Well! I got two Rouen Ducks, I think they are female. The only issue is the heat lamp. I'm using a plastic tub as their home since they're ducklings. I have my heat lamp on a chair next to the box but I want to heat the ducks without melting plastic and so they have room to go into the shade as well.
The heat lamp will not melt the plastic if it is not directly on the plastic. For my chicks and ducks, I put a metal grate on top of the tub and placed the lamp on top of that. It works until you need to raise it as they age. You could suspend it from a ladder.
Set it up without the ducklings in it, and just give it a sniff. If the plastic is affected, I would think there would be a plastic odor. If you have a puppy playpen, or a pak-n-play, those can be adapted as brooders. The puppy playpen needs plastic poultry fence or something to keep the littles from just walking through the 2 inch wide spaces till they get a little older. I used a large Rubbermaid bin the first two weeks - till the Runners outgrew it - and used 16 gauge metal hardware cloth across the top to keep the cats out and suspend the ceramic heat lamps. I always tried new things out cautiously - either a dry run without the ducklings, or watching closely for half an hour after I changed something. Because the weirdest things can happen with ducklings.
i figured something out. also, i have a 125 watt, clear heat lamp for them and im using aluminum foil to deflect heat off of the plastic but also shade the water and food supply. how hot will my lamp get and will the tin foil cause problems if it gets too hot near my ducklings? also the foil melts at 1200 degrees f so i wont worry about the heat lamp getting that hot.
