best bedding for ducks

[GrannySue]

I have a very thin layer of concrete over plywood. It means I can clean and scrape (plastic snow shovel) to my heart's content. I was worried about lino rotting.
Have had this set-up in the chicken house for 6 years and it's lasted so far, even with a few ducks in it last winter.

 

[DuckMamaorBust]

Are water bottles a good idea if you can't keep them at least lukewarm? I imagine the warm water will give off heat for awhile but won't the water in the bottle try and take their body heat away once the water gets cold? I'm thinking of water beds... they always have heaters in them because it would be bad for your health to always be on a cold surface. Folks on the the forum have stressed how important it is to keep the li'l guys warm and dry so I was just wondering if the water bottle was OK once it got cold.

What about a heated dog bed instead? I don't know if they come in waterproof.

 

[688peterl]

Quote:
i never even knew you could get heated dog beds, ive got a while before they go outside, infact i dont want them outside until 2010 so ive got 2 months lol

 

[688peterl]

Quote:
i cant have shavings in the run though, because the roof will be chicken wire so if it rains the shavings will just get soaked, plus im planning on treating the OSB with wood preserver so that would make it waterproof wouldnt it? then i wouldnt need lino or shavings would i?

 

[rainplace]

I'm not talking about the run. I'm talking about their coop. The duck house.

 

[688peterl]

Quote:
so do you have a run? whats it like?

 

[DuckMamaorBust]

Sure there are outdoor heated pads for dogs. Americans buy cloths for dogs... why not make sure they have every other kind of creature comfort.

Here are two I found by searching on Google. Both of these are in the US but you could search for similar products near you.


Integrated dog bed w/ heating element
http://www.drugstore.com/products/p...ram=k_h_manufacturing_lect&CAWELAID=338418016

Just a heating element that can be used with any other kind of dog bed.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...300304&cm_ite=0061843660325a&_requestid=64096

Think through your entire duck house, duck run, bedding plan. I'd be concerned about combining these heaters with flammable materials. Folks on here have said as long as the house is dry and free of drafts they won't need any additional heat source. Maybe just a light bulb for the coldest of nights would be enough?

 

[Bossroo]

Chicken wire for a roof, OSB for floor, wood preserver on that, small holes in OSB... all lead to MOLD and other health issues.

 

[rainplace]

My ducks have the entire yard... no real run. Just outside of their coop where they go in and out, I laid down some wood shavings so it wasn't muddy.

Other ideas for runs are pea gravel alone, or pea gravel with sand over the top... some people use wood chips... if you use the search feature there are tons of threads about runs.

 

[rainplace]

Here are the search results by typing in the word runs into the search feature at the right.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/se...=FORID:10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=runs&sa=Search#1283