ruthhope
Free Ranging
I live in NE Florida and gather oak leaves in March for use around my ducks' wading pool, in well trampled parts of my back yard, and in their duck house. I find them effective for reducing mud in and around their wading pool, and where they have killed off the grass. I do use layers of pine shavings, too in their duck house. But every so often add another layer of leaves as moisture doesn't seem to raise up through the leaves, although they drain well moisture from above.
My son's neighborhood doesn't have the oak trees that mine has and he doesn't like to come and pick up bags of leaves from my neighborhood and take them home. His ducks cannot free range anymore because an escaped dog got over his fence and attacked his ducks in the summer. That dog could escape again and come back. So, he now has a secure run for his ducks. Unfortunately, with the ducks restricted, the grass has worn away and the area around his kiddie pool is now very muddy and the water in the pool gets muddy quickly. We have dug a French drain and filled it with river pebbles. I gave him some oak leaves to cover the pebbles, but they aren't going to last until the next leaf harvest in March 2025! Then along came hurricane Milton and down came pounds and pounds of Spanish moss.
I gathered the Spanish moss, and dried it in the sun, then we covered my son's duck run in a deep layer of Spanish moss. The ducks like foraging in the moss, and it has dramatically reduced the mud in the wading pool. I am going to dry more to put in his nesting boxes in the coop.
Today, when I took the photo, it had been raining for more than 12 hours, and the moss has turned green, but I am sure it will dry out again once we get some sunshine.
My son's neighborhood doesn't have the oak trees that mine has and he doesn't like to come and pick up bags of leaves from my neighborhood and take them home. His ducks cannot free range anymore because an escaped dog got over his fence and attacked his ducks in the summer. That dog could escape again and come back. So, he now has a secure run for his ducks. Unfortunately, with the ducks restricted, the grass has worn away and the area around his kiddie pool is now very muddy and the water in the pool gets muddy quickly. We have dug a French drain and filled it with river pebbles. I gave him some oak leaves to cover the pebbles, but they aren't going to last until the next leaf harvest in March 2025! Then along came hurricane Milton and down came pounds and pounds of Spanish moss.
I gathered the Spanish moss, and dried it in the sun, then we covered my son's duck run in a deep layer of Spanish moss. The ducks like foraging in the moss, and it has dramatically reduced the mud in the wading pool. I am going to dry more to put in his nesting boxes in the coop.
Today, when I took the photo, it had been raining for more than 12 hours, and the moss has turned green, but I am sure it will dry out again once we get some sunshine.
