Mess free duck bedding?! What works?!

[Burkeeks]

I have my chickens in their own coop and I use construction sand and absolutely love it! It's not stinky and easy to clean.

I currently have a waterproof mat with some pine shavings down for my ducks when I put them in my home for now. It gets really stinky and messy very quickly! I usually will clean the matt and pine shavings once a week. I want to move my ducks to their own coop at night so i'm transforming a kids plastic outdoor playhouse into their pen to stay in at night. During the day they have free access to free roam.

What kind of flooring or bedding do you like to use for your ducks that's easy to clean and less stinky?

Thank you!

 

[igorsMistress]

Not to be rude, but ducks are very wet. All the time. I can’t imagine anything would smell too great in the plastic house especially in Summer. Anything plastic that I use, even water buckets, gets stinky and I have to wash it once a week with white vinegar. A simple wooden structure with no floor that you can add pine shavings and pellets to is much easier to maintain. You just add a little dry materials as needed and clean the whole bunch out once in a while.

 

[DoodlesDuckies]

I am not sure anything exists with the words "mess free" and "ducks".

In the house when they were ducklings it was a challenge to keep things clean and not stinky. We had a LONG spring here in WI and they got moved into the garage as fast as we could. I put down cardboard, plastic sheet and pine shavings from TS. Cleaned DAILY. Keeping the water at bay is key. They will stomp around in a teaspoon of water givin the opportunity.

They are all outside and STILL pigs with feathers. They can take a drop of water make it look like they are flinging around a gallon. It is truly amazing. I also use a rubber mat in my goose house (old kids playhouse) with pine shavings on it and clean it every few days. Scoop out and replace.

The ducks are on turf over gravel (I spray it off daily while they are free ranging).. IN their coop is a wood floor with pine shavings. IMO pine shavings are the way to go. I am not sure your winters but I am in WI with HARSH winters. Pine shavings and water control is key.

Renee

 

[Canadian Wind]

If you find something, please let us know lol!

 

[TheDaringDucks]

I know I am late in responding to this, but I would be happy to share what worked for me to keep down the stink of ducks while they were living inside my house. (Hopefully, this will prove helpful to someone else out there!)

The key is less about eliminating the source of the smell, and more about containing the smell to an easy-to-clean area. Here's what I did to reduce smell and I had great success in doing so.

1. Get a large plastic tote and a small plastic bucket.
2. Cut a door hole in the lid of the tote (leave a lip about 2 inches tall from the edge of the tote, short enough that a duck can hop over, but tall enough to contain any splashes)
3. Drill three 2-inch holes in the bucket (put these holes 3 or so inches from the bottom of the bucket).
4. Place the bucket (filled up to the bottom of the holes) with water and place the bucket inside the tote (laid on its side so the opening is accessible to the duck)
5. By containing the ducks' water and preventing them from jumping in, you will mitigate a significant portion of their stink.

Some key notes and extra tips for extra stink mitigation:

Do NOT put the ducks’ food inside the plastic tote. Food should be placed as far from the water set up as possible to lessen food waste/mess.

Do NOT put bedding inside the water setup. Some bedding may get in just by the nature of sticking to your ducks as they come and go, but don’t add any intentionally to prevent build-up.

Make your pine-shaving bedding deep! Don't skimp!

Add SweetPDZ odor-neutralizer powder to your pine-shaving bedding. Be generous with this! It works miracles!

Use a small rake to turn over and rotate around the bedding every few days to allow it to dry out. Duck stink comes from the build-up of wetness. By fluffing the bedding it airs it back out, and reintegrates the SweetPDZ that may have sifted to the bottom.

 

[FrostRanger]

Mess free and ducks is an oxymoron, ducks are going to be messy no matter what you do. I agree with using deep litter, it's going to be much easier to manage than trying to constantly clean, I use it for my chickens and it works really well