I need a little advice. I've had chickens and ducks before, but I just got them again after several years. We always have had the chickens and ducks together, but now that a have a few more ducks than before (4 ducks to 17 chickens in the coop, 3 chicks and a duckling in the brooding box) the coop gets extremely messy. I just got my flock about a month ago. The ducks just sit at the water dispenser and drink and play until there are puddles in the coop. I just shoveled it all out and replaced the pine chips not even a week ago and it's already a sloppy mess (between pine chips, water, and poo) inside the coop. I don't want my chickens to have to wade through the mess every time they want water and get bumblefoot(?) or anything like that.
Any suggestions? Two coops isn't really an option, either. They aren't quite ready to go out in the run yet; more like the run isn't ready for them yet, since we don't have the fence back up, and I don't want to let them free roam at a young age. Will it get better when the ducks can play in the kiddie pool I plan to provide them? Will that keep them from making a mess in the coop? Do the birds even need a watering dispenser in the coop if they will have one in the run? Would hanging them off the ground help?
Gah! I can't afford a bag of wood chips two or three times a week! HELP!
Any suggestions? Two coops isn't really an option, either. They aren't quite ready to go out in the run yet; more like the run isn't ready for them yet, since we don't have the fence back up, and I don't want to let them free roam at a young age. Will it get better when the ducks can play in the kiddie pool I plan to provide them? Will that keep them from making a mess in the coop? Do the birds even need a watering dispenser in the coop if they will have one in the run? Would hanging them off the ground help?
Gah! I can't afford a bag of wood chips two or three times a week! HELP!
