what size house?

[MNmommy]

I just bought 2 muscovy ducklings yesterday. Now I need to make a little house for them and wondered how big it should be?? Let's say they both turn out to be boys so let's make it big enough for 2 boys....hopefully I picked one of each???


they will have free range to my yard which is completely fenced with a 4 foot cedar fence. I know I will probably have to trim wings so they don't fly off. they will access to our pond which is 15x30 and a waterfalls where they can bathe in too. With that much water will they really mess it up?? we have a skimmer and filter system on it which keeps things clean and about 10 koi fish which eat a lot of gunk too.

I heard ( not sure if it is true) that ducks are the cause of swimmers itch?? we made one of the waterfalls shallow so we can sit and put our feet in and our 2 yo girl can wade in it but now do we need to figure out something incase of swimmers itch?? Or the person I heard it from is off their rocker?? If so is there something we can treat the water with that is safe for everyone?? I am not a fan of chemicals so anything natural would be better. I did buy a big bag of DE so maybe if it sprinkle it on their food their poop would not be as bad?? Or could I use the DE in the biofalls filters?? It is food grade DE.

thanks so much....lots of questions

 

[Spires6]

Our current duck house is 4' by 4' for 12 ducklings and it is fine now but we will probably need a bigger one as they grow. Since yours are free range, they probably won't need a very big house. I have heard that ducks can wreak havoc on small ponds. I don't know how much of a mess 2 ducks would make. I have never heard of swimmers itch. We have 2 ponds and have had ducks in the past and swam in the water with no problems. I am not aware of any disease you can get from sharing water with ducks.