Duck Cleanup Secrets

[Coyox]

Hey there everyone. I posted a while back with news about my first set of ducks and chickens.

It's been a week now and they sure are big! I'm excited about the aspect of letting them roam more on their own soon. But until then I have a few other things to worry about! These things poop a TON!

I'm looking for secrets from experienced duck owners on what you think the best way to clean up after these dirty duckies. I'm looking for secrets for when they are young in the brooder, and when they are old and free ranging (staying in stables/barns etc during the night!)

What do you guys find is best for you? What sort of materials? How often are you cleaning. Tell me!

 

[duckyeah]

We had a random Colorado snow storm so I had to bring my 4 week old KC back in the house. This picture is after 12 hours, maybe less. Ugh!!! The secret is to get them outside as soon as safely possible. Haha. I keep them in a tote until they learned to jump out of that. I switched to the bath tub with puppy pads lining to absorb the nasty. Then I can pick those up and wipe out the tub. I hate being wasteful with the pads, but it's only for a couple weeks and I need to keep my sanity.
As for outside, I have a raised night pen that allows the droppings/drippings to fall through. During the daytime I let them free range in my backyard (fenced). The keys to keeping things clean-ish are airflow, space and monitoring. If anything is dank, flies and smells with happen immediately. My 5 ducks roam the yard all day and don't disturb any spot excessively, but if they do, I monitor and block off trouble spots until it can regrow/dry out.
Your babies are gorgeous! Good luck and let us know if you come up with any good techniques to keep baby quackers clean!

 

[duckyeah]

My picture won't upload...maybe it's for the better because it is So. Totally. Gross.

 

[NancysChickens]

I got 2 Pekin Ducks when I got six chicks about five weeks ago, and, yes, WOW do they grow fast and they are just pooping machines!! LOL. I was able to move them outside after four weeks and they have their nice duck house to stay safe and warm in at night. When they were in with the chicks, I was using puppy pads, I've find them to be the least messy, absorbent, and easy to just fold up and toss out. Since I have all the chicks and ducks in the brooder in my utility room, I didn't want to deal with wood shaving all over the floor.

Now the duckies are outside happy as two little clams but if only the cows would stop trying to break down the fence to get at their little pond. Yesterday the cows pushed up the fence from the bottom and my ducks got out. They seemed bewildered to be on the wrong side of the fence; broom in hand, I was able to get them back where they belong (even though I handled them as much as possible, they run from me so I have to herd them where I want them). Now I have to deal with the cows destroying their pond and fencing and the fence is hotwired to keep them out but it's not helping.

 

[cayugaducklady]

When they're in the brooder disposable puppy pads work great. I used oxyclean (a form of peroxide) or peroxide to clean and sanitize their mess.I used bird poop off to clean my garage last year. we used it to hold the teenage ducks while we built their permanent pen. Due to the weather and cold last year we couldn't start building it until after they too big to still be inside.

For last year's ducklings I used old bedding and washed it daily. Puppy pads are much easier.

My adult ducks are on a deep layer of straw. I turn it over at least once a week but I let weather conditions and my nose tell me when it needs to be turned. I change their pond water once week but once it actually warms up I'll change it every few days., I use that water to water plants and trees. They love it.

Their bathing dog pool gets changed whenever i think that water is too dirty. It also gets used to water the yard plants or trees. Sometimes this one can go a week or more and sometimes i need to change it almost daily.

 

[Coyox]

Hey guys! Thanks for the tips! Puppy pads probably would have been more simple than what I'm doing...

But I suppose I could elaborate on what I've been doing! Actually I just started trying it yesterday (the ducks grew so huge and I had to change things up.) Right now I have them sectioned off in a corner of our unused downstairs kitchenette. (You can see it on the photo). They get one towel (since they seem to really like sleeping on a towel), and the rest is all linoleum. I can manage to actually sneak by only having to clea it once every 6-8 hours and it isn't too bad or smelly!

I reach into the area, transfer the ducks into a ferret cage (which is what I'm using to separate the ducks from the rest of the kitchen), then I use a swiffer to push all of the poop and grossness into one huge pile. I use a washcloth to pick it all up for the waste bin.... spray down once with this great stuff called Odoban. (Lots of motels use this to keep the rooms smelling nice... super safe and made of eucalyptus. And it disinfects at the same time) Wipe it up again as to not cause harm to the ducks, and bam--- whole floor is clean and I've not spent a dime extra on wasted materials! Granted, I do have to do one load of laundry a day, but at least the towels and washcloths are reusable.

Anyhow I've been doing this for 24 hours and MAN it's SOOOOO easy. And somehow my house doesn't smell anymore too! So I'm pretty happy about this and the ducks seem happy to have so much space.