bedding for duck house/chicken coop?

[AmandaVirginia]

I will be having my duck house, chicken coop, and common area built within the next month and I would love advice on bedding! As of right now, I use hay with my two Call ducks. I want to use the most practical bedding, that will look nice and be easiest to keep clean! Does anybody use pine or has anybody ever used gravel, sand, or bark? Please tell me about your experiences and fill me in on what has worked out the best for your ducks & chickens! Thanks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I will be having my duck house, chicken coop, and common area built within the next month and I would love advice on bedding! As of right now, I use hay with my two Call ducks. I want to use the most practical bedding, that will look nice and be easiest to keep clean! Does anybody use pine or has anybody ever used gravel, sand, or bark? Please tell me about your experiences and fill me in on what has worked out the best for your ducks & chickens! Thanks!

For me shavings work the best, but other than shaving I have only used straw and that was awful. I use deep bedding go in daily and scoop out the wet poop use the shovel or pitch fork and turn the bedding over it's ready to use again and add fresh bedding when needed. Very easy clean up. The shaving I use is horse bedding comes in packaged huge bundles

 

[Cherib603]

I use a layer of Stall Dry, then DE, then bark mulch. Rake it 2 or 3 times a week. No smell so far.

 

[Shelly and Dave]

We use a layer or horse stall pellet to absorb the wet. Then pine shavings on top. With out stall pellets it got smelly in days. Using stall pellets it can go weeks before it starts to smell.

 

[RachG75]

Can you all give some more detail? I am such a noob.

I've never kept any kind of livestock or animals other than a dog and fish! I'm not trying to hijack; I think my questions will help the poster as well. Forgive me AmandaVirginia!?

We bought a cute 6x10 coop just over a week ago. It has a wooden floor, but I just bought some cheap linoleum so it will be easier to give it a thorough cleaning with a hose once in awhile. Last week I used pine shavings, made it a few inches deep and spread some DE on it then stirred it around each day. I really didn't remove any droppings. They seemed to just dry up and I didn't smell anything or see the first fly until a week passed. This week, I tried chopped straw with DE sprinkled on it. I turn it in the morning and sprinkle a little more DE on it. It's been a few days and all seems well and dry. Should I be doing anything else? I'm pretty much just guessing on what I'm doing!

Quote: Shelly and Dave...so, when you say you put stall pellets down, is that the same as pine pellets? I tried those before and they seemed to just disintegrate pretty fast. So, do you turn it each day, or are you removing visible droppings each day and putting more down? I like the idea of "WEEKS," plural!

In the run we are planning on building to attach to the coop, I think I'm going to do some river sand and gravel around their pool. Between the hose, rake and rain should we be okay? Still trying to decide if the roof will just be chicken wire or if we are actually going to put some clear panels over the run.

These are the most expensive $5 ducks I've ever heard of! lol

 

[Shelly and Dave]

They horse stall pellet I beleave they are pine. No cleaning till it starts to smell. The size of area will change how often it will need clean. We have 10 ducks and 2 geese in a 12'×24' shed so they have plenty of room

 

[AmandaVirginia]

Has anybody ever used gravel, sand, or bark with stepping stones through the middle? I've read that sand works wonderfully. Also, I always have food and water out. I know water always needs to be available but do most of you only feed one time a day, in the morning or evening, instead of always leaving it out?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Has anybody ever used gravel, sand, or bark with stepping stones through the middle? I've read that sand works wonderfully. Also, I always have food and water out. I know water always needs to be available but do most of you only feed one time a day, in the morning or evening, instead of always leaving it out?

I don't put food and water inside except in very frigid temps and only then because everyone goes inside so early. In summer months I put enough feed out for them to eat most of the morning then they forage on half acre most of the day in late afternoon they get feed again so their tummy's are full for bedtime. Of course in between feedings they get their meal worms and corn for their treat. [spoiled rotten things. ]

 

[RachG75]

I don't put food and water inside except in very frigid temps and only then because everyone goes inside so early. In summer months I put enough feed out for them to eat most of the morning then they forage on half acre most of the day in late afternoon they get feed again so their tummy's are full for bedtime. Of course in between feedings they get their meal worms and corn for their treat. [spoiled rotten things. ]

Really? No water inside at night? They are just making a huge, stinky mess with that. It has been UNGODLY hot here though. So, maybe I need to do water when it is very cold or very hot, but not when the nights are over freezing and below 70 maybe? When their coop is still 88 degrees at 8:30pm, that's pretty bad. I put a fan in their window, but it still must be stifling for an hour or two.

 

[RachG75]

Has anybody ever used gravel, sand, or bark with stepping stones through the middle? I've read that sand works wonderfully. Also, I always have food and water out. I know water always needs to be available but do most of you only feed one time a day, in the morning or evening, instead of always leaving it out?

I also really want to hear more about gravel, sand and bark please!

We will start working on this project as soon as this heat wave passes.