Starganderfish
In the Brooder
- Jun 17, 2024
- 10
- 18
- 26
We are soon to be moving to a 14-acre property in the Southern Tablelands of NSW in Australia. The climate is hot in summer (35°C) cold in winter (1-2°C) but unlikely to ever snow.
The property has a nice chicken coop that we'll be putting to use but there's another small fenced animal pen nearby that I am considering turning into a duck pen. We'd look to put in a sheltered coop for nighttime, a small kiddie pool/stock pen for paddling and a good-sized open space for them to move around in (maybe 5m x 5m). No more than maybe three ducks. My biggest worry is the ongoing mess, mud, poop etc and ways to more easily take care of it. I work full-time from home so I'm always around but between my job, the other animals, the gardens, two kids and life in general, I don't want to be spending hours every day shoveling muck or spending too much money on straw or wood shavings (which also has to be collected, composted and spread in gardens.)
An idea I have (please tell me if it's crazy):
1) Grade the pen's floor to slope to a corner or one side
2) Dig a trench at this end, place a plastic channel drain, connected to a 50mm drainage pipe leading to a sloped area suitable for water and waste dispersal. This area can be planted out with ornamental plants, garden beds etc, and a network of drains/trenchs can be placed in the top layers of soil to disperse the runoff from the pen. (A submerged box drain may be a better option than the
3) Line the side of the pen nearest the drainage trench with more plastic sheeting and place the wading pool and water in this area
4) cover the plastic sheeting with plastic or rubber "drainage tiles" (designed for showers, bathrooms, pool surrounds etc - https://www.vevor.com.au/interlocki...c-non-slip-floor-tiles-50-pack-p_010215895796)
5) when cleaning, the tiles can be hosed down, the waste drains away under the tiles into the trench and is dispersed over the plants, gardens etc. Wading pool can also be tipped out into the trench
These tiles are raised 15mm off the floor so there's room for water, poop etc to be flushed under. They're modular so can be lifted for spot cleaning if waste builds up in specific spots. The tiles are soft PVC so gentle on flippers but durable enough for long-term use. A pressure washer could be used periodically for in-depth cleaning and tiles can be removed in larger numbers for intensive cleaning
Would I need to cover the whole pen, or just the area around the water where there's likely to be mud and water spillage? (25m2 is around AU$400 which is definitely affordable in the long run) Edit: further thinking suggests we probably don't want the whole area tiled, I imagine they'll need some natural landscape for comfort and quality of life. Maybe some tough established turf and a bunch of mature ornamental grasses etc to green it up a bit in a large non-tiled section.
I'll still need straw/wood shavings etc for bedding in the coop, but not having to cover the whole area will make this more manageable.
We will have a larger fenced backyard area nearby where I the ducks (and chickens) can be released regularly to scratch or peck around, but having an easily cleaned enclosure for them at other times is desirable.
Would this work?
Is it crazy?
What's the potential issues/downsides?
My other idea was to use around river pebbles in place of the tiles, on top of the plastic liner, but I think the tiles will be easier to clean and removable if an occasional deep clean is needed.
The property has a nice chicken coop that we'll be putting to use but there's another small fenced animal pen nearby that I am considering turning into a duck pen. We'd look to put in a sheltered coop for nighttime, a small kiddie pool/stock pen for paddling and a good-sized open space for them to move around in (maybe 5m x 5m). No more than maybe three ducks. My biggest worry is the ongoing mess, mud, poop etc and ways to more easily take care of it. I work full-time from home so I'm always around but between my job, the other animals, the gardens, two kids and life in general, I don't want to be spending hours every day shoveling muck or spending too much money on straw or wood shavings (which also has to be collected, composted and spread in gardens.)
An idea I have (please tell me if it's crazy):
1) Grade the pen's floor to slope to a corner or one side
2) Dig a trench at this end, place a plastic channel drain, connected to a 50mm drainage pipe leading to a sloped area suitable for water and waste dispersal. This area can be planted out with ornamental plants, garden beds etc, and a network of drains/trenchs can be placed in the top layers of soil to disperse the runoff from the pen. (A submerged box drain may be a better option than the
3) Line the side of the pen nearest the drainage trench with more plastic sheeting and place the wading pool and water in this area
4) cover the plastic sheeting with plastic or rubber "drainage tiles" (designed for showers, bathrooms, pool surrounds etc - https://www.vevor.com.au/interlocki...c-non-slip-floor-tiles-50-pack-p_010215895796)
5) when cleaning, the tiles can be hosed down, the waste drains away under the tiles into the trench and is dispersed over the plants, gardens etc. Wading pool can also be tipped out into the trench
These tiles are raised 15mm off the floor so there's room for water, poop etc to be flushed under. They're modular so can be lifted for spot cleaning if waste builds up in specific spots. The tiles are soft PVC so gentle on flippers but durable enough for long-term use. A pressure washer could be used periodically for in-depth cleaning and tiles can be removed in larger numbers for intensive cleaning
Would I need to cover the whole pen, or just the area around the water where there's likely to be mud and water spillage? (25m2 is around AU$400 which is definitely affordable in the long run) Edit: further thinking suggests we probably don't want the whole area tiled, I imagine they'll need some natural landscape for comfort and quality of life. Maybe some tough established turf and a bunch of mature ornamental grasses etc to green it up a bit in a large non-tiled section.
I'll still need straw/wood shavings etc for bedding in the coop, but not having to cover the whole area will make this more manageable.
We will have a larger fenced backyard area nearby where I the ducks (and chickens) can be released regularly to scratch or peck around, but having an easily cleaned enclosure for them at other times is desirable.
Would this work?
Is it crazy?
What's the potential issues/downsides?
My other idea was to use around river pebbles in place of the tiles, on top of the plastic liner, but I think the tiles will be easier to clean and removable if an occasional deep clean is needed.
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