Tips on keeping duck enclosures clean?

[Luv Ducks]

Sorry I do not know how to post on here. My husband thinks someday I will need to remove some of it since it is up next to our house and in the swell in our yard. Miss Lydia has had to do my pictures for me since I am not savvy enough. By the time I will need to remove some of it I figure I will be six feet under and that will leave him to figure it out, lol. He's younger than me. He did actually help me today and I got it all moved but it was a lot of work.

My pen has lots of different sections to it. In one section is 2 six week old Runner Ducks, both females. In another there are 4 drake Mafia Call Ducks that would not leave my hens alone so they are in Drake Jail. In another is my Mallard/Rouen Drake that I tried to put in with the Mafia boys but they were beating the tar out of him so he is in solitary confinement for making my Hens heads bleed and being such a rude boy to them. Another section has 4 babies that are 3 Mallards and 1 Black Swedish all hatched out at the same time by my Momma Mallard about 3 weeks ago. The rest of the pen belongs to my 9 Hens that I have of different breeds, Khaki Campbell, Muscovy, Mallard, Rouen and a Mule Duck. I took several pictures of it just now. I have Miss Lydia's number and I send them to her is how she is able to do it for me. If I had your number I could send them to you. Some people don't like to do that though so that would be entirely up to you if you would want to private message me so I could send them.

 

[Luv Ducks]

My pen has lots of different sections to it. In one section is 2 six week old Runner Ducks, both females. In another there are 4 drake Mafia Call Ducks that would not leave my hens alone so they are in Drake Jail. In another is my Mallard/Rouen Drake that I tried to put in with the Mafia boys but they were beating the tar out of him so he is in solitary confinement for making my Hens heads bleed and being such a rude boy to them. Another section has 4 babies that are 3 Mallards and 1 Black Swedish all hatched out at the same time by my Momma Mallard about 3 weeks ago. The rest of the pen belongs to my 9 Hens that I have of different breeds, Khaki Campbell, Muscovy, Mallard, Rouen and a Mule Duck. I took several pictures of it just now. I have Miss Lydia's number and I send them to her is how she is able to do it for me. If I had your number I could send them to you. Some people don't like to do that though so that would be entirely up to you if you would want to private message me so I could send them.

Where are you located, giving me your number if you are not in the US would not work anyways. I have to buy my sand and the last time I got 4 tons it was over two hundred dollars delivered. I work though and so I don't mind spending money for my ducks since I enjoy them so much and eat their eggs daily. Some people live where they have sand available all of the time which would be great. I do not have that advantage since I am in a neighborhood and our soil is mostly clay.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Tips on keeping duck enclosures clean?......​

 

[Barredrockmama1]

So far the platform with the outdoor rug seems to be doing the trick, we opted for an outdoor rug instead of the synthetic grass because it is super easy to spray off.. added drainage to the pool so that is easier to clean as well, so far it's been pretty clean, so long as I spray the poo away, but no mud thanks to the platform!

Tips on keeping duck enclosures clean?......​

 

[Luv Ducks]

So far the platform with the outdoor rug seems to be doing the trick, we opted for an outdoor rug instead of the synthetic grass because it is super easy to spray off.. added drainage to the pool so that is easier to clean as well, so far it's been pretty clean, so long as I spray the poo away, but no mud thanks to the platform!

Mine works well also. I used outdoor rug also as I did not like the feel of the fake plastic grass. Mine sprays off nicely and the ducks seem to love it too. No mess like I used to have on the ground. Being on a big pallet and then on this carpet works well.

 

[Abbyroadrescuetx]

My ducks do eat whatever comes into their area. It gets a little muddy for sure and I do put sand down because I go to the stone and rock place and get builders sand. They actually seem to like some of the tiny rocks that are in there. I can walk on it. I put it down everywhere on my property that the dogs are too because I don't like mud in my house but sand I can deal with. It keeps the mud from being ridiculous. Texas mud has a lot of clay in it. I just rake the sand. I don't move it. The hose and raking even with a light rake keeps the sand clean. You might not be able to do that with a lot of ducks but it sounds like you, like me, have a small number of ducks. I'll take a picture of my little area that I have for them so you can see what you may or may not want to do

 

[CoriM]

I put pea gravel around the little pool I have in my duck's run, and wood shavings in the rest of it for them to sleep on. I like the pea gravel because it's easy to hose off and if it's nice and deep the poop goes down through. I tried sand but where I live at least it wasn't great - poop didn't rinse through and it became very stinky.

 

[Abbyroadrescuetx]

I put pea gravel around the little pool I have in my duck's run, and wood shavings in the rest of it for them to sleep on. I like the pea gravel because it's easy to hose off and if it's nice and deep the poop goes down through. I tried sand but where I live at least it wasn't great - poop didn't rinse through and it became very stinky.

 

[Abbyroadrescuetx]

This is true and pea gravel is a great topper for the soil. My concern about putting pea gravel was I was afraid my ducks would try to eat it and get something stuck in their throat and I wasn't sure...like I'm terrified that they'll try to eat something too big for them. I wish I had seen your post before I tried to figure all this out LOL. Mine do fine with the sand and the mud and the dirt but their enclosure is like 20 by 20 so it doesn't get stinky. I'm fortunate with that.

 

[CoriM]

I'm glad sand worked out for you! Yeah, every time I get a new batch of ducklings when I move them into the coop they swim in the pond and reach over the edge and try to eat the pea gravel. Every day there is a couple of handfuls of pea gravel at the bottom of the pond. It just falls out of their mouths and eventually they outgrow the need to try it. I was terrified also at first when my babies were trying to eat it, but soon saw that they never really swallow. But still, you're right, you never know!