How and how often should you clean Peking ducks?

[Guernsy]

Hello
I have 10 chickens and 4 ducks. Two of the ducks are 6 week old pekings that are very large already. They seem to be hungry all day long.
The other two ducks are black runners are do not share the same coop with the Pekings.
I read in my research to use straw as bedding for the ducks and that the coop should be cleaned about once a week. The ducks do not have water nor food in the coop at night. They roam around the garden all day and get a meal of veggies an 1-2 hours before they turn in to bed around 7 or 8pm. However, every morning when I let them out around 8am. The coop stinks so bad because the two Pekings pooped all night. How is that even possible? I feel like I have to clean the coop every day, which I was hoping to avoid. The duck coop has a lot of ventilation and actually could dry out easily, however, it still stinks in the late afternoon so I end up cleaning it. Some of their poop is huge (sorry to talk so much about poop), almost as big as my dog's poop. Wondering, if that is normal too. Also, it seems that their poop consistency changes depending on how much water/dirt they eat (they get their water muddy very fast).

My 4 week old runners do not poop like that. Not even close.
So, I guess my biggest question here is, how to keep them from pooping that much overnight? I have read from other Peking owners that their coops are clean for over a week. How do you accomplish that? Do I just have funny ducks or should I not feed them that late (they do get kind of angry with me, if they don't get food though, lol).
Anyway, I am new here and appreciate your help.
Thanks,

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

What kind of duck chow are you feeding?

 

[Ratchnick]

How many ducks in what size area?

 

[Guernsy]

We have 4 ducks, two Pekings (6 weeks old and they look full grown and are rather large) and two black runners (4 weeks old and they are still pretty small). During the day they have a very large, approx 5000-6000sqft to run and roam around. Around 5-6pm we put them in their run, which is attached to their coop which is about 12' by 8' for a veggie dinner meal. The veggies could be anything from lettuce, blueberries, zucchini, apple, peas, parsley to whatever else we have in the house. They also get two big dishes of waterfowl pellets per day. Depending on our day, anytime between 7-8 pm, we tell them to go to bed and they walk into their pen which is about 4' by 3'. There is only the two Pekings in that pen, since we still take the two black runners back inside to our garage. So we thought that should be plenty of space for two ducks.
There are also currently 7 chickens living with the ducks. However, they have their own coop, but they spend the day together.
Thank you for your help.

 

[Ratchnick]

If you have 11 birds 4 ducks 7 chickens right? In a space that's less then 100 sqft for 12 hours, your going to need to stir and fluff the bedding daily.

 

[Ratchnick]

Dont give them water at night either.

 

[BullChick]

Duck poo is liquid. If you’re always seeing formed poo, you’re not giving enough water. It also sounds like way too much food, and definitely too much vegetables. I cleaned my Pekin pen (12x6 for 3) twice a year. They always had food and water.

 

[Guernsy]

The 7 chickens and 4 ducks are in a munch larger area than 100 sqft during the day. They run around on approx 5000-6000sft. during the day. They are only together in the coop-run (12'by 8') for approx 1 to 3 hours. The coop run has dirt on the floor, which I ran rake out and is not a big problem. There are only two Peking ducks in the duck coop and they have no water nor food at night. The bedding in the duck coop or pen is straw.
Thanks

 

[Guernsy]

So how much should the Pekings eat? Is my coop/pen too small for two ducks (4' by 3')? They just sleep there.
Thanks

 

[Miss Lydia]

I use deep bedding and scoop wet poop out daily.