My DH has decided to take all the straw out of the duck pens and just leave them with a dirt floor and straw in their nest boxes. I disagree with this move, but he's adamant. Our ducks free range in the daytime and are only in their pen at night. What do y'all think about him doing away with the straw? Good or bad?
I have mine in a raised pen with hardware cloth on all 4 sides and a roof... Mine have straw in the nest areas but not on the hardware cloth.. Mine also free range during the day.. How many ducks do you have???? You might have to stir the dirt up evey so often to cover the poo and also get some stall dry to spread on it evey so often .
Perhaps you should think about getting pine wood shavings you can slightly sprinkle on the floor. They will absorb the poo and you can just sweep it out. I use wood shaving/poo mix under my shrubs as mulch and it fertilizes as it decomposes. I would use something on the dirt floor so you can avoid a nasty breeding ground for possible illnesses. I have concrete pavers covered with rubber runners from the hardware store (carpet isle). They are textured so the ducks cannot slip. They are also easy to sweep and you can hose them down if needed. Katharina
Straw can hold bacteria and poop (like a straw lol), so doing away with most of your straw might actually be better for your ducks. You may want to consider putting down something else to help combat smells and poopiness.... Like Stall dry, Sweet PDZ, etc.... Or if you want to try a bit of different bedding, you can try pellets meant for Horse stalls. I swear by them....
Depending on the size of the pen and the number of duck you could be just fine. Dolimite lime is safe to use when the birds are in the pen and will keep the smell down as well as correct the soil pH so that it's not such a good bacteria host. Many till their pens to mix the dirt/poop up or scrape them to remove the top layer and then redress with new dirt. Use a spreader to put lime on top on a rainy day so it waters in, or water it in if you have to in a dry spell.
Whats going to absorb all the poop? YOu cant just leave them to lay in their poop.... unless your going to scrape out the poop daily off of the dirt floor? I use shavings in my duck house...
I use the poopy straw in my garden. If I gave up straw for the ducks I would have to buy stuff for my growing beds.
Quote:I use these and love them. In my duck house, I put down a layer of pellets topped by a very thin layer of low quality (not moldy) hay because straw is expensive here. The hay acts like a mat and catches the majority of poo, and the shaving absorb moisture and odors. I take out the yuck hay every day, give the pellets a stir, through another thin layer of hay, and call it good. Whole thing takes less than five minutes and the pellets last for a long time. I've used them without the hay before, and they are great because as they break down they turn into a fine saw dust that can be picked through. The sand I have in my chicken coop is still my favorite floor material because it is just the absolute most easy thing to pick through. I go through with a kitty litter scoop every morning, takes very little time and the coop never smells. So that could be another option. I just wanted to add that I think hay works much better than straw if it were to be used this way because it really mats up. Straw would be too coarse if you wanted to be able to roll it up and pitch it. Would work if you just wanted to rake it, I don't know how much poo would fall off of it though. You could rake the hay to...of course.
I have a wood floor too, and I use wood chips. I would not leave it with nothing down, I use hay in the nest boxes.
I live in a very arid area and have a wood floor in the duck house. I use Alfalfa Hay about 2-4" thick. Every other day I stir it and After a week or two I clean it out onto the compost pile and add fresh Hay/alfalfa. The alfalfa breaks down almost into a fine meal mixes well with the droppings that completely dry during the day when the ducks are out.
