Bedding Question Please Help

[chris328]

HI
i am new to the duck geese pets and i have been trying different ways to bed them down at night in their coop i have a base of pea gravel with about two inches of play sand on top i am just worried if the sand can harm them in any way .i have tryied pine shavings and had bad results one of the ducks ate some and he was having sezures then i tried rumber maid bath mats with holes in them on top of the pea gravel a night mare to clean every day. now i am using the play sand which seems easy to clean up in the morning but i am worried if they can be harmed by the play sand by eating to much of it? The ducks are 8 weeks old and the geese are 6 weeks old. can anybody with experiance with ducks and geese give me their input it would be very helpful to know i am not going to harm them in any way thank you

 

[cracking up]

I use rubber mats like 1/2 inch thick anti - fatigue mats that go together like a puzzle. I cover them with bermuda because we have it for the goats. Some people use straw but others say it molds. Whatever you use try to make it easy to clean. I drag the mat sections out to the fruit trees because water is valuable here and I wash them off there and use the grass and poop as a sort of mulch. Works good for me.

Try different things to find out what works for you. Just avoid shavings - some kinds are okay but I'm not educated on it.

Good luck with your ducks - I think you'll love them. I don't know about sand.

 

[DurhamDuck]

My ducks love straw. They can nibble on it but it won't hurt them, it keeps the warm and it keeps them up off the ground if the ground gets cold.