We sectioned off the side of the house that their duck house is on. I will take pictures tomorrow when it's light out. It's mostly river rock. I still let them out most days into the yard because we probably can't reseed until late March when it stops freezing here.
Also I'm glad I sectioned...
My backyard isn't very big, with high fences so I haven't had any problems with predators. My husband did see a hawk circling around, but then watched 2-3 crows chase him off. But that was a while ago. And any bird that flies over no matter how small, My ducks stop and look up and wait...
We didn't do an official run and used our completely fenced in back yard as our run, the completely destroyed our yard, trampled and ate pretty much all the grass. You have a bigger lot than me, so that will be helpful. Also they made the patio right by the backdoor their hangout = poop all over...