Best ground cover in duck run? Help with messy poop!

[mandelyn]

I don't know about winter. I plan to hose it off when ever it isn't freezing out, possible for awhile in Ohio. I will be taking their pool away when it gets cold-cold. I'm guessing I can rake the gravel in between hosing it off should I forget to drain it once and the hose is frozen hard for weeks.

Could drag the frozen hose into the basement and unthaw it that way if I had to.

Winter will be fun. Water + cold = ice, should be a blast! I have electric out to the coop, so at least the inside water will remain drinkable.

 

[ChristineR]

I keep my 2 ducks in a 6' x 8' chain link dog kennel that has chicken wire fastened around the sides and top. I use the top half of a plastic, giant-sized dog house for shelter.

I move it around the yard every day or two. The ducks fertilize my lawn and eat the dandelions and I never have to clean their pen!

 

[1234duck]

My ducks are outside 24/7 they have access to shelter & dry/clean bedding. They also have food & water & their swimming pools 24/7. I use hay to spread all over the ground & add more as needed. Everyday I hose their poop away during the winter & summer so it never smells and we don't have a fly problem. They love to free range in the hay for bugs & since i spray their poop away REAL GOOD its not a problem when they do. ~Julie~

 

[toadbriar]

as for winter gravel, we put hay over it cos it's ice otherwise. the poo mixes/freezes with the hay, so it is easier to clean out with a manure fork in spring. it all just lifts in a layer.

 

[Eban333]

Thanks, I had the same question! :0)

 

[Amiga]

Thanks, I had the same question! :0)

Welcome! In the Day Pen, I have a layer of compost built up from duck poo and chopped straw, leaves, other high-carbon materials, and keep a thin layer of chopped straw on top. No unpleasant odor, absorbent, and it draws worms.

Under the swim pans it is a mix of smooth pea gravel and sand. Oak leaves added in the summer keep odors mild.

 

[MountainDucks]

We just finished our first duck run and are ready to put in some ground cover. I've looked into ordering some pea gravel and found it to be very inexpensive. My concern is this: because we have so many different kinds of predators where we live, the floor of the run is hardware cloth, resting on soil and extended a short ways out from the run to prevent weasels, badgers, and coons from digging their way under. If we fill the run with pea gravel, won't the droppings just keep building up down in the gravel? Or does hosing the gravel break them up enough? I thought about using sand so I could scoop up the droppings and remove them from the run every so often. Our run is 14'x8' for two lovely ducks. Comments?

 

[laughingdog]

My dirt and old brooder pine chip, pen is currently working better than my pea gravel pen. my pea gravel pen was re enforced, but railroad ties were gotten through and pea gravel tunneled into every night my muscovy drake isn't allowed in. feed and eggs are stolen/stashed around under stuff in pen and I'm sure shed next to pen (my neighbors locked shed). don't use straw over pea gravel it clogs it up and promotes mold. my KCs were on pine shavings/chips and worked great unless soaked after pooper party. lol
i then had my six KCs on grass that had chickens and pigeons on last year, and was great.. till it rained for days andKCs turned fourth at least to mud. now just have them all free to their own thing. pea gravel and wood chips best vote other than small guage coated wire bottom, raised slightly off ground, maybe moss on top of that.

DON'T USE SAND
Sand will make terrible mess and can be bad. for ducks kept that way for some reason.. though one on here has sand n think sawdust for huge shelter their animals all in on top of concrete, that person said worked find for them, they use those water bottles or only poultry nipples or cups ect (which i keep hearing great things about, dispite ducks supposedly need enough to dunk face and wet body wit) for watering animals.

 

[khott13]

Pea gravel is to ducks what sand is to chickens. Get some pea gravel!

I was so sick and tired of the mud pit and filthy ducks and the smell. The gross baby pool, the yucky waterer. Icky ducks! 2 tons of pea gravel covered their 10x10 run 4-5 inches deep. Was $100 delivered. WAY cheaper if you can pick it up yourself. Same price about as buying it in bags from Lowes or somewhere. I placed a non-biodegradable flower bed liner on the bottom, something you won't have to do on concrete. You would only need a skirt of treated all weather wood around to hold the gravel in.

Let them poop on it all day, hose it off in the evening. Fresh and new for the next day. NO MUD! No poo slicks since it sinks into the gravel a bit, specially when they walk on it.

Anything organic will smell when it gets wet. That goes for mulch, shavings, all of it. Poo + Water + Organics or dirt = stink and grossness.

You're half way to easy management with the concrete pad.

The rubber mats can grow mold under them so you need to lift them and clean under them periodically. You can hose them off same as the concrete. But it will still create the "poo slick" since it's a solid surface. Better on the feet though. But the gravel... helps out a lot.

Where I have their outside food gets crud on it. I can take a kitchen strainer and do that corner and wash out the food debris from the gravel as needed. Keeps bugs down. Doesn't take long at all.

Too bad they poop in their pool, I bought them a smaller infant sized one so that I don't feel so bad dumping it daily. The big 6ft pool was just too much water.

At least you're not dealing with mud, that's the worse.

Hey there, I'm setting up my future duck yard and appreciate your advice on pea gravel! I'm having trouble finding it as cheaply as you mentioned. I have a space that is 10 ft by 20 ft, and all calculations tell me I will be spending upwards of $400 on pea gravel. Any advice on where/how to find it cheaper?

 

[Ratchnick]

Hey there, I'm setting up my future duck yard and appreciate your advice on pea gravel! I'm having trouble finding it as cheaply as you mentioned. I have a space that is 10 ft by 20 ft, and all calculations tell me I will be spending upwards of $400 on pea gravel. Any advice on where/how to find it cheaper?

Well that post was 10 years old, and depending on how far you are from where its mined your costs can vary. I tried pea gravel, it didn't work because the run was in the shade so it didn't dry out and the ducks got bumble. If your run is in the sun it should work well but i found i had to hose it every day with out fail.


P.s. you will go broke buying gravel by the bag, make sure you order by the yard.