Does messy mean...?

[kagedgoddess]

Oh goodness Yes ducks are messy! Dh and i have agreed to Never brood them again. But some lady called me and i took in her 6 tsc ducks, but it warmed up and they are in the big coop with everyone else now. It is onlu really while brooding them that it is aweful. We deal with it by only giving them a small amount of water at a time and using Large shavings. Idk if tsc sells large shavings. I get mine from my co-op. The bag is white with a purple beaver on it. We also rigged up a feed holder. I wish i had a pic of it. Dh took some 2x4 fence and wrapped around the feeder, which is a long metal feeder, and hooked it to the side of the brooder. Our runner ducks are also hard to catch cuz theyre fast and wiggly. But we love them.
Keeping them with chickens didnt work for us cuz the ducks were bigger and would step on the chicks and the chicks pecked the ducks feet very badly making them bleed. Ducks cannot have medicated feed, so if you have both just get non medicated. Tsc sells dumor and purina brands that are non medicated. Once they are out of the brooder my ducks and chickens free range peacefully. Ducks like to sleep on the ground but i have a large shed for a coop so it works for everyone.
Good luck!

Oh and ducks take longer to feather out.

 

[toadbriar]

Raising ducklings inside is like raising a troop of hyperactive chimpanzees with chronic explosive diarrhea.

Also, I can tell you Dave Holderread never breathed a word of this in his otherwise-flawless duck guide: Ducks cannot poop silently. It always makes a wet, cartoony fart noise. It's like they can quack from BOTH ends. Fortunately I find this hilarious because I have the maturity of a third grade boy.

Ducks are awesome but I don't think I'll hatch them in November again.

 

[chics in the sun]

Quote:

Yeah, I've had two rouen ducks since Saturday. They are in a brooder in the back of the house. THEY SMELL!! When I get home the entire floor of the brooder is soaked, poop is everywhere, the waterer is empty, and so is the food. It is all thrown everywhere. They go outside for a while while I air out the house and clean out the brooder. I have started placing the waterer on an upside-down frisbie, which is helping a little.

 

[chicachick]

I know you are talking about duck poo but i have a question about my chickens and poo *laughs* I am new to raising chickens and last night one of mine had a ton of poo all lover her belly and back. I noticed it as i was putting them in for the night. I figured she would clean it off over night, however when they got up this morning she still had a mess on her back. Should I do something about it or will it come off eventually. I am not sure what to do about such things, but I tell you what I do not like poody backed chickens *grins*. Thanks for your help anyone.

Chicachick

 

[DuckLover179]

Is it possible for you to give her a little rinse in the sink? I don't mean let her swim, but give her a chickie bath?

 

[HeatherLynn]

Think Poo, water and food sludge. And thats just after an hour or so. I had mine inside and just to keep the smell down I was changing bedding twice a day. I had 4 ducks in the same brooder that normally I use for 20 to 25 chickens. It was just not big enough to allow them to go with only one bedding change a day. They stink so bad and their mess just piled up so fast. Oh and they can projectile poop. its not pretty. Cute cute cute babies and I love my ducks but man they are smelly.

 

[bunnibird55]

My adult ducks outside are the messiest creatures I have ever had - that said, I would not ever get rid of them because they are so funny to watch and they lay great eggs! They have three swimming pools, a small pond and they still find every mud puddle and drill little holes in the ground with their beaks. They poo everywhere - even in their water! But they eat all the nasty grubs - and THEY ARE CUTE! The two babies I have in the house in a brooder are MESSY! I let them have a dishpan of water in their brooder and when I got up at six a.m. today there they were floating happily in their dishpan. Now, the shavings in the rest of the brooder are a MESS. Their feed dish is a MESS. But they are the cleanest looking little souls I have ever seen! They stink but I love them!
They are kinda like guineas, you either love them or hate them!

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Thanks for the "creative" descriptions, y'all - you made my morning!!

My suggestion for raising ducklings is make everything (brooder, feeder, waterer) about four times bigger than you'd use for a chick. And I kinda "deep litter" the brooder, just adding more fresh pine shavings before the ducklings have the old stuff packed down to resemble soggy poopy particle board.

Edited to add "poopy" because I didn't want to be the only one not mentioning it

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i've hatched and raised hundreds of chicks, but was in no way prepared for raising ducks. They are about a bazillion times messier than chicks, and the mess grows exponentially as they grow. i would just barely get one brooder set up before i had to upgrade to another. Water and poo everywhere! The last brooder i used was a huge dog kennel, opened up, with doorways facing each other. Food and water on one side, sleeping quarters on the other. Quickly realized i had to drill a drain on the food and water side or it would fill up with mushy food lickity-split. Seemed like i was constantly cleaning out the brooder and refilling gallon waterers. i was SO grateful when they got big enough to keep outside.

So now that they are full-grown, they are still super messy, but at least it's outside. i have multiple water dishes (plastic shoe boxes, rubbermaid dishpans, and other plastic containers) all around as the minute one sticks their beak in one, it gets filled with mud. We have a kiddie pool as their pond, and i drain and refill it every morning. We did buy a 125 gallon pond form several months back but haven't gotten around to setting it up. This one needs to be set up further downhill from my chicken pens, as they flap and spill the water out all day long then it floods the back of one of my pens - not good for the chickens.

But . . . i love them! They are all so full of personalty and so much fun to watch. Glad i got them, but won't be adding any new ducklings any time soon - or until i forget what a pain it was to raise them.

 

[Suzie]

Oooohhhh....!

If you think their poo is messy... WAIT ..... until you get one that is broody.... now that smell is beyond anything I have ever experienced - they shoot ( a 12 barrell shotgun ) from their backside and it smells beyond comprehension... uuurrrggghhhhh....

Love them to bits - especially when they hatch babies...

Get yourself a power-washer - don't use it on the ducks!!!! Use it to clean out their (overnight for mine) housing - luckily we have a water mill and the poop flows out the back of the mill pond and down the river...