duckling bedding?

[dntd]

I have 6-1 week old muscovy. They are in a bath tub brooder with fleece blankets for bedding.I spray them out and change them daily.Do they need to be on shavings? This set up might be a bit of a pain but cleanup has been easy and my garden will love the duck poo from the blanket.I really hate shavings.............

 

[katharinad]

Mine don't get pine shavings until they are 3 weeks old. That way they don't eat it and get digestive problem. I use pee wee type pads from Walmart. They are easy to clean up.
Katharina

 

[Miizki]

Would that foamy shelf liner stuff work ok?

 

[dntd]

How washable is the foamy stuff? I'm trying to raise these ducks as cheap as possible just to see if I can raise them on a dime

 

[Miizki]

This is what it looks like. I got a whole roll at the dollar store so it's very affordable

I don't know if it is safe but it probably is I guess. And you could just hose it down I would think.

 

[duckyfromoz]

I use that stuff in the bottom of the incubator...But havent tried it in a brooder yet. The holes arent really big enough for anything to fall through and its not absorbent- so it might need to be hosed off a few times a day.

 

[tia]

It seemed to wet in the brooder when I tried it. I am using towels... it is a pain to wash them out... but it seems to work the best for me. I will switch to pine shavings when they are a bit older.

 

[littlehenny]

I am using the shelf liner this time around. For me it is working great. The last babies, I just got them put outside, I used towels at first for them and they would find every little string in the towel and one of them got some of the string down its throat and I had to pull it out, scary thing. Then I switched to the puppy pads, they started eating on this. I am happy those little buggers are outside now, they are 6 weeks old and I use pine shavings for them now. My newest hatch is a week old today, so far the shelf liner is holding up good, I just hose it down and let it air dry. I do this when I change and hose out the brooder.

 

[katharinad]

Mine started to nibble on the dog training pads, turned out they were bored out of their mind. I gave them cat toys and that fixed it. They are now 4 weeks old and started to play with a tennis ball outside.
Katharina

 

[chickboss]

I am currently using Dry Den bedding (wood pellets) with a thin layer of hay over the top. The pellets absorb moisture and the hay collects the poo and can be practicly rolled up and escourted to the compost twice a day. Any poo that makes it to the pellets, I scoop out. The pellets turn to a fine sawdust as they break down, and it becomes very easy to pick through. So far, I have used towels, paper towels, pine shavings, just hay, just the dry den, and now the combo. LOL. I'll probably try something else along the line to. Just trying to keep it cheap and clean.

I'd say the pellets by themselves work best for me for odor controll, but the hay, which is cheap bedding hay, makes the pellets, which per lb are more expensive, last longer. So a little more smell for less money and less scooping.