Good winter duck bedding??

[FenDruadin]

Yes, you can use it in a smaller area. How would you keep the pen clean? Or do they not have a pen (perhaps they free range and then are shut in the house at night)? What will be under the bedding--dirt, concrete, gravel? If it's gravel or concrete under the bedding, it won't decompose in quite the same way it will over dirt. Also, the fact that it's never rained on may have an impact, although if there is water in the shelter then it will certainly get plenty wet. I use DLM for my goats, too, and only in their shed, and I haven't had any problems there either. I do clean the goats out more often than the ducks, though, because their pee is stronger smelling and the bedding isn't decomposing the same way the outdoor bedding does for the ducks AND I have to put down a thicker layer and... well, it's just different than with the ducks, somehow.

I think lice are mostly a problem when other matters of management are neglected. As long as they have enough space, good nutrition, regular hygiene & maintenance, bathing water, etc., they should be fine. Or maybe I've just been lucky. Mine free range during the day and are locked in their pen only at night except when I am introducing new birds or have some other reason for keeping them confined over longer periods.

I don't use DE, but I'm planning to after my next visit to the feed store. I have heard so much good stuff about it. And we do have some flies and other undesireable critters, though never so far anything extreme. Still, I'm interested to see how much the DE helps. I'm especially hoping it will help me clean out the goat pen less often!

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Oh is the dirt floor crucial? It's a wood floor covered with linoleum. Their pen is a fairly large section of our backyard which is grass. It held up OK last winter. I don't give them water at night although as the nights get longer I am starting to feel bad for them, they are locked in the house. The pen is electric and they could stay out longer but when it gets dark they all just go in the house.

 

[FenDruadin]

I don't think the dirt floor is crucial. Just be aware that your bedding may behave differently than mine does. It may get deeper, or have to be changed more often (but probably not more than twice a year), or need more stirring, or whatever. It may have to compost for longer after being removed than mine does. It should still work fine, though, and you'll quickly learn what works best for you.

And dry bedding is a good thing, ESPECIALLY since they're on a non-permeable substrate. So no water at night, except maybe during the longest nights, is probably a good idea. The linoleum is probably super easy to clean thoroughly in the spring, too--just hose it down, right?

I think you'll be just fine, especially since they're out on grass during the day. As long as the grass is holding up, that means they have plenty of space outdoors, and you really shouldn't have too many pest problems. If your bedding gets so deep that they're starting to have trouble getting up it, you can lay a piece of plywood or something for a ramp, but I'd be surprised if that happened.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Thanks Cat, seems like this will save work, straw, plus keep the feathered ones warmer. We enlarged the house this spring and added much more ventalation so I was also worrying about them being warm when it gets sub-zero this winter. I guess if it gets too deep I'll just have to change it out. But better than doing it every day like I am now. Maybe I'll staple more linoleum up on the sides this weekend so the wood is covered where the straw may touch it, I don't want to risk rotting the house away.

 

[priss]

Ohhh I think I am doing everything wrong? My ducks have a wood hut which one metre by two I think. It's lifted off the floor and doesn't have a slidey tray. I clean them out about twice a week because it's so wet and stinky in there. I put down newspaper, sawdust and straw. I was worrying about them being warm enough because I've only had guinea pigs before and while guinea pigs burrow into the straw all cosy, the ducks just trample it down and poop all over it!
Am I doing it all completely wrong? Am I treating them too much like guinea pigs? During the day if both me and my husband are at work, they have a big run with their pool in it and if either of us are off they get the whole garden.
The last couple of days their hut has smelt different, a little more tangy than usual. Usually I like the duck smell, even bad duck smell is ok. The ducks seem fine but the smell is icky. Then again I saw an empty bag of frozen peas near the run, could my husband feeding them too many peas make their poop smell bad?
They aren't going to get too cold are they? We live in England so it's not going to get desperately freezing but it will get cold. I was thinking of putting some nice fleecy jumpers in there but i figure they won't snuggle into them, they'll just trample on them and poop on them right?

 

[FenDruadin]

Your ducks will not get cold. They have a cozy house, and that is all they need. Yes, they will just poop and trample on fleecy sweaters. They already have down coats under a waterproof slicker, so what do they need fleece for?

You can probably just skip the newspaper & sawdust, and just use the straw. You're not doing it *wrong*, but the deep litter method (DLM) will save you work. Just toss a little extra straw on top each morning, and it will gradually decompose under the fresh layer, while the top dressing will keep it clean and fresh (ish). Unless it gets too deep or you run into some other management problem, you will only need to change the litter once a year or so.

To keep the moisture down, you can keep the water outdoors and not give them any food or water inside their house (it's critical that they *not* have food if they don't have water--they need water to wash their food down with, and will suffer if they eat without a source of water nearby--provided they are full grown, they are fine without food or water overnight).

I don't know about the peas. Is it possible you have some sort of fungal growth or something making the tangy smell? I wouldn't worry unless it's bothering you or gets a lot worse.

Anyway, I don't think you're doing anything wrong at all. There are so many "right" ways to do it.

By the way, where are you in England? I'm American but grew up partly in England, in Suffolk. I lived mostly in Newmarket, but moved out to a farmhouse in the middle of the fens toward the end of our time there, outside a tiny town (I think there was one store and three houses, lol) called Prickwillow, not too far from Ely. I hope to get to go back some day and visit all my old haunts. I feel very English in some ways, even though I am also very American in most ways. But I think where you grow up gets under your skin, you know?

 

[priss]

Oooh I went to University in Norwich, Ely always looked so nice from the train window. I live on the Isle of Wight now. It's fab. I got a view of the sea from my front room window and a view of the ducks from the back!!
Also got great neighbours who never complain about the duck noise and who looked after them last weekend.

 

[rainplace]

Dances, I do mine on linoleum and so far no problem. I had a problem with the straw molding, which is why I went to wood chips.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Quote:
Oh! Molding is a bad problem for ducks! Do you have water in there with them? Of course I live in a very arid climate, I assume where you are is a lot more humid.

 

[goosedragon]

I am suprized to find so many young people that know about the deep litter method in cold climates. It was the winter standard method where I grew up in the frozen north (NY in the Erie-Ontario Snow belt) Because of the lakes we usually get didn't as cold as a lot of places in the North (-20 many nights) but we got many feet of snow that fell and stayed. Snowshoes and those big cross country skis were standard winter gear on the farm (now it is snowmobiles). Since there was no way to haul litter out until the thaw deep litter was a must! We stored our straw and grains in the coop building so we didn't have to move them thru the snow. Most mornings the coop would be a toasty 40F due to the body heat of the birds and the heating from the slow composting going on.
Others have pretty well explained the system but failed to cover the most important point. GOOD VENTILATION IS A MUST! The ammonia and methane gas and plain old stink produced MUST be allowed to excape and be replaced by fresh (even cold) air. Roof vents took out the bad air and we had vents that we could open depending upon the wind to let in fresh air. The warm air excaping would take most of the excess moisture with it and the cold air would pick up the moisture as it warmed. I am now in NC and must say that the DLM method worked much better in the cold climate than it does here. Never had problems with mouldy straw in the North, have to watch for it here. The composting is also much faster in a mild climate than in a cold climate. VENTILATION must be good enough in both climates for the system to work well.
In the north we would face a BIG cleanout after the thaw and ran our coop like normal people in the summer and till the snow started falling again.