Everything about a Pekin duck invites a predator's attention and nothing about it helps the duck escape. This heavy domestic breed cannot fly at all, moves at a determined waddle, sleeps on the ground, and wears brilliant white plumage that shows against grass and mud like a flag. Pekins are charming, trusting birds that will follow their keeper and greet strangers, which settles the question of strategy: the flock's protection must be entirely built and entirely routine, because a Pekin contributes friendliness and nothing else.
The predators a white, flightless duck draws
Foxes are the constant threat, working at dusk when Pekins are still out dabbling and in no hurry to come in. Raccoons reach through wide wire at night and force simple latches, and mink slip through small gaps to devastating effect in a house full of birds that cannot fly up out of reach. Hawks spot a white flock in open ground from high above, and owls patrol for any duck left outside after dark. Owners often assume the pond protects ducks, but it does not protect Pekins: predators swim, a heavy duck is not fast even in water, and the bank of a pond is exactly where a returning fox waits. Loose dogs round out the list, and a single dog among Pekins can injure the whole flock through chasing alone.
A low, solid house a Pekin can actually enter
Build the night house at ground level with a wide, low doorway and a broad, gently sloped ramp with good grip, so that getting to safety never asks a heavy duck to climb or jump. Use a solid floor or mesh beneath deep bedding to stop anything digging in, and cover every vent and window with small-mesh welded wire fixed into the frame. Fit latches that take two movements to open. Inside, keep the bedding deep and dry, because Pekins resting on damp, hard floors develop sore feet and legs that slow them further still, and a lame duck is the one that does not make it in at dusk.
Daytime in a covered pen, not on the open pond
Keep Pekins in a pen with a covered top during the day, with a shallow bathing pool inside it that you can empty and clean, rather than giving them the run of a large pond and its unguarded banks. The cover answers the hawk problem that white plumage creates, and shade cloth or shelters inside the pen give the flock somewhere to bunch under when a shadow passes. Skirt the fence at ground level against digging, and keep gates latched as a reflex. Train the ducks to come to a feed call so gathering them is quick, and keep routes between pen and house short for the sake of Pekin legs.
Routines and checks for a flock that hides nothing
Pekins are easy to count and easy to read, so make both habits daily. Count the flock through the door at lock-up and again in the morning, and look at each bird's walk as they come out: a duck limping, sitting apart, or reluctant to come to feed should be caught up and examined, with foot and leg injuries and any puncture around the neck taken to a veterinarian promptly. Watch the fence line for digging, feathers, and tracks in the mud the flock helpfully maintains around its water, and mend wire the day you find it damaged rather than the weekend after.
A Pekin flock locked into a low solid house each night and kept under cover by day loses nothing it values: the dabbling, the bathing, and the company all survive inside a good pen. If a duck still waddles out through a gate left ajar and cannot be found, KinsLe's Lost Pet Alert System lets you alert nearby Circle of Love members through KinsLe and lets a finder message you directly.