Straw or Pine Shavings?

[KikiDeAnime]

I didn't mention before but recently one of our female ducks laid an egg and today I found another. Unfortunately, they're completely dirty so I was forced to wash them off. We already threw fresh straw in the coop two days ago so I'm figuring out if I should leave it or throw some pine shavings down as well??

Which one would be better to keep the eggs a bit cleaner?

 

[SolarDuck]

I use pine shavings in my coop on the floor, and straw in a couple nesting boxes. They almost always poop on the floor and not in their nests so it saves me a lot of money on straw and the eggs are always clean.

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm think my ducks like to make nests out of straw better, and they are less likely to poop in nests. They are also less likely to poop in nests that have eggs in them. For that I found dummy eggs to work wonderfully. They still occasionally put eggs elsewhere, or occasionally pooped in the nest on the eggs. But almost always I got tidy eggs in the nest.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Both ducks don't use the nesting boxes, I was talking about the floor of the coop..
Plus I already knew ducks don't lay in nesting boxes.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I use pine shavings and occasionally add straw on top. My eggs are clean.

 

[KaleIAm]

Both ducks don't use the nesting boxes, I was talking about the floor of the coop..
Plus I already knew ducks don't lay in nesting boxes.

I was referring to the floor of my coop/barn room. I put down straw, throw a few dummy eggs down, and my ducks make nests, that look like huge song bird nests, in the corners.

My ducks will also happily use nesting boxes, but I removed them since it is one more thing to clean.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

I was referring to the floor of my coop/barn room. I put down straw, throw a few dummy eggs down, and my ducks make nests, that look like huge song bird nests, in the corners.

My ducks will also happily use nesting boxes, but I removed them since it is one more thing to clean.

The first was found in her nesting corner and today's egg was found in the middle of the coop. I almost stepped on it because I didn't see it underneath the giant poop on top.
Since our ducks live with our chickens, the hens need the nesting boxes.

 

[SolarDuck]

Since our ducks live with our chickens, the hens need the nesting boxes.

Maybe put together some more nesting boxes for them? I don't think there is any way to keep the eggs clean other than just providing a good nesting area with lots of straw. If you can't make any boxes for them just put the straw on the ground and try the fake egg thing. They most likely won't want to poop on the nest with eggs in it.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Maybe put together some more nesting boxes for them? I don't think there is any way to keep the eggs clean other than just providing a good nesting area with lots of straw. If you can't make any boxes for them just put the straw on the ground and try the fake egg thing. They most likely won't want to poop on the nest with eggs in it.

I have dummy eggs in the nesting boxes. I have enough to move a few in the corner where I found the first egg.

 

[MotherOfDuckens]

I've only used straw, but apparently my girls have no decorum and will happily poop on their nest of eggs. It does seem to be getting a little better as they get older, but I still find dookies lovingly nestled between the eggs in established nests. My dummy eggs are permanently poo-stained. There was one time when they moved the straw so far down for their nest that they reached the bottom of the coop, which is a white linoleum floor. Oddly, all of the eggs they laid directly on the linoleum were pristine. So, uh, linoleum I guess?