Tips on keeping duck enclosures clean?

[Lor]

This is true and pea gravel is a great topper for the soil. My concern about putting pea gravel was I was afraid my ducks would try to eat it and get something stuck in their throat and I wasn't sure...like I'm terrified that they'll try to eat something too big for them. I wish I had seen your post before I tried to figure all this out LOL. Mine do fine with the sand and the mud and the dirt but their enclosure is like 20 by 20 so it doesn't get stinky. I'm fortunate with that.

We've been using one of these to help with pooper scooping. For both the chicken and duck area.

 

[RebinNH]

I use the wand rake as well but more in the actual coop where they sleep, as opposed to the run. In there I have straw with some hemp and sweet PDZ below that, on top of a thick tarp that I pull out periodically to hose off (with an enzyme cleaner), dry in the sun and then start over again.
For the small run area outside of that (enclosed in buried wire 1/4" hardware cloth) I use hemp and clean with doggie bags when they actually spend much time in there but really that is only on days when they are not free range, which is most of the time.
Good luck! I think we each need to find the right solution for out budget and back.

 

[Louisiana Girl]

Sand sounds like it would be the most comfortable option, but also a lot of weight to be moving around. I recently was thinking what if we build a pallet like platform in the enclosure (with treated wood of course) with drainage underneath, then attach indoor/outdoor carpeting that can be hosed off.. I wonder if anyone has tried this method and if it works... The pond could be built in to this platform as well, with a drain to make it easy to clean out and refill... As for the bedding inside the duck house I will probably go the pine shavings route that seems to be working fine for my chickens.. I was going to use straw but heard it's not too good to use, So I may save that for the colder winter months. I think as long as it's changed frequently it shouldn't be an issue.

When we had hunting dogs, we would use the black rubber horse mats in their kennels so we could spray them off easily. Wondering if that would work for my ducks. They can be expensive but you can move them around if you need to.

 

[Luv Ducks]

When we had hunting dogs, we would use the black rubber horse mats in their kennels so we could spray them off easily. Wondering if that would work for my ducks. They can be expensive but you can move them around if you need to.

I do have a plastic pallet with the watering stations on top of it covered with indoor outdoor carpeting. It seems to work well as I can hose it off. I had thought about Rubber mats but could only find black ones and I was afraid our hot sun here in Ohio in the summer could hurt their feet. That was why I chose the other option. Not sure how it will work out this winter when the hose is froze and hosing it off is not an option.

 

[Launchpad]

We are building our duck house and enclosure soon and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for keeping the enclosure clean, right now we have our 3 ducks (1 drake, 2 females) in a fenced off part of the chicken run area, and boy is it ever muddy in there when we have their kiddie pool filled, also, there are a good many flies in the half of the run that is occupied by the ducks currently, I'm assuming the ducks don't eat them as much as the chickens? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My husband mentioned some kind of gravel to put down that can be hosed off and cleaned easily but my question is, what kind of gravel would be good to use for that with ducks? I know their feet are a bit more sensitive than chickens and I don't want them to get hurt.

Thanks in advance everyone!

I was able to dig in ground pools into my pen that drain into the pond they are next to.
As that's probably not possible, my thought would be, if possible, dig a deep french drain (o2 or more) that can be covered with like a roll of artificial grass or mat. Then you can empty the pool(s) into the drains and cover them back up

 

[Hudsonsgirl]

More space is the best answer, but some of us don’t have that. My pens are near my house, so I sympathize. For ground cover, I use wood chips (garden mulch) because they are cheap to replace and keep the ground more firm in the rain. I’ve seen suggestions for pea gravel, but also people saying that the poop lodges in between the rocks

I regularly move the ducks’ swimming pool, toss straw over any forming cess pool, and use coop cleaners that come in crystal form. I recently used a more pricy coop cleaner with eucalyptus and it kills that sewage smell so well, I’m keeping it for when company is over.

What is the eucalyptus cleaner you use? I really need that too!

 

[DuckTapePalace]

We've been using one of these to help with pooper scooping. For both the chicken and duck area.
View attachment 3554957

Question! I’ve got a mix of sand and river rock in my aviary and need to choose 1 of the 2. The sand just spread out with the rock when I clean as we need a better liner. With winter approaching I’m considering sand only and my question is what do you all do with the poops? I can cover or sweep it up but if I remove it, do I just put it in the trash for the landfill?

 

[Luv Ducks]

Question! I’ve got a mix of sand and river rock in my aviary and need to choose 1 of the 2. The sand just spread out with the rock when I clean as we need a better liner. With winter approaching I’m considering sand only and my question is what do you all do with the poops? I can cover or sweep it up but if I remove it, do I just put it in the trash for the landfill?

I have sand but it is very muddy still around the water area in the pen. The rain pretty much washes the poop in my pen but I am trying to figure out how to deal with the mud. I thought about putting down lots of large wood shavings that I buy from TSC but I don't know if it will decompose or just make an even bigger mess. I am afraid of any type of rock because of bumblefoot and I have never had any of that and don't want any. Good luck with your decision.

 

[DuckTapePalace]

I have sand but it is very muddy still around the water area in the pen. The rain pretty much washes the poop in my pen but I am trying to figure out how to deal with the mud. I thought about putting down lots of large wood shavings that I buy from TSC but I don't know if it will decompose or just make an even bigger mess. I am afraid of any type of rock because of bumblefoot and I have never had any of that and don't want any. Good luck with your decision.

Thank you. We just set everything up. We get pretty good drainage in our garden but I’d a layer of lava rock covered by some river rock and THEN sand (we have an over abundance of the stuff). I’ll see if we need any shavings. Out of our layers, only one of them is broody and a little more picky than the others so I was hoping she would feel good about laying (she’s taken a break with all the changes of integrating new ducks and a new set up). I love the cedar shavings we get from Cascade. As an aside, we’ve had river rock all spring and summer and no bumblefoot. Out broody babe developed more of a strange wart thing but it’s going away with some care and I’m sure the sand feels great.

 

[Deemorgandy]

So far the platform with the outdoor rug seems to be doing the trick, we opted for an outdoor rug instead of the synthetic grass because it is super easy to spray off.. added drainage to the pool so that is easier to clean as well, so far it's been pretty clean, so long as I spray the poo away, but no mud thanks to the platform!

What kind of rug do you use?