Duck bedding

[Cassandragrenr]

What bedding should I use for my ducks? Like straw, pine flakes etc. What's the best to use?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I started out using straw when I first got ducks but it has no absorption at all so after a few years I started using pine shavings and it is much better for waterfowl. I can go in and scoop out the wet poopy shavings fluff it all up and add more as needed. I use deep litter in my coops.

 

[akf93]

I’m using fine pine shavings in my coop as well. I have three ducks and lots of chickens. I use deep litter as well but I’m wondering if I might lay straw on top or something. Now that one is laying, there’s usually poop on the eggs so I’m trying to find a way around that as best I can. Wondering if ducks are just too wet/poopy/messy for a good clean deep litter routine. I’m struggling to keep it dry and worry about winter. I’m not much help but I’ll be following to find out the same from more experienced people!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am pretty much a clean freak when it comes to my coops. I clean every day [helps a lot being retired] so I clean up wet poopy bedding then fluff and just add new every couple of weeks. I think the dirty eggs are just part of being a duck. Maybe others have worked out the dirty eggs but I haven't.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I tried the deep litter method last year, and did not like it. It was impossible to clean up the top layer when it froze.

I used pine shavings and fine straw, but this year I'm just going to stick to the shavings, and add a bit more every day to help soak up the mess, especially when I can't let them out in the -40C we sometimes get here.

I've also read that straw attracts mites.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is when I like the deep shavings the best. When the poop has frozen easier for me to get up. lol

 

[Canadian Wind]

Okay, I'll give it another try. Because you said it was easier. Maybe I just wasn't cleaning it up often enough!

 

[ProudRedneck]

I use large flake pine shavings. I did a LOT of searching for what people used and read stories of what people's experiences were with different bedding and found it particularly interesting when I would see what they switched to after their experiences and why they did so. Here's what I found and let me preface by saying I have only used large pine flakes from the beginning.....

• Sand - sounded like a fantastic idea because it would be like a big litter box. However, people complained about flies and the smell that would eventually happen in a short amount of time. Ducks poop a LOT and they love to be in water (exceptions are Muscovies). Sand has a draining quality instead of clumping so as you sift the big poops out, you are left with wet sand that brings on the problems mentioned.
• Pea gravel - Pricy, ability to spray poop down underneath the rocks is good but is hard on duck feet, could cause abrasions or slip n falls if ducks get in a panic, would still need to have good drainage underneath
• Straw - Was really only used to "cover" wet soppy areas so it didn't really provide preventative measures as bedding but more so of a temporary dry area for all the water that comes with duck keeping or it was used to cover a primary bedding underneath. I wanted longevity AND not have to buy two types of bedding.
• Bedding pellets - These break down/separate/absorb as they come in contact with moisture or get trampled on. Ducks legs are fragile and I didn't want to have to worry about my babies tripping, twisting ankles, breaking legs, slipping a joint, hitting their heads or breaking a wing if the bedding rolled out from underneath them. Once wet though it breaks down and rots pretty quick.
• Pine shavings -
  • Fine - Cheap, lofty at first but because of how fine the shavings are/can be, I found that it would get trampled down to a firmer flooring quicker and the dust I worried about my baby's breathing in.
  • Large - Cheap, lofty, very little dust if any and once in place, I have never seen dust kicked up after intial spreading which cuts down on possible respiratory issues. Takes longer to pack down so it provides a soft fluffy flooring for their little duck feet which should help prevent bumblefoot, ability to re-fluff a few times before having to do a full cleanout, large enough flakes to allow the watery parts of poop to go deeper away from duck feet that will then get absorbed, at the se time provides airy space underneath a ducks feet to prevent bumblefoot.

 

[ProudRedneck]

I too use deep litter, not because we get winters here in FL but because it saves on wasted bedding. When I start after a full cleanout, I put new bedding down about an inch to 1½" thick. As time goes on, I take handfuls of new shavings and plop them on top of the poop piles. If I see that the bedding is getting thicker in one area, I will then turn/re-fluff all bedding and then repeat. Once I see that the bedding is starting to break down when I turn or re-fluff it, that's when I do a full cleanout. I scrap/rake the top layer off since it's the newest and still has absorbancy remaining, use the old bedding as mulch in my garden. The raked top layer now becomes the bottom and I top off the bedding with new flakes to get the thickness/fluffiness I desire. I also flick out the poop piles and any moist bedding, out of the house, into the attached run daily where it can dry out and it removes the potential fumes from the poop from their sleeping quarters at the same time adding fluff back to the run area. I also keep a box fan at the end of the run to help with drying out the bedding caused by there "pool" that blows down the length of the run and into the house to circulate air in it as well.

 

[citymeetscountry]

For my chickens and goats I use pine shavings but for my ducks I use straw. As ducklings I used pine shavings in the brooder. I have no reason why I switched or why I continue to do the same but the straw works well in the duck house for me. The girls seem to like it for making a nest as well.