Duck bedding help needed!

[LouiseCE]

Hi,

We need some advice. We have ended up with a bit of a messy and out of control duck situation.
We've got 10 ducks, we used to let them out for a big chunk of the day with some water for them to swim in, and the rest of the time they were in their run & coop, which isn't huge but was big enough. Buttttt now with Bird Flu and them having to be kept in their run & coop all the time well, it's a messy situation.
Unfortunately, there isn't a lot we can do about the space quickly so we need some help to damage control. Our biggest problem is their bedding. We currently use straw but with how many are in the space 24/7 it gets messy and smelly quickly and we just don't know what to do with the waste.

What do people do/use to help combat the mess and smell? Short of cleaning them out every day which isn't really an option due to the waste, we just don't know what to do.

Do they need bedding all year round? because if they don't we can hose down their coop every day easily.
I've seen people use the deep litter method but they have a coop with a base so that won't work for us.

We really do need some advice, if we weren't in the midst of a national lockdown and a bird flu poultry lockdown I'm sure there would be many things that we would try to help out our little ones but simply, we can't. We are working with what we've got and what Amazon can deliver! We really do love our ducks so ANY advice would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you,
Louise

 

[Chickensandhorsesforlife]

can you post pics of the coop? I use bedding year round for odor, and a soft landing off of the bar

 

[Chickensandhorsesforlife]

I reccomend bedding. Straw works great

 

[KaleIAm]

If you don't use bedding, and you just have a hard floor under them, I believe they will get bumblefoot sores on their feet.

Have you ever tried/heard of sweet pdz or stall refresher? It absorbs moisture and ammonia. It comes in granules and powder, I buy the granules and sprinkle a layer on top of my straw. It sinks into the straw. I feel the powder would be too irritating for sensitive avian respiratory systems.

I feel like the pdz helps in my barn, but I have a big 10x10 space for only 3 ducks. I also remove any heavily soiled sleeping spots about every other day and stir up their straw as well. I empty the entire space every weekend, but it never smells bad and it isn't wet.

 

[KaleIAm]

Oh, another thing I have noticed that makes poop smell worse is food. Scratch in particular seems to make things quite smelly. High quality duck specific pellets decreased the smell of my ducks' poop, and another member here I was communicating with noticed the same thing.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

is there any way you can move your run to a new area? It will just keep getting smellier and muddier if they stay in the same location. Especially if the dirty\wet hay is not being removed or composted. I wouldn't recommend adding more bedding, as it will just be wasted on the mud\poop\ground.
I would move your pen if you can, and if you can't I hope someone can provide a good solution!

 

[KaleIAm]

is there any way you can move your run to a new area? It will just keep getting smellier and muddier if they stay in the same location. Especially if the dirty\wet hay is not being removed or composted. I wouldn't recommend adding more bedding, as it will just be wasted on the mud\poop\ground.
I would move your pen if you can, and if you can't I hope someone can provide a good solution!

A tractor type situation is a great idea!

 

[Ratchnick]

Pictures of your setup would help