Stinky ducks

[Bushi4]

I’ve read through a few forums about ways to stop your duck pens from stinking.
The main suggestion I keep hearing is to use DE powder and I was wondering what everyone thought about this and how effective it is?

 

[DiYMama540]

I don't really use DE in my coops because it makes such a dusty mess. You could try mixing PDZ with their bedding to help absorb a lot of the moisture in the poo.
Ducks are stinky little poop machines, you will be cleaning their living area much more often than you would with chickens.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Feed Mazuri starter. Much less stink. Expensive but worth it from my standpoint. I don't find my ducks stinky. Messy, yes. But soo cute.

 

[Bushi4]

I have an issue because I need to confine my chooks to a run a few days a week for most part of the day and that’s what’s building up the smell. Do you know anything that will be alright out in the open?

 

[johntfs]

I have an issue because I need to confine my chooks to a run a few days a week for most part of the day and that’s what’s building up the smell. Do you know anything that will be alright out in the open?

It'd be a bit of work, but you might try what this guy does and uses a tractor, moving it and the ducks to different areas so the stink doesn't build up so much.

 

[CoriM]

I use PDZ sweet, (thanks to advice I received here!) and this keeps the enclosed area where my ducks sleep drier and smelling better - they have straw in there. In my run, which is half straw and half sand, I also sprinkle PDZ, but the sand stinks really bad. I'm not convinced it's the best flooring, but it keeps ducks from kicking straw into the little pond I have there. I try to rinse the sand and rake the poops in, occasionally putting down a fresh layer. I'm surprised just how much attention it takes to keep the ducks in a decently cleaned pen - they poop SO much! I'll be following this thread to see if anyone has a better suggestion.

 

[NanaKat]

I use pelleted lime in both my deep litter in the hen house and in the duck pen. I rake the dirt weekly, but add lime only once monthly. I have not had any problems with the birds eating the pellets.
When I get behind in raking, I've used a flat shovel to scoop off the top layer and put it in our compost heap where it adds nice nutrients to the mix.
The soiled water from the swimming pools makes great water for the flower beds and hedge rows.

I had 43 ducks until the week after Christmas and reduced that flock to one sweet duck hen named Daisy. Daisy got to stay because she has a Bantam rooster as her buddy...the only duck to do that. Daisy and Buddy are in a different run now and free range together.
Now I have roto-tilled the old duck pen and scattered grass seed.

 

[lomine]

At my current residence my ducks free range a large area so I don't have a build up. In their coop I use the deep litter method. At my old house I had a covered run and also used the deep litter method. The only time I have had an issue with smell is when I have been forced to bring buckets into the coop (or old run) for the ducks. Normally I just have a nipple waterer in the coop and buckets outside. But during huge snow storms the ducks had to stay inside for several days and needed the deeper water inside. After it warmed up a bit there was a smell from the wet straw. A little turning and mixing fixed the problem.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

It'd be a bit of work, but you might try what this guy does and uses a tractor, moving it and the ducks to different areas so the stink doesn't build up so much.

Using the "duck-shield" may work with a few duck[ling]s, but if you have more than about 10 they can easily get stuck with their heads in the gaps. You even need to have the doors wide enough for at least two ducks to run in/out or they might injure themselves. The concept of queuing is alien to ducks, except for queuing food in their esophagus…
I always have to open the door of the duck-house quickly, because they start running out as soon as they see a gap, had more than one occasion where a duck was trampled by the flock-mates because she/he stumbled in the door.
And the hustle at the feeder and waterer can be frightening.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

As for the messy ducks, by sheer coincidence i seem to have created a mess-free setup for my ducks: The previous owners had built a wooden platform into the hillsite for their dog's house. Typical deck-construction with wooden piles, frame and treated lumber boards - with ½" gaps between the floorboards.
See here: The Platform Ducks - from zero to duck in an instance!
Initially i cover the floor with a thin layer of hay, just ½" and then add a 2" layer of straw on top in which the ducks sleep, build their nests, lay their eggs - and poop. After the daily egg collection, i add a new thin layer (½") of fresh straw to cover all the accidents, day by day the bedding becomes thicker and thicker and it doesn't smell bad at all.
My assumption is that there is an airflow through the gaps in the floor that dries out the wet poop quickly and prevents the creation of noxious gases. Currently the bedding is over one foot thick and the duck house needs to be reset, but the last time i did that was September 29th last year, over three months ago. Still no smell and a fresh "sheet" for the ducks every day.