Duck Enclosure Stinks

[TheHighlandChick01]

We have a 10’ x 10’ dog kennel for our duck enclosure. We have fortified it with hardware cloth, which is 4’ high, and extra heavy duty tarps on all sides. We also have a roof made out of tarps and a metal kennel cover to help keep everything in place.

My husband made a three sided enclosed area made out of wood for them to hunker down in @ night. It’s in a corner of their enclosure.

In the summer we used river rock for the flooring & we had a 40 gallon stock tank for them to swim in. A weeks ago we had a cold snap with snow & freezing temps so we quickly switched everything over to winter:we covered up their indoor stock tank and we laid down straw over the river rocks so it’s all comfy & toasty inside.

We have been adding straw on a regular basis & then removing as much wet straw as possible. The enclosure still stinks though, and we have some long months up ahead, so I’m wondering if there is anything else we can do to help cut down on the smell. Thoughts?

 

[katiebrock]

I get Sweet PDX stall refresher and it seems to work really well. I stir up the old bedding, sprinkl some PDZ on it, and then put a small layer of new bedding over it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Does this area have good ventilation? It's very important to have good ventilation with poultry.

 

[HuskerHens18]

How many ducks do you have? I have 2 in a 10x10 enclosure and they've made a disaster of it. I wonder if there's not enough room so their smelly poop accumulates faster than you can remove. I've heard great things about PDZ, like Katiebrock said.

 

[PirateGirl]

The drier you can keep it the better it will smell. Also your run sounds very closed up with tarps on all sides, which will keep in moisture and smell. Perhaps you can roll the tarps down from the top to open it up some. In winter I only give bathing water periodically. I also like to give the water in a location other than the small run near their house to minimize the wet mess. You will likely need to remove ALL the straw periodically and replace with new.

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

I get Sweet PDX stall refresher and it seems to work really well. I stir up the old bedding, sprinkl some PDZ on it, and then put a small layer of new bedding over it.

Thank you! So zeolite is safe for ducks? I was under the impression it isn’t but maybe I misunderstood...

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

Does this area have good ventilation? It's very important to have good ventilation with poultry.

Yes, we have really good ventilation so I don’t think that’s the problem.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I don’t think straw absorbs much so I use deep pine shaving that I replace if too wet. Then, I put straw or hay on top of the shavings when it is really cold. It works well for my five.

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

Does this area have good ventilation? It's very important to have good ventilation with poultry.

How many ducks do you have? I have 2 in a 10x10 enclosure and they've made a disaster of it. I wonder if there's not enough room so their smelly poop accumulates faster than you can remove. I've heard great things about PDZ, like Katiebrock said.

We have three ducks. They tend to go to the bathroom in the same exact spot every time so it gets wet pretty quick.

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

I don’t think straw absorbs much so I use deep pine shaving that I replace if too wet. Then, I put straw or hay on top of the shavings when it is really cold. It works well for my five.

Thank you! Any idea how often you have to replace the pine shavings?