Ducks in Steilacoom Wa

[Mamapolar]

I'm new to this side of the state and need information on how to Winterize to prevent mold and humidity in evening enclosure.


I have 5 pet ducks: 2+ years old ducks who are from Spokane and will be moving to the Tacoma area soon.

I'm almost done with their enclosure, roofed 11 x 13 enclosure with a 4 x 10 evening enclosed area. All predator proof.
I'd love advise on preventing mold build up.
What are you using for flooring, ie, sand, saw dust, pellets or straw... material in the run and in the evening enclosure?
Do you have electric fencing or netting as an additional predator proofing?

I'm looking to meet more people in the Tacoma/Olympia area with ducks.
Thank you

 

[Amiga]

I am in New England - so there are some similarities. Very humid here much of the time.

Things that help:
Borax - you can add some borax to hot water, and wipe down walls with it. It makes no fumes. It can prevent molding.
20 drops of tea tree oil in half a cup of vinegar - I use this when the ducks are not in the shelter, and give it time to air out. It is said to prevent mold. It does have an intense aroma so I don't use it if the ducks will be inside soon after using it.
I use pine shavings for bedding. In the past I have added about 2 gallons' worth of dry peat moss to a bale of shavings - mostly to prevent ammonia from forming in deep bedding.
Control moisture - I have a watering station that holds 90% of the water splash, and the other 10% is just outside the watering station. This keeps most of the bedding reasonably dry.




There is a balance between warmth and ventilation. Ventilation is definitely important. I put vinyl flooring on the floor and about a foot up the walls in our first duck house. It was great - easy to clean, kept the plywood from soaking up moisture.

The new Night Pen has Manning flooring. I sprinkle some Sweet PDZ on the floor before putting in new bedding, and I also put a bit of diatomaceous earth where the vertical edges of the pen meet the floor, to prevent bug infestations.

By the way, there is a Where Am I Where Are You forum on BYC - you can find people in your geographic area.

 

[Amykins]

I'm in Seattle! Still a ways from you, but still. As for advice, sorry...my duck is a house-duck. :/

 

[Jjfester]

I am from DuPont, WA just wanted to say howdy neighbor. I don't have ducks, but found this thread while searching for Steilacoom's rules on chickens/ducks etc to use to try and help DuPont to legalize them and just thought I would say hello.