Andrea Middleton
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Dirty DucksWe recently bought 5 ducklings and they are now about 6 months old and producing copious amounts of mess in their coop each night. I'm struggling to keep on top of the cleaning and it's very damp and ammonia like in there! Any suggestions and just to know this IS normal.
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Nick
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Ducks are the filthiest creatures on God's earth. That much I can tell you, I'm afraid.
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judith
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It is, I'm afraid, quite normal.
I have just resigned myself to having to clean out the house a lot more than the chicken coop. I don't put in too deep a layer of wood shavings as the poo tends to mat on top, leaving an unsullied layer beneath, which is a bit of a waste.
Also I tend to lock them up quite late to minimise indoor pooing time!
On the positive side, it does compost in next to no time.
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alison
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Do you leave water in the house? We don't. I always scuff up the shavings when I lock up, and that keeps the smell down too.
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Andrea Middleton
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No water. I've been using straw though which doesn't absorb the damp. maybe I'll try the sawdust then.
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bodger
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It maybe that you need more floor space in their duck shed, in other words, a bigger shed. They are poopy beggars but if they have enough shavings or straw on the floor, then they should be able to keep clean.
When they are older, they will lay directly on the floor and then attempt to hide the eggs under the bedding. Duck egg shells are supposed to be a bit more porous than chicken eggs and so its essential that you are able to keep them clean. What are the internal dimensions of your shed ?
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Andrea Middleton
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It's only small, maybe 3.5ft by 1.5ft
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LadyFarmer
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My ducks have a cat chalet which is basically a large enclosure with a roof, they have a small pond in there which is in the form of a deep plastic tray and this can double up as drinking so long as it is cleaned daily. Then they go up a ramp in to their house, bedded with straw, providing I clean it regularly then its fine but the inside of the run is filthy even though they only spend the night in there and free range during the day. I usually put wood chips down on a fairly regular basis to allieviate some of the mud, although I clean the poo up prior to that. They are incredibly filthy as they wait for me to put them away in front of the front door, which the geese how now taken to sitting outside of and believe me I could open a duck and goose manure farm there is that much mess  . So you could try a house for them with a ramp for them to go up into and bed with straw, but be prepared sometimes to have to clean it daily. Good luck
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alison
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I think straw may be the problem. Ours aren't very dirty with shavings.
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Lorrainelovesplants
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We have to clean our 6 out weekly or else its maggot city. They have a sunken bath to swim in (recycled from freecycle), which has a rumbling drain dug under the plughole. Pull the plug, allow to drain, swish out with clean water and then refill.
We use sawdust with wood shavings on top - no straw - in the house.
They're pretty clean.
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Castle Farm
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Put down a sheet on the floor..Heavy duty polythene will do.(I use butyl pond liner it's less slippy) and use shavings or if you can get some leaves munched up through a lawn mower.
Sweep or clear out the most of it and wash off the liner with a hose and allow to dry (or have 2).
Dust under it with garden lime or a dry disentfectant powder amd replace the bedding.
They can survive without water over night with no problems.
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Mutton
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We're thinking about keeping a few ducks.
Currently have chickens and geese. How does the volume and consistency of duck poo compare to the geese poo - allowing for bird size?
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alison
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ducks poo splats more than goose poo.
Don't let your dog roll in goose poo though!
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Millymollymandy
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I clean my duck shed out every day and I also give them water at night because I feed them when I put them to bed - well that's the way to get them to come to bed! so perhaps I get more wet poo because of it.
I lay straw on top of sawdust on top of a thick plastic sheet because the floor is beaten earth which can't take getting wet too often!
However I get a bucket of poop and straw to compost every day so that's the plus side! The dirty/wet sawdust goes to the tip.
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alison
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Why not compsot the sawdust too. It just takes longer to brake down, but it is wasting your nutrients if you send them off site.
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Lorrainelovesplants
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Its excellent as a mulch under trees (just dont heap it around the trunk), and a god weed suppresent.
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Millymollymandy
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No thanks, made the mistake of trying to compost sawdust before! Several years later and having to add more and more green stuff to it each summer and having to turn it again and again is too much like hard work (for my husband ). And that's just from a couple of dustbin fulls!
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