I regret pea gravel, need advice.

[duckmamaruu]

Hi yall! I planned my run to house 3 muscovy ducks & 3 chickens, the covered run just gives them extra protection at night while they are in their coop, and has their food/ water. I free range them most of the day & i’m in Texas.

The issue is when I built it I heard pea gravel was great! All you have to do is hose it down… except I realized that it was just pushing the poop down into the gravel, and the flies would lay their eggs in the perfectly dirty wet gravel. So I stopped hosing it, and started sprinkling saturday lime on it, but that didn’t actually leave it clean. And now that my ducks are laying their poop is no longer watery, it’s thick and hard to wash away.

I’m considering doing a deep litter method with pine shavings because at least then I can compost it and properly remove the soiled ground. I was wondering if yall have any tips? Should I remove all the gravel? or just throw the shavings on top?

 

[Debbie292d]

I don't do deep litter but understand how it works, and it would be best if you removed the pea gravel so it can compost better. Having airation below it and an eventual line of stone, wouldn't be too condusive to what you're trying to accomplish.

I'm surprised you have issues though as I know many do use pea gravel. Our ducks mostly free range but their pen at night is just dirt. There is pea gravel around their heated bucket to try prevent slippage from them creating ice this winter. Our coops have horse bedding pellets but I didn't think that would work too well for ducks.

 

[Crazy Chicken Keeper]

My ducks are half-feral I have to hunt fortehe ggs they use grass. I'd just leave the pea gravel they'll be fine

 

[perkolator]

I wouldn't give myself more tasks, lol - just toss organics on top (wood chips, shavings, leaves, etc.) It will all mix up and you'll have some pea gravel mixed in - no big deal. If/when you harvest soil from your run in the future, you can easily sift it out if there is too much stone content, but likely not an issue.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I wouldn't give myself more tasks, lol - just toss organics on top (wood chips, shavings, leaves, etc.) It will all mix up and you'll have some pea gravel mixed in - no big deal. If/when you harvest soil from your run in the future, you can easily sift it out if there is too much stone content, but likely not an issue.

I’d agree with the addition that if you want this deep litter to compost (the usual goal), those tossed-in organics should be in contact with soil.

Two options: fork up the pea gravel and the soil below it, and continue to do so for several (6?) months until the composting is really going, or pour a healthy layer of topsoil (5-6”, I think is what @Ted Brown did) and then add the organics. This second option will significantly raise the level of your run “floor”, though.

 

[Ted Brown]

Natural state for the ground where I live is a thin layer of soil then sand & gravel.

I built a 12'-40' pole shed, roofed with tin, 8' at the back 12' at the front, HC all around the 3 open sides (coop closes off the 4th side).

Once that was done I added 6-8" of mulch and a healthy wack of leaves & needles each fall for 5 years. Now have 8+ inches above natural state in the run. My horizontal aprons & lower part of walls began to rust in the 6th year due to being buried. I excavated inside & out, added pressure treated 2x6 inside the HC and new aprons 16 gauge bent at 90 degrees on the outside (ie what I should have the first time round!).

Did not remove anything and yes I have 8" above natural state inside the run. Roof is still "miles" above my head so does not matter.

We all "know" but often don't: DO IT RIGHT THE 1st TIME.

PS My goal was never to get compost going with the DLM. The roof prevents water & snow from hitting anything other that the edges so composting does not happen.

 

[duckmamaruu]

A little update!: I ended up taking out all the pea gravel and getting free wood chips from chipdrop, they sent me an abysmal amount that i’m currently giving away, but i’m hoping this will be a better system instead of the poop just sitting on the pea gravel until I hose it. I’ll try to throw scratch down for the chickens everyday so they stir it.

 

[Triangle Nostril]

Just wanna say - I like your setup with the two prefabs. Do you have the nesting boxes in the top one covered off so they don't lay in there? I have a prefab similar to the bottom one but felt like it wasn't enough space so built an extension to the back, but I may consider something like this as an upgrade at some time.

 

[duckmamaruu]

Just wanna say - I like your setup with the two prefabs. Do you have the nesting boxes in the top one covered off so they don't lay in there? I have a prefab similar to the bottom one but felt like it wasn't enough space so built an extension to the back, but I may consider something like this as an upgrade at some time.

I only have 3 chickens and 3 ducks, the ducks sleep on the bottom in the nesting box, and the chickens sleep on one side and lay on the other. I also threw a 2x4 length ways across to act as a roost and they love it! I open the door and reach in to get their eggs, and sometimes the muscovy will go up there to lay too.

I heard prefabs don’t last long but since it’s protected from the elements it should be okay!

 

[Triangle Nostril]

I was considering putting a 2x4 across the long side of my pre-fab, though I worry they'll be too close to the ventilation window (mine is similar to your bottom one, but has a vent window higher up). I'll toy around with the measurements this week, thanks!