Ok guys so currently I have my 5 cayuga girls and planning to raise up a boy for them this winter so come spring love is hopefully in the air. But my current questions are this. A: how do you keep your girls laying constantly? And B: what bedding is best in a confined duck house? The girls started laying about 4 months back, but only 2 of the 5 layed regularly before stopping as soon as summer started ending so they layed for around 3 months about a dozen eggs a week i want to say on average. So how should i set them up to keep them laying regularly? They get one dog bowl of feed between them for breakfast and dinner(half the time they dont even finish it all) and unlimited water except when in house for the night from 7pm-6am as they tip anything over in the house and get it muddy . During the day the girls freerange over 2 acres but they had a designated nest started in their run before they stopped and a seemingly regular lay time of around 9am-11am so i would assume they dont have a stash hidden.
On another note I have them currently set up in a sturdy wood dog house repurposed for them but I'm having trouble keeping it clean seeing as they like to bath in the stream directly before bed. I dont mind cleaning it out regularly but i worry for their own health as its lacking in ventilation one would generally expect for 5 ducks, ya know cause its a dog house . I'd like to know a safe and good bedding for their house that is also preferably absorbent, slow to ruin, and doesnt stink like shavings do once dirtied, I love straw but I worry about mites and pests. I was thinking of using absorbent cob bedding like in a horse stall. I have it in my chicken run right now and I love it as it soaks up a ton of water so muds not a issue. Is it also safe for ducks? or is there a health concern that i dont know about?
On another note I have them currently set up in a sturdy wood dog house repurposed for them but I'm having trouble keeping it clean seeing as they like to bath in the stream directly before bed. I dont mind cleaning it out regularly but i worry for their own health as its lacking in ventilation one would generally expect for 5 ducks, ya know cause its a dog house . I'd like to know a safe and good bedding for their house that is also preferably absorbent, slow to ruin, and doesnt stink like shavings do once dirtied, I love straw but I worry about mites and pests. I was thinking of using absorbent cob bedding like in a horse stall. I have it in my chicken run right now and I love it as it soaks up a ton of water so muds not a issue. Is it also safe for ducks? or is there a health concern that i dont know about?
