toadpondpanic
In the Brooder
- Oct 30, 2020
- 4
- 12
- 15
Hello everyone!
This is my first year with ducks and we decided to go big. We have a flock of 15 (cayugas, rouens, mallards, welsh harlequins, one fawn/white runner, and one black Swedish). They have been free ranging most of the summer and are penned at night where they had a large shipping crate house to go in at night. There were gaps between the boards and I used pine shavings on the floor- smell was never an issue. I live in the northern midwest where we have at least an entire month of below-zero temps every year. Knowing the shipping crate would not be sufficient in these conditions, we decided to build a 8' x 12' insulated duck castle. This thing is basically a tiny home.
Well, the duck castle was moved into place last night, straw was spread on the floor, and the ducks were put inside (I imagine it will take some persuading before they will willingly use the ramp on their own). They were not in there for 5 minutes and we could already notice a considerable STINK. We cracked all the windows and left them to settle down. The duck house has plenty of ventilation- vented soffit on two sides and three full-size windows.
This morning, the smell was even worse. Given this is their first night in a new house, it is probably quite stressful for them. Is it possible that they are producing some sort of stress response that smells more than their regular bowl movements? I realize that their poop stinks but after just 5 minutes of being in there the smell was very noticeable.
They are fed Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance and supplemented with scratch grains and a variety of fresh veggie treats.
I'm thinking of shoveling all the straw out and just doing pine shavings to see if it helps with the smell. A coworker mentioned some sort of powder that can be sprinkled around to reduce the smell but I am having a hard time finding which to buy. Most are marketed for chicken coops- not sure if they are the "high-octane" formula that I am looking for.
I'm open to any and all suggestions! I really don't want to be cleaning the bedding daily in there. It just seems like there has to be another solution.
Thanks in advance! Attached are a few photos from this summer.
This is my first year with ducks and we decided to go big. We have a flock of 15 (cayugas, rouens, mallards, welsh harlequins, one fawn/white runner, and one black Swedish). They have been free ranging most of the summer and are penned at night where they had a large shipping crate house to go in at night. There were gaps between the boards and I used pine shavings on the floor- smell was never an issue. I live in the northern midwest where we have at least an entire month of below-zero temps every year. Knowing the shipping crate would not be sufficient in these conditions, we decided to build a 8' x 12' insulated duck castle. This thing is basically a tiny home.
Well, the duck castle was moved into place last night, straw was spread on the floor, and the ducks were put inside (I imagine it will take some persuading before they will willingly use the ramp on their own). They were not in there for 5 minutes and we could already notice a considerable STINK. We cracked all the windows and left them to settle down. The duck house has plenty of ventilation- vented soffit on two sides and three full-size windows.
This morning, the smell was even worse. Given this is their first night in a new house, it is probably quite stressful for them. Is it possible that they are producing some sort of stress response that smells more than their regular bowl movements? I realize that their poop stinks but after just 5 minutes of being in there the smell was very noticeable.
They are fed Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance and supplemented with scratch grains and a variety of fresh veggie treats.
I'm thinking of shoveling all the straw out and just doing pine shavings to see if it helps with the smell. A coworker mentioned some sort of powder that can be sprinkled around to reduce the smell but I am having a hard time finding which to buy. Most are marketed for chicken coops- not sure if they are the "high-octane" formula that I am looking for.
I'm open to any and all suggestions! I really don't want to be cleaning the bedding daily in there. It just seems like there has to be another solution.
Thanks in advance! Attached are a few photos from this summer.