Coop bedding suggestions??

[BethMatt]

We have just made it through our 1st winter using the deep litter method ( worked VERY well) now that it's warmer I need to switch the bedding out, I had sand last yr witch worked very well also BUT this year we are adding ducks to our flock & using sand is not a good thing being that they bed on the floor & not on a roost....so any suggestions?? Hay? Straw? Pine shavings? How do you maintain it daily to keep from smell & flies??

 

[ChickenLover200]

I use pine/cedar shavings. I put a bit of cracked corn or other treat in the shavings every so often so that the chickens will rotate the dirty ones to the bottom and bring clean ones to the top. The shavings last quite a while for me. It has been since January since i cleaned the coop, but it needs cleaned soonsince it is starting to stink.
As for flies, in the summer i like to use a barn, coop, and livestock fly spray. After all the chickens are outside of course. You'll also want to make sure none gets in water or food.

 

[aart]

Don't know what to recommend for ducks....
but just wanted to note that:
Aromatic cedar shavings can be a respiratory irritant, best to not use them in a coop.

 

[ChickenLover200]

Don't know what to recommend for ducks....
but just wanted to note that:
Aromatic cedar shavings can be a respiratory irritant, best to not use them in a coop.

I've never had a problem with the respiratory, but yeah, with ducks, another thing to note is that the shavings weren't good because they got packed together instead of being rotated

 

[Jensownzoo]

I also know little about keeping ducks.

Are you worried that the sand will get too hot? Not absorb enough? Be less comfy?

If you offered the ducks an separate area on the ground that had something like chopped straw and used sand in the rest of the coop, do you think they would use the "sleepin area"? Or would they just lay down wherever?

 

[BethMatt]

I also know little about keeping ducks.

Are you worried that the sand will get too hot? Not absorb enough? Be less comfy?

If you offered the ducks an separate area on the ground that had something like chopped straw and used sand in the rest of the coop, do you think they would use the "sleepin area"? Or would they just lay down wherever?

I have never had ducks, this will be my first, I'm worried that it won't be a good enough bedding for them to lay, I hear they don't lay in boxes so there's a chance that their eggs will break as well.

 

[Hokum Coco]

We have just made it through our 1st winter using the deep litter method ( worked VERY well) now that it's warmer I need to switch the bedding out, I had sand last yr witch worked very well also BUT this year we are adding ducks to our flock & using sand is not a good thing being that they bed on the floor & not on a roost....so any suggestions??

Ducks like to submerge their bill in water and blow bubbles I would recommend a deep dish of water as opposed to a shallow gravity feed chicken watering station.

I use pine shavings for the most part.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Muscovy ducks are a tree duck apparently and like to roost and have extremely sharp claws. That being said mine stayed on the floor for the most part until the duck took over one of the nesting boxes to incubate her brood.

 

[ChickenLover200]

Muscovy ducks are a tree duck apparently and like to roost and have extremely sharp claws. That being said mine stayed on the floor for the most part until the duck took over one of the nesting boxes to incubate her brood.

My muscovies never roosted, but beat up the chickens (they were housed with just tiny bantams and the drake only had one girl...)and so they ended up free range.

 

[ChickityChina]

I use pine/cedar shavings. I put a bit of cracked corn or other treat in the shavings every so often so that the chickens will rotate the dirty ones to the bottom and bring clean ones to the top. The shavings last quite a while for me. It has been since January since i cleaned the coop, but it needs cleaned soonsince it is starting to stink.
As for flies, in the summer i like to use a barn, coop, and livestock fly spray. After all the chickens are outside of course. You'll also want to make sure none gets in water or food.

Hahaha! Great trick! It's like hiding my son's Xbox controller and telling him it's somewhere under the crap in his messy room so he has to clean it up LOL.