LOL!! I'm so screwed!

[LilMissChz]

I feel the phrase, "Ducks are messy" is a colossal understatement. Ducks are messier than pigs. Ducks are messier than the messiest pigs on this planet. No. Wait. Let me rephrase this. Ducks are the PIGS of this planet. Just sayin'. LOL The funny part is, I'm not scared yet. YET!

 

[twinmama]

I can say is that I totally, completely, 100% agree! They make my chickens look like neat freaks. The ducks, um, mess up, the sidewalk, the patio, their house, each other, and even the siding if they stand too close to the house.

 

[LilMissChz]

I accidentally left the "pea" cup in their pen. There was poo on the inside of it and it's only 2" big. How do you poo sideways into a small cup? Are they trying? And the mess? It's poo.

 

[Amiga]

They are GENEROUS. Very GENEROUS. (Speaking as a gardener, here.)

 

[LilMissChz]

So I should have flicked it into my garden? I have been spraying down the poo when I relocate them. I need to find a designated slurp area for them to make all the pooey mudd they want to make.

 

[Tahai]

huh. I must have developmentally challenged ducks. Mine aren't all that messy, at least not nearly as bad as everyone led me to believe.

 

[Amiga]

Your plants will rise up and call you blessed if you give them that duck stuff.

Mine like duck poop soup (dissolved in cool water, not boiling water!), duck-enriched straw, duck-straw mulch, and the occasional straight poo treat. It speeds up my compost process, too.

If you do have an area where they can enrich the mud, that is wonderful potting soil, or an amendment to potting soil. I combine that with coir and put it in pots and wow, are my tomatoes happy!

I also noticed that where they can just be on soil, it pretty quickly disappears into the ground. We have a pretty well-drained loamy soil here. On clay, it could get pretty slick, I think.

 

[LilMissChz]

Yes I have clay. And Cinnamon, and a larger Saxony duck is making mudd holes next to her pool. Little duck bill sized mudd holes and then sticking her bill in the pool to make a poopy, muddy, messy soup pool.

 

[Nsampsel]

Yes I have clay. And Cinnamon, and a larger Saxony duck is making mudd holes next to her pool. Little duck bill sized mudd holes and then sticking her bill in the pool to make a poopy, muddy, messy soup pool.

Ummmmm...yup...that's ducks for ya

 

[Amiga]

Yes I have clay. And Cinnamon, and a larger Saxony duck is making mudd holes next to her pool. Little duck bill sized mudd holes and then sticking her bill in the pool to make a poopy, muddy, messy soup pool.

Ahem. That must be rich! Hmmm. I wonder if something fibrous might help . . . I use straw in the bottom of the day pen and when it gets about saturated I rake it out and put it on the compost. I have also put some coir under the straw. It has a nice ability to let water pass through, so that a little air gets under the damp straw next to the swim pan.

Oak leaves help, too, especially with odor.

It's always a maintenance issue with me, just getting out there before a slight aroma becomes an unpleasant odor, but we are in New England, and it is not something I have to do frequently.