I don't want a poopy mucky pen!

[poultrypatch]

Hi All....I have ordered 20 duckies from Holderreads for March and have been trying to figure out how I can keep it clean and not tooooo smelly !
So, how about the pallets and use hardwear cloth to cover the top where they will walk ??? Or some other wire with small openings.
Also, you can put the pea stone under the pallets for drainage. Just a thought or two. )

Liz
Rochester, MA

 

[rainplace]

I use pea gravel around our pond, around the waterers, and some of the pathways. I use shavings where they jump into and out of their duckhouse. They spend most of their time around the pond and I don't have a mud problem because of the pea gravel. Yes, they do put the gravel in their mouths, doesn't seem to hurt them any.

 

[Amiga]

Can someone say whether hardware cloth is too likely to cut their feet or not? I am placing it under a few inches of sand and shavings in their run, but I am not sure having them walk directly on hardware cloth would be good for them.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
Thank you!

I've been toying around with the idea of using pea gravel in the "problem areas" around their ponds and in a few low corners of the runs, but I was afraid the ducks would ingest too much of it. Now that I know it's safe, I'm putting some down first thing when all this darn snow finally melts!

Quote:
When I have little ducklings, I let them spend warm summer days in an old rabbit hutch that has a very fine hardware cloth floor (I'd say it's 1/4 inch - that's why we didn't keep rabbits in there, we acquired the hutch from a neighbor for free, and discovered that the hardware cloth bottom was too fine for rabbit droppings to pass through!). It doesn't hurt their feet one bit - but I do scatter a bit of straw on top, just in case, and they're never in there for more than 8 hours at a time. The only problem I could see was if your ducks managed to step on a sharp end sticking up somewhere.

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
Thank you!

I've been toying around with the idea of using pea gravel in the "problem areas" around their ponds and in a few low corners of the runs, but I was afraid the ducks would ingest too much of it. Now that I know it's safe, I'm putting some down first thing when all this darn snow finally melts!

Be careful where you lay it... I learned the hard way that I cannot get a wheelbarrow through it easily

Works for the mud though!