, attaching it with two more zip ties. Continue working your way around the T-posts until you've fenced off the entire area.

    • 4

      Cut the excess wire away with the wire cutters, and snap one double-ended eye bolt to the top and bottom of the last section of chicken wire. Do not zip tie this last section; close it by snapping the free end of the eye bolts to the first wired panel. This allows the last section of fence to serve as a gate to give you access to the pen.

    • 5

      Place a hard plastic children's pool in the pen and fill it halfway full of water. Fill a feed dish with duck feed and a water pan with clean water, placing them on opposite ends of the pen. Ducks eat by pushing feed against the sides of the pan to fill their shovel-like beaks, and will spill feed in the water pan if they are adjacent to each other.

    • 6

      Add your ducks to their newly-constructed pen and allow them to explore at their own pace. It may take up to 24 hours before they settle down and begin to eat, so do not be worried if they appear restless. Make sure they do not squeeze out of any gaps in the fence.