Hi,
I am new to the whole duck keeping thing and have been doing a lot of searching online lately in preparation for the arrival of my two Cayugas. One thing I have been having trouble figuring out is what to do about my duck run substrate. I have been doing a lot of reading, but everyone seems to have a different opinion for a different reason. I live in Northern Illinois where summers can be horribly hot and winters horribly cold. I also live in the suburbs close to my neighbors. I'm trying to figure out a substrate that will be safe for my ducks to walk on during all seasons but also keep down on smell for my neighbors. Also, I plan on building a shorter run with a top that I can open and walk into and lock down the rest of the time instead of building a tall walk in run. Can anyone shed some light on how much head room my ducks need? They will only be in there when no one is home to supervise. If anyone is in the same boat as me or just has opinions on substrates that'll keep down on smell please shoot me a reply.
PS. I have no clue how much duck poop smells, but if I can get away with stirring my substrate and leaving behind a dirt/organic smell vs a duck poop smell that would be what I'm looking for.
I am new to the whole duck keeping thing and have been doing a lot of searching online lately in preparation for the arrival of my two Cayugas. One thing I have been having trouble figuring out is what to do about my duck run substrate. I have been doing a lot of reading, but everyone seems to have a different opinion for a different reason. I live in Northern Illinois where summers can be horribly hot and winters horribly cold. I also live in the suburbs close to my neighbors. I'm trying to figure out a substrate that will be safe for my ducks to walk on during all seasons but also keep down on smell for my neighbors. Also, I plan on building a shorter run with a top that I can open and walk into and lock down the rest of the time instead of building a tall walk in run. Can anyone shed some light on how much head room my ducks need? They will only be in there when no one is home to supervise. If anyone is in the same boat as me or just has opinions on substrates that'll keep down on smell please shoot me a reply.
PS. I have no clue how much duck poop smells, but if I can get away with stirring my substrate and leaving behind a dirt/organic smell vs a duck poop smell that would be what I'm looking for.