Wet Bedding

[DuckCommander]

I house my ducks and chickens together over the winter (Northern Alberta, Canada). I am struggling with finding a way to keep the bedding dry so that I don't have to clean the coop every 4 days. I cleaned the coop Monday and bedded new straw, and its soaking wet again. I tried to put the water in a cut down kiddie pool, but the sides just flopped. Anyone have any ideas what to try?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't have ducks, but I do have a problem with wet coop floors due to our blowing rain almost all winter.

I have found that a thinnish layer of sand on the floor, scraped with a plastic rake and sifted with kitty litter scoop daily, works great for me.

The more water on the floor, the thinner the layer of sand I do. Then it dries out faster. Duck poo is more liquid though than chicken poo, so if you try this you may want to do a small test area.

I even use sand in the nest boxes now. There is a "Got sand you should" thread that is good.

Always wear a mask when sifting sand! You do NOT want that stuff in your lungs.

 

[DuckCommander]

I don't have ducks, but I do have a problem with wet coop floors due to our blowing rain almost all winter.

I have found that a thinnish layer of sand on the floor, scraped with a plastic rake and sifted with kitty litter scoop daily, works great for me.

The more water on the floor, the thinner the layer of sand I do. Then it dries out faster. Duck poo is more liquid though than chicken poo, so if you try this you may want to do a small test area.

I even use sand in the nest boxes now. There is a "Got sand you should" thread that is good.

Always wear a mask when sifting sand! You do NOT want that stuff in your lungs.

I have decided to try a hard sided kiddie pool and see if that helps. Maybe I will test out your sand theory inside the pool, and if it works well see what I can do about doing it in the whole coop. Thank you!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote: You are welcome and I hope you find the perfect solution!