horrible smell and mess!

[bluemini]

I have 2 ducks,they are small and look like mallards but I believe they are Rouen(cant remember). I have tried to clean their water pans daily and they will be a muddy mess the minute I set them down,even the bowls they cant their body in! I don't want anyone to think im neglecting them or want them drinking mud ? Is there anyway to fix this?

And my biggest problem,they smell awful.Everyone told me they were like that but I didn't think it could be that bad.I tried shoveling the pen daily,pine shavings and straw. Nothing has helped the smell and I cant afford much. How can I get rid of the odor?

 

[NEduckgirl]

Ducks do smell, but there are some things you can do to make it more tolerable. Where is your pen located? Are they in the house? If they are, not much more you can do but clean the pen out often and maybe open a window for ventilation if it isn't too cold. How old are the ducks? Giving them access to swimming water and a chance to bathe will help too.

 

[Amiga]

We did not have an odor problem, so I don't know exactly what to suggest other than to mention we used old towels for bedding, and a splash catcher to keep the bedding dry - okay, less wet.

See if any of this gives you ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/679433/water-water-everywhere/10

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/858161/feed-water-solution-for-brooder#post_12901321

http://frankiemakes.blogspot.ca/2012/06/watering-solution-for-ducks.html

Seems to me the wet feed makes the most aroma. Some days my ducks waste feed, some days they don't - hardly any, anyway. And on those days that I do not know why they do these things, anyway on those days they toss a lot of feed around, I need to get that picked up within a few hours or it starts to give off an unpleasant aroma.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I think mud + any accompanying decomposing organic matter will = smell. In fact, i9 out of 10 times, f I start noticing unpleasant odors, it is my duck's straw bedding decomposing in the mud that they create. And that means that I need to 1) get the stinky decomposing organic matter out and 2) do what I can to encourage drying. I like barn lime--not ag lime-- but barn lime, calcium. I do use it outside, which may be somewhat wasteful, as outside it does rain eventually, but it works here. It is intended to be used inside, and of course it works very well there. Good luck.

 

[bluemini]

My ducks are outside,they are around 3 months old and in a pen near the hillside and yet you can smell them at the back door of the house.My chickens you cannot smell.It is around 80-90 degrees here everyday so that doesn't help.And as I speak we are getting horrible storms which has made their pen a swamp and they are loving it. They have a pool which as I mentioned they also get muddy and nasty every time I clean it just as they do the water pans. I don't want them drinking mud but that's how it ends up

I tried straw and pine chips but they get wet and pushed into the ground,they then start to smell .

I guess Monday when all this rain is over and its supposed to be 90 degrees again,I will move the pen and start over,I don't know what else to do .

They are fully grown rouen ducks. Not ducklings.

 

[Prinette]

If they have a house/cage that they sleep in try putting in a wood/wire floor and covering it with the straw. It will keep it out of the mud and keep it from decomposing. You will still have to clean it out, obviously but it has helped us keep their bedding cleaner for longer.

 

[Mashallaharabia]

They cannot keep their water clean to save their lives, it's just the nature of ducks, and mine will drink out of a swimming pond / mudhole right next to the pans of clean water that I just gave them. Hasn't killed them yet. I give them clean drinking water twice a day, and I dump and clean the wading pools when they get bad, but if the ducks want to drink out of mudholes ( while probing for worms) that's their decision. As for smell; mine are outside ducks, and they don't smell any worse than the horse barn or the dogs, and a hell of a lot better than a cat box.

 

[jtn42248]

Based on my limited experience it is just the nature of the beast. My six have a nice indoor "coop", a large outdoor area with pool and water and food, and access to an acre of free range with water that they share with my geese and chickens. The duck "coop" has to be cleaned at least every other day or it does begin to smell. Their water will become murky and muddy with the first drink. They take a bill full of water, spit it on the ground, muck it around to make mud and then back into the drinking water. There pool only stays clear for about five minutes and gets drained and refilled every other day. I know that when brooding them they were a hundred times messier than the chickens were and I had to clean them up and give them clean water several times a day.