Messy, fly-infested coop--please help!

[TwoDogFarm]

We currently have 16 ducks of various breeds in the same coop with our chickens. Ours is a makeshift coop made out of two 10x10 dog kennels put together. The problem we are having right now is with keeping our coop dry and fly free. We used to have two kiddy pools in the back of the coop for our ducks, but we ended up having to take them out because the area around where we kept the pools stayed mucky and attracted a lot of flies. Our Pekin ducks have by far made the most mess of our coop because they love to dig holes, that then fill up with water when it rains. There are hundreds of flies in there and even more after a rainstorm, and it makes it almost unbearable to go in there and feed them and get eggs. I feel so bad for our chickens though because they seem so unhappy and try their best to get as far away from the mess as they can.

I've seen a lot of pictures of people's coops on BYC and so many of you guys still have grass and what seems to be a nice, clean area for your chickens and ducks. How do you keep your coop so clean?

 

[Amiga]

A few things we do.

Swim pans are on a 2% slope so water runs off
They are on smooth pea gravel and sand that occasionally needs to get raked off, but works pretty well
There is a shallow channel to three garden beds down slope - gardens get watered and fertilized when I dump, rinse and refill the pans.
Fly predators
Fly traps - the kind you use a gallon plastic milk jug and adapter
Compost bedding if and when it gets a little rich
Oak leaves reduce odor greatly in damp areas
Add chopped straw on floor of outdoor pen, fluff it a little with a cultivator and it composts nicely

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Depending on your soil....

I have found than any organic matter whatsoever in my duck pen is D. I. S. G. U. S. T. I. N. G.

So what I have done is pea gravel, landscape cloth, sand. And I keep any organic material to a strict minimum. Now I do deep litter in the houses in the winter, but that's all. Any loose or scattered straw gets a weekly rake and shoveled to my garden. As of course does any poo. When we have have issues with too much rain or ice dams from melting snow, I have used Barn Lime, NOT ag lime, but barn lime. The most expensive price I've ever paid was I think $4.59 and it is a calcium product, so not dangerous (unlike ag lime, which is dangerous). When I've seen a muddy icky spot, I sprinkle on the barn lime, use my rake, pitchfork, or 3 pronged cultivator to work the powder Into the muck, and after a day or so, problem gone. The barn lime dries up moisture. But it's not a permanent fix.

Mud is really unhealthy, I think especially for chickens. You want to def get that taken care of ASAP. Another alternative might be relocating the pools outside of the pens and just scaling back to a smaller volume waterer. Less
Water = less mess. Covered runs can keep out rain. And def slopes, as Amiga wrote.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

I second the advice given.

So yep, I've been thinking about how to improve drainage around the pool area as well. The best plan I've come up with is to dig down, fill in a deep layer of sand, then top that off with small river rock or pea gravel as the others have used.

Dirt has an amazing ability to hold massive amounts of water. The more sand and rock/gravel you mix into it, the better drainage you will have.

I don't know if this is a possibility for you, but running a fan in my duck house all day helps me keep the flies at bay. I also clean out the poop every morning. Sometimes it seems like a lot of work, but worth it to control the flies.

Mud is really unhealthy, I think especially for chickens. You want to def get that taken care of ASAP. Another alternative might be relocating the pools outside of the pens and just scaling back to a smaller volume waterer. Less
Water = less mess. Covered runs can keep out rain. And def slopes, as Amiga wrote.

Hi Holly, can you expand on this. I've heard it once before, but I'm having trouble understanding the dangers of mud. Does it have to do with how long it sticks around? I guess I'm hoping someone can share what exactly is the deal with mud dangers? We get mud puddles around the rain spouts, but they don't last for more than two days... the ducks love sifting through and drilling. It also rained today and I had been doing some work in the duck yard moving dirt. The dirt turned into mud and the ducks also sifted through these piles. They also drill wet holes in the ground around the edges of their pool. Should I be worried?

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I'm not a scientist, but from what I understand, mud puddles that are around for short periods of time (a day or two) are very different from a chronically boggy wet area. It really depends on the soil content itself, I believe. Some bacterias and illnesses can live in soils, so keeping your flock healthy from the ground up is really the best option. Plus , as we know, chickens are very much less tolerant to wet/ mud conditions than ducks. I would suggest getting in touch with @aoxa, she gave me some very good advice on this topic a long time ago. Amiga, who posted above, is also very correct and knows what she is talking about.
Edited for grammar

 

[TwoDogFarm]

Wow. Thanks for all the help. We actually bought four bags of river rock a couple of weeks ago, but had debated putting them down. From what I'm hearing though those are good, but in order for those to work right, we will also need some sand. Good to know.

We have part of our coop covered with one of those tarp roofs, but we will have to get some replacement parts for it because back when it was just one 10x10 dog kennel at the beginning of the year (when we also had less critters), the wind picked the whole thing up, carried it 30 ft across the yard and flipped it upside down. Needless to say, the roof doesn't do much good keeping the rain out anymore. Thankfully no one got hurt.

Hopefully, now that I have some ideas, we can tackle it this weekend and make it a more pleasant and healthy place for them to live in. Thanks again.

 

[KeepOnClucking]

I'd put up some fly paper and see if that helps.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Let us know what you come up with!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Wow. Thanks for all the help. We actually bought four bags of river rock a couple of weeks ago, but had debated putting them down. From what I'm hearing though those are good, but in order for those to work right, we will also need some sand. Good to know.

We have part of our coop covered with one of those tarp roofs, but we will have to get some replacement parts for it because back when it was just one 10x10 dog kennel at the beginning of the year (when we also had less critters), the wind picked the whole thing up, carried it 30 ft across the yard and flipped it upside down. Needless to say, the roof doesn't do much good keeping the rain out anymore. Thankfully no one got hurt.

Hopefully, now that I have some ideas, we can tackle it this weekend and make it a more pleasant and healthy place for them to live in. Thanks again.

The other thing that I will share with you is that my 1st year with ducks, I had grass. Thick stuff that we thought would never die. Well after not even one year, that grass was 100% gone. So I brought in several yards of nice smooth pea gravel. That worked out beautifully... For about one month. By then, my darling ducks had walked all over and compressed the pea gravel-- it had disappeared in the clay mud.
So I chatted with @Miss Lydia and she told me about Landscape Fabric. Make sure you do landscape fabric first to prevent that sinking effect.

The other thing I want to share, and I apologize that I do not have the link, but I have seen pics on this site, primarily posted by chicken owners, that show how they have been successful at keeping grass growing in their pens. Granted, chickens are VERY different than ducks (as Tracey pointed out), but there are ways to have grass. Rotational pens, wood frames covered with a foot-safe type "screen" that allows the grass to grow but does not allow the roots to be disturbed.

Good Luck!!
When you get your perfect solution, please post it.

 

[CluckCluck18]

I just got this new stuff to try called, Koop Clean. It's chopped up straw and hay and also has sweet PDZ mixed in with it. It seems to help with the extra moisture and the sweet PDZ is natural so it's OK if they eat it. A 30lb bag was $21 and it is very compressed, so you get alot. I have it in there house and also sprinkle it around their pool. You might want to give it a try. It's made by Lucerne Farms. They didn't have it at my feed store but they ordered it for me!