What to put at the Bottom of Duck run?

[QueenieBelleB]

We finished our Duck coop/run. What would you put for the floor?? It is currently just dirt with straw in the coop area. I put an old piece of roofing panel under the waters to help the dirt not wash away. The ducks have already made little mud holes and it's only been 2 weeks full time.

The bathtub duck pool is not ready. I'm thinking about buying pavers to put around and under neath to help not wash put the dirt. I bought aqua tape to see if I could seal it but I doubt it will work.

 

[Jenbirdee]

some people use sand some use gravel most often i see recommended is wood chips but they gotta be natural wood... I tried to get some by emailing all the tree cutting businesses in my area and offering my yard as a dumping spot but none of them replied. my ducks run around in the back half of my yard with lots of hawk protection obstacles its not a run but still gets muddy 3000 sq feet but what I do is put sand and gravel in the wet spots as needed. Its construction sand not play sand the play kind is too fine and bad for ducks. and i use pea gravel around the pools and water buckets . I also put some boat carpet its recycled Peet plastic from soda bottles the rugs are green and I get them at Lowes they are easy to cut with scissors to size and shape you want. they are great around pools too .

 

[Jenbirdee]

by the way your ducks are very cute and you built a fantastic run! I have one concern about the gap around the door on one side looks like a pretty big gap on the top half of right side of door? Measure it and if its bigger than a quarter then some predators can get in and we dont want that ~ your duckies are too cute and precious!
edit to add Pavers are good tooo I also use them

 

[QueenieBelleB]

by the way your ducks are very cute and you built a fantastic run! I have one concern about the gap around the door on one side looks like a pretty big gap on the top half of right side of door? Measure it and if its bigger than a quarter then some predators can get in and we dont want that ~ your duckies are too cute and precious!
edit to add Pavers are good tooo I also use them

The gap is big around door. My husband plans on putting wood around it.

 

[nao57]

They are going to mess it up no matter what you do. But that's their job. Also it works to use it to put to garden use. So another strategy is instead is to rotate where their duck pen is, and then use that for the garden location the year following. Then just keep rotating it like that. It will enrich the soil nicely after a winter rest.

 

[QueenieBelleB]

They are going to mess it up no matter what you do. But that's their job. Also it works to use it to put to garden use. So another strategy is instead is to rotate where their duck pen is, and then use that for the garden location the year following. Then just keep rotating it like that. It will enrich the soil nicely after a winter rest.

That is a nice idea. I would have to replace their pallet coop to something lighter. It is to heavy to move but everything else technically could be portable??unless the rabbit wire naturally buries itself in the ground.

 

[nao57]

That is a nice idea. I would have to replace their pallet coop to something lighter. It is to heavy to move but everything else technically could be portable??unless the rabbit wire naturally buries itself in the ground.

The cool part about ducks is they don't get as curious to leave their pens like chickens do. As long as they have food they'll stay put. But chickens will roam. So if you do only ducks or focus on ducks then you can have a lighter pen like something similar to a chicken tractor easily. Or even just portable pens and move them around.

In theory also you can have both. You could have a light portable pen. And then also have your permanent pen. When there's grass outside use the light pen, etc. Or whatever. And this is why we talk to each other! Because once you learn a new exploit, you get excited to see how you can improve your life with greater knowledge (and faith)!

You don't have to move the heavy pen. But you can also use the heavy pen to herd them into at night since its more protected. This is the advantage of having some temporary partition pens and a permanent pen. There will always be the danger of neighbor dogs, predators trying to get your poultry. So you have the permanent pen and it... you want it to be very secure. And with a bit of practice if you herd them into the bigger tougher pen at night they do get used to it after the first few times. And it gets easier to get move them into it as their brains are programmed to accept routine (treats help break them into this).

With ducks you won't have to worry about them trying to dig under the pen's walls either.

 

[OneEggToRuleThemAll]

My coop/run is smaller than yours--it's a hoop coop, 16' long by 7' wide, but we use the mixed grass hay rectangular bales from my local feed mill; I think they're about $11 a piece. At this point, we've got about 6 bales spread all over the floor of the coop and it's like 8 inches thick or something like that. The ducks burrow little holes in the hay with their beaks, but it's too thick to get down to the soil below, so it all stays pretty dry and clean. When I notice an area that is covered in duck poop, I just add more fresh hay on top.

 

[Fawkes]

I like sand. About twice a year I get a couple yards of sand delivered from a local place that sells sand so that I can top up the duck aviaries.

I like to spot clean the aviaries daily, removing any poop with a little garden hand trowel. Similar to cleaning a giant cat litter pan lol (but not nearly as gross). They stay nice and clean that way with whitish colored sand. It looks like the beach The ducks love it too.

You need to make sure it's not fine sand though. You don't want ducks on fine, dusty sand.

 

[countryladyNH]

DUCK/GOOSE RUN WE JUST BUILT!

The 2 of us just finished building a 'run' addition to the 'little goose coop' we built ourselves 5 years ago (with no plans, experience, fancy tools, or help!)

We had a not great, make-do, detached 'run' for several years and finally designed and built this new one onto the coop for our 3 ducks and pet goose, Gabby, and just finished! It took us only about 10 days start to finish with a lot of by hand excavating! They now have a safe, attached run with a little door for them into their coop. Soft river rock base is gentle on their feet and easy to clean. (It was suggested by a vet)!

The little garden we made built into the rock patio was a great place for some excess dirt. We made a little wattle border around it and planted it with wildflower mixed seeds.

We designed our goose coop to blend with our 250 year old house and we think the run compliments it as well...Everything was done by us on a budget and cost far less than anything pre-made and we think it's much nice too. The girls love it!