Yes, you could do that. If you had a doghouse for the ducks to sleep in at night, that would work, I'm sure. Some folks, who want to be extra safe, would probably wrap some hardware cloth around the bottom of the chain link. This would keep the ducks from sticking their heads out, where a predator could grab it. It might keep a snake out too.
I would put a nice thick layer of sand on the ground. That is awesome for ducks, along with a baby pool. Sand drains nicely, and you can rake it out. So you can avoid the mud. Because ducks are messy and they like to splash around!
