I live in an urban setting so my cleaning methods may be considered excesssive, but I do this for the neighbors and because I'd rather do a little work cleaning every day than be faced with a large task every so often. Because ducks are so wet and messy, I found that trying to deep mulch was just too rank, and I was concerned about harboring diseases in their house. I spread only an inch or so of shredded straw in the floor of their house, and more in their nest boxes.
I shred the straw ( Patriot electric chipper shredder) so that it is finer, will go further and will compost faster.
Every day I pick up the soiled straw and compost it with a layer of leaves in a 3 x 3 x 3 compost bin which I keep right next to the duck house in the orchard hwere the compost will be distributed. In the bottom of an empty bin I place wet newspaper and leaf litter with a lot of worms in it. After a few weeks when the bin is almost full I add a half gallon of fermented molasses water. When the bin is finally full I let it compost for a week or two, then turn it. When all traces of manure smell are gone and the pile has a sweet smell, I turn it out into the orchard, where the ducks continue to root through it. The straw has not completely broken down then, but decomposes more out in the orchard, and the ducks enjoy the worms in it.
I shred the straw ( Patriot electric chipper shredder) so that it is finer, will go further and will compost faster.
Every day I pick up the soiled straw and compost it with a layer of leaves in a 3 x 3 x 3 compost bin which I keep right next to the duck house in the orchard hwere the compost will be distributed. In the bottom of an empty bin I place wet newspaper and leaf litter with a lot of worms in it. After a few weeks when the bin is almost full I add a half gallon of fermented molasses water. When the bin is finally full I let it compost for a week or two, then turn it. When all traces of manure smell are gone and the pile has a sweet smell, I turn it out into the orchard, where the ducks continue to root through it. The straw has not completely broken down then, but decomposes more out in the orchard, and the ducks enjoy the worms in it.
