Duck Pen Flooring?

[NewDuckMama23]

Hello, my duckling babies are getting bigger an i need to start making them a space for outside I’m probably going to use a chicken run like the fenced in ones with a dog house for their coop I was wondering what to put in the run I’ve been seeing pea pebbles or the deep litter method which im
Learning more about but what do you use or prefer that’s easiest to keep clean?

 

[CoriM]

Yes, start your coop ASAP, they grow fast! Chicken wire doesn't offer enough protection - you need to use hardware cloth, which is much stronger and has smaller holes. You should allow 4 square feet per duck of floor space in the enclosed part where they will sleep at night so they are not overcrowded. The hard part about a dog house is cleaning, which you'll need to do every day in a small area. I use pine shavings in my enclosed sleeping area, and just scoop out the dirty poop piles and refresh them each morning. In my run I have half shavings and half pea gravel - the small round pieces - around a little pond. This area I can hose clean each day and the poop just goes down through the rocks. Think through all the possible predators in your area - ground and land - and make sure your run is completely predator proof.

 

[citymeetscountry]

I use straw for bedding inside the coop. For the run I just leave it as is. It grows grass/weeds and we mow it as needed. I would recommend pushing it to 5sqft/bird for the house vs the 4sqft recommended for chickens as ducks are bigger.

 

[CoriM]

Agree with above poster that ultimately ducks will want to be on grass for a good deal of their day as their main occupation is foraging for bugs and eating grass and such, when they're not swimming. I also have a portable tractor that I move about my yard and also free range them when I can be out supervising.

 

[Isadora]

My coop has a dirt floor and I put a layer of rough cut wood chips over it and have straw in the corners for nests.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Mine free-range in the grassy garden all day. But, the coop they are locked in at night is deep liter with shavings I add to every once in a while, as needed. Inside the house is shavings topped with hay. My girls are great about laying in the house but rarely pooping in it. As a result, my cleaning is minimal and my eggs are usually clean.

 

[RisingPhoenixFarms]

I use straw in the coop and the free range during the day.

 

[NewDuckMama23]

Yes, start your coop ASAP, they grow fast! Chicken wire doesn't offer enough protection - you need to use hardware cloth, which is much stronger and has smaller holes. You should allow 4 square feet per duck of floor space in the enclosed part where they will sleep at night so they are not overcrowded. The hard part about a dog house is cleaning, which you'll need to do every day in a small area. I use pine shavings in my enclosed sleeping area, and just scoop out the dirty poop piles and refresh them each morning. In my run I have half shavings and half pea gravel - the small round pieces - around a little pond. This area I can hose clean each day and the poop just goes down through the rocks. Think through all the possible predators in your area - ground and land - and make sure your run is completely predator proof.

Thank you so much! What is under your pine shavings in the pen? And do you just change those out everyday as well? Where I’m going to put the pen is just dirt but I’m probably going to put cloth over then wasn’t sure to do like a deep litter method or just use pebbles in the entire pen & yes it’s probably going to be annoying to clean the dog house but it’s something I already have an extra one of so I figured it would be cost effective to just use it

 

[NewDuckMama23]

I use straw for bedding inside the coop. For the run I just leave it as is. It grows grass/weeds and we mow it as needed. I would recommend pushing it to 5sqft/bird for the house vs the 4sqft recommended for chickens as ducks are bigger.

It’s in my backyard and in the back of the yard is where they will go under a tree but it is mainly dirt & weeds which I know could get pretty crazy if the ducks get it wet, I only have 3 of them and I believe the gate I’m going to get is about 10x10

 

[NewDuckMama23]

My coop has a dirt floor and I put a layer of rough cut wood chips over it and have straw in the corners for nests.

I have a dirt floor as well do you just change out the wood chips periodically ? Is it hard to keep clean (it’s also just a backyard)