Duck Housing Planner & Build Guide

Work out real house and run space for your ducks, itemised materials, tools, and cost — then build it, across three budget tiers that genuinely change the materials and steps.

Ducks are often lumped in with chickens in generic backyard poultry advice, but their actual housing needs are genuinely different — more floor space, no perches, a sealed or concrete floor rather than open dirt, and real water access. This calculator works out your actual house and run dimensions from your bird count, then itemises materials, tools, and cost across three budget tiers.

Space, Materials & Cost Calculator

Space figures are minimums drawn from widely-used waterfowl husbandry guidance, not a guarantee — more space is always better. This is general information, not a substitute for checking your local council's rules on keeping poultry.

Materials You'll Actually Need (Quantities, Not Just a Price)

Why Ducks Shouldn't Share Housing With Chickens

This is worth knowing before you build anything: ducks and chickens genuinely shouldn't share the same coop, despite how often they're pictured together in generic advice. Duck droppings contain far more moisture than chicken droppings — over 90% moisture, which turns shared bedding into a wet, ammonia-heavy mess fast, causing respiratory problems for the chickens in particular. Ducks and chickens also don't always get along, with bullying common in both directions, and ducks can carry organisms that don't bother them but can make chickens sick. If you're keeping both, plan for two genuinely separate housing setups from the start rather than one shared coop.

Tools You'll Need

• Tape measure and a spirit level
• Circular saw or hand saw for cutting timber
• Cordless drill/driver with mixed bits
• Staple gun (for fixing mesh and netting to timber)
• Wire cutters or tin snips
• Post-hole shovel or auger
• Hammer, safety glasses, and heavy-duty gloves
• String line and stakes for marking out the run perimeter

Three Budget Tiers, Including Fencing Costed Separately

All figures are new-materials estimates in 2026 AUD, based on the dimensions calculated above.

Step-by-Step Build Method

1. Mark out and prepare the site. Mark the full footprint with a string line, and prioritise a sealed or concrete floor for the house itself — ducks make bedding wet fast, and a dirt floor turns to mud and rot much quicker than under chickens.
2. Build the house frame and floor. Treated pine frame, with a sealed or concrete floor rather than raised timber — moisture resistance matters more here than for a chicken coop.
3. Clad and roof the house. Fit cladding and a sloped roof. Skip perches entirely — ducks don't use them and can injure their feet trying.
4. Fit a floor-level nest area. A simple low, dark corner with straw bedding is enough — ducks nest on the ground, not in raised boxes.
5. Dig and fit the buried predator apron. Same principle as any poultry run: bury mesh at least 30cm deep around the full perimeter, bent outward, to stop digging predators.
6. Fit the upright run fencing. Fix mesh at least 1.2m high (ducks don't fly well, so this can be lower than a chicken run) around the full perimeter.
7. Add water access. A tub, kiddie pool, or dedicated dabbling pond deep enough for a duck to dunk its whole head is a genuine welfare requirement, not a luxury — ducks need this to keep their eyes, nostrils, and feathers healthy. Position it away from the house to keep bedding drier.
8. Fit doors, latches, and do a final walk-around. Use a genuinely secure, predator-proof latch, and check the entire perimeter for gaps before introducing birds.

Frequently Asked Questions

For everything else involved in keeping ducks day to day, see our full Poultry animal guides, and if you're weighing ducks against chickens or quail for your block, our honest comparison is worth reading first.