Can you use the deep litter method with geese and ducks?

[dragonshiner]

Well as long as were talking bedding and poop...
I let my kids out to free range each day, even when it rains they love it. I only shut them away at night or during severe weather. Now when they come into the barn though the "duck area", which is basically the chicken area separated by chicken fencing, is on a concrete floor near the barn door. I have a section farthest away from the door covered in straw for the ducks to sleep on and make sure they have access to water and food all night. My routine and theirs is to feed at night when they "come home." But as far as poop goes it is easily scraped off the floor and taken out to the compost heap, a job which only needs to be done every other day and only takes about 5 minutes tops. Once we get running water into the barn I'll also be able to hose it down. Not to mention I won't have to haul water all the way from the house just to supply all the birds.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I like hearing everyone elses routines.

Our ducks are in a run most of the day but when I am home they are out foraging. They have two large rubber tubs for water in their pen, and a big feeder. My girls (and boy) don't seem to mind going all night without food and water. I let them out into the run anywhere between 5-8 am and they are eager to get to their breakfast but not stampeding.
Now, their run is a MESS...
It was just grass and dirt but in a little less than a week became a duck poop slip and slide. I tried raking it but it didn't do much good.
So what I ended up doing was taking grass clippings from the huge pile that we empty our double bagger in from our tractor, and covering the bottom of the run with about 1-2" of fresh grass clippings. When the grass clippings are fresh they will eat some but for the most part they leave them alone and soon they dry out and almost become hay.
I have found that I can leave a batch of clippings for a MAX of three days before I use a rake and a pitchfork and put it all in the muck pile and then lay down "fresh" clippings.
Hay is too expensive for me to afford to buy just to have my ducks poo on so DH and I have decided to lay out a big tarp and spread out all of our extra clippings to dry, then bag them into yard waste bags and put them away to use in the fall/winter. Thankfully we have acres of grass that needs near constant cutting and it makes me feel better like nothing is really being wasted in the long run. The used clippings go into the "muck"/compost pile, with other things, get turned occasionally and will be used next spring in the gardens.
This will do for now anyway. In the long term I would love to explore smooth river rocks or something. Sounds pretty too!

 

[FutureChickenMan]

Quote:
You might be on to something there....

If your pen is square this idea will work well; I think. Anyway, dig a trench down the middle of the pen; a fairly deep trench say 18" or so. Then taper the outer edges down in to the trench. Kinda like you're going to build a pond out of it. Line the pen with pond liner/tarps (long lasting stuff). Then in the trench, install what is called a french drain. It's a piece of pipe with holes in it designed to carry excess water away from damp areas. This pipe will need to flow down hill and out of the pen. They make a soil gard that covers the pipe like a sock, this will help keep the pipe from gettin clogged up. Then cover the whole area with gravel/rock. When there's lots of poo, break out the garden hose. The poop should break up with water and sink down in to the gravel and the excess water will be carried away by the pipe. In principle it's like a septic tank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain

 

[dixygirl]

Thanks. The area I am planning to enclose is on a natural slope so the water would naturally drain downward through the gravels and stones with gravity without digging a ditch or a tube.

I hope it works. I will take pictures once I start.

 

[moenmitz]

Ok, now I think we are on to something...got an idea based on what you just said about the river rock and drain, just have to figure out the details. I will post pics when I get it straightened out.