Greetings from San Antonio! I have Scovies and they are amazing. The pen is very basic, nothing too fancy. They are hardy birds and can withstand the elements pretty good, however, during the summer or sunny days, they need lots of shade. Mine spend the better part of the day relaxing under the shrubs in the back yard. They are not migratory...at least not mine. They have their flight feathers, but the males are too heavy to fly. The females enjoy flying up to the roof of the back porch and down...but have never flown away. I prefer to keep their flight feathers so that they can escape from a predator or a frisky drake, lol! I have a small gold fish pond that I built for them. They will swim for about 30 minutes in the morning and more in the late afternoon and at night...but really not as much as other ducks. I thought I would have a very messy and stinky pond...but that has not been the case. I do weekly pond maintenance, basically topping off the pond and cleaning the pump filter from the grass they track into the pond. They spend more time out of the pond than in it. They are excellent foragers and like to poke their bills into everything, seeking out tasty treats. They are not flighty and will waddle up to you. Anyway...good luck my friend with your scovies.
