is straw better bedding for Ducks

[smartlittleroo]

This is a good question! I was just wondering about this myself.

When I built my duckhouse I built it so the entire back wall comes off for cleaning. I was just using straw to bed the house at first. When I opened the back up I discovered the straw had become one big, matted, poopy mess. Yuck.

Then I decided to try those wood pellets that are made for horse stalls. They are supposed to be absorbent, so I put them on the bottom and covered them with straw. This was better, but still not great. Some of the pellets did break down and absorb some of the yuck, but I was cleaning out a whole bunch of pellets that were unused. It was a waste, but I sure wasn't going to try to pick them out to re-use them!

I have decided I am going to try the pellets again, but this time I will wet them down a little so they break down into their more "sawdusty" form. I haven't tried them without straw for the ducks. I use the broken down pellets (with no straw) in the roosting area of the chicken house and they work really well for that. So maybe it'll work for the ducks too!

One thing that did help, as mentioned, was taking the food and water out of the duck pen at night. I love my ducks but I have to agree - ducks are MESSY.

 

[wasatusay]

I have always used bedding hay. My ducks are shut it the coops with the chickens at night because of bobcats in the area. One type I get from the grain mill is a thin soft hay, has a green tint, it works just fine. Another hay I get from a feed store that caters more to horse people and it is golden in color, thicker and usually falls into pieces when pulled off the bail and soft. The ducks love that hay for some reason. They run their bills all through it and then settle into the best spot they find. When they see me open the hay barrels in the evening to lay a new layer they get very chatty and interested in what I am doing. The boys don't give me grief about going in the coops, they know if I have the flash light in hand they head to their coop and when I open the girls gate they rush to their coop to check out the new hay.
The thickness I spread it depends on the temp. Right now it is a few inches thick. I change it out once a week during the winter, but add a thin layer over the top to keep the area they are in contact with clean every night. If it rains I change out any wet hay right away.
I dig a large hole and bury the hay, after two weeks I start to turn the dirt and hay if it has started to break down. The chickens love this because the heat in the ground brings up the grubs. The chickens crowd the shovel so much I am lucky to get a few turns before I have to move to a new spot, and it starts all over.
You get some really good dirt in no time.