Okay, I very seldom until the past few weeks spend anytime in this part of BYC,,Normally always in the Peafowl section so I have no idea who has reputable advise in Ducks in this forum,,so I'm looking for help.I've more recently been looking into getting several pairs of Ornamental ducks,including building an aviary for them.I don't want large domestic types,rather the smaller ornamental varieties such as Mandarins,Green wing Teals,Apricot wood ducks,Hooded Mergansers,and Northern Shovelers.
I've spent a lot of spare time trying to locate websites about building a nice aviary to house all of them.If you go to the Peafowl section here on BYC,you can see some of my handywork when I had to build pens this spring for my Peafowl,that was finally old enough to breed this year,
I have plenty of space to construct a nice sized aviary,possibly a 30x30 would work,as I've read a pair needs 100 sq ft? I've considered using 3 black plastic water stock tanks as ponds,some of these are 9' across and between 1'-2' deep.I'm also very good friends with a manager of a local fertilizer plant that has 1500 gallon sized plastic water holding tanks,that could easily be cut so they are 2 feet deep,,these are 8' across.
I've seen what a mess ducks makes if they can get into dirt,so I plan to cover all inside dirt with whats called Mirify fabric first,then use washed pea gravel and sand along with rocks for astetic purposes.They won't be able to get to dirt,only down to this tough fabric mesh,and thats where hopefully they stop.I've read Pompass grass can be used inside an aviary as long as the ducks can't get to the roots,,but what other kinds of plants works well inside a wet enclosed enviornment that won't grow too large or too fast?
I need help first without spending days searching,,so will seperate varieties of Ornamental ducks all get along well if enough space is provided? How many individual pairs,or kinds could I house in this sized pen? I've also read somewhat that each variety of duck uses diffrent types of nestboxes,,but will any build their own nest and not use a box?
I'm somewhat of a handyman and know the water from these 3 water tank-ponds will need to be filtered,,I don't have a pond to discharge and draw water from,all water inside this aviary will come out a garden hose from our own well.Is anything needed to treat this water,or can it be used direct? If I stair step the pools so water flows from the highest pool,into the next lower pool,and then on to the last pool,,is this a good idea? it would be easier to plumb them all together with a suction drain in the last pool,which would then go to a filter before starting over in the first pond,yes? Compared to plumbing each pool seperately and then routing water back to it? What types of pumps do you use? Sump pumps? Will it be aerated enough by running from the filter area into the first pool,and then draining into the next,and last pool just by downhill fall?
Is water plants able to grow in these pools? I want this to look very nice inside and still be easy to maintan and very functional.We get some nassty cold winters here in Illinois and sometimes a lot of blowing and drifting snow,,so will these birds be able to stay inside this aviary if a proper "house" is built for them to winter in? I know I will need to drain all the tanks and plumbing before the first freeze,,but ducks are fine without having access to water for 5-6 months?
All help would be appreciated here,, I know Peafowl and chickens and Ornamental pheasants well,,but not much about ducks except they are very cute,,and I love to build things here and have the space needed.Thanks
I've spent a lot of spare time trying to locate websites about building a nice aviary to house all of them.If you go to the Peafowl section here on BYC,you can see some of my handywork when I had to build pens this spring for my Peafowl,that was finally old enough to breed this year,
I have plenty of space to construct a nice sized aviary,possibly a 30x30 would work,as I've read a pair needs 100 sq ft? I've considered using 3 black plastic water stock tanks as ponds,some of these are 9' across and between 1'-2' deep.I'm also very good friends with a manager of a local fertilizer plant that has 1500 gallon sized plastic water holding tanks,that could easily be cut so they are 2 feet deep,,these are 8' across.
I've seen what a mess ducks makes if they can get into dirt,so I plan to cover all inside dirt with whats called Mirify fabric first,then use washed pea gravel and sand along with rocks for astetic purposes.They won't be able to get to dirt,only down to this tough fabric mesh,and thats where hopefully they stop.I've read Pompass grass can be used inside an aviary as long as the ducks can't get to the roots,,but what other kinds of plants works well inside a wet enclosed enviornment that won't grow too large or too fast?
I need help first without spending days searching,,so will seperate varieties of Ornamental ducks all get along well if enough space is provided? How many individual pairs,or kinds could I house in this sized pen? I've also read somewhat that each variety of duck uses diffrent types of nestboxes,,but will any build their own nest and not use a box?
I'm somewhat of a handyman and know the water from these 3 water tank-ponds will need to be filtered,,I don't have a pond to discharge and draw water from,all water inside this aviary will come out a garden hose from our own well.Is anything needed to treat this water,or can it be used direct? If I stair step the pools so water flows from the highest pool,into the next lower pool,and then on to the last pool,,is this a good idea? it would be easier to plumb them all together with a suction drain in the last pool,which would then go to a filter before starting over in the first pond,yes? Compared to plumbing each pool seperately and then routing water back to it? What types of pumps do you use? Sump pumps? Will it be aerated enough by running from the filter area into the first pool,and then draining into the next,and last pool just by downhill fall?
Is water plants able to grow in these pools? I want this to look very nice inside and still be easy to maintan and very functional.We get some nassty cold winters here in Illinois and sometimes a lot of blowing and drifting snow,,so will these birds be able to stay inside this aviary if a proper "house" is built for them to winter in? I know I will need to drain all the tanks and plumbing before the first freeze,,but ducks are fine without having access to water for 5-6 months?
All help would be appreciated here,, I know Peafowl and chickens and Ornamental pheasants well,,but not much about ducks except they are very cute,,and I love to build things here and have the space needed.Thanks
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now go over to the ornamental area, you will get much better advice there about the breeds and housing them together. Here in the duck area you have more domestic duck diaper house pet types then exotic ornamental keepers. 
The dabblers haven;t killed it yet but I have some holes that are three feet deep. I have yet to figure that out other than a plant died and the quail have burried themselves in it enough.
