How big a pen will the ducks have? They need to be kept safe from predators.
If you design a good area, I don't expect you'll have much mess. Before anyone snickers, I have a flock of 13. And while there are some maintenance tasks to do, their pen is not a mess - neither the night pen nor the day pen.
The day pen has a 2% slope so it drains. The base is a nice composting mix of chopped straw, leaves, and duck manure. Under the swim pans is a mixture of sand and smooth pea gravel and some organic matter that collects there. Periodically I shovel off the top of that, toss the enriched stuff on the compost. Once a year or so I refresh the sand and pea gravel. I also once or twice a year pull some of the compost out and use it to mulch gardens. A few times a month I add more straw or leaves.
The night pen has a watering station to hold most of the splash. I spot pick daily, and fluff the bedding. As needed I pull out used bedding and replace it. I rarely have to do the whole pen - generally the spots they hang out need to be fixed up more often, some spots maybe once every two weeks - depends on the time of year, too. This winter has been harsh and they have been in the night pen most of the time, so the maintenance schedule has increased some.
