Wood chips for duck run?

[Going Quackers]

What are the general thoughts on this concept? our run has now gone to mud so.. i need to calm this down.. they are free ranged but there pool is in there which is creating a big 'ol muddy mess

i've thought about the pea gravel but i dunno.. is it a better choice?

 

[Oregon Blues]

It would depend upon what type of wood.

I would not use cedar. Besides the toxic properties, it splinters easily and then you have the danger of bumblefoot if the ducks get a splinter in their foot. I would think that a smooth gravel would be better than wood chips.

The only way to deal with the water is to put it over a draining pit. Anything else you do is still going to make mud. I've got a 7 gallon waterer in my night run and not a drop of mud anywhere, even though the ducks remove all 7 gallons of water every night. All bathing water is outside in their day pen where a bit of mud doesn't hurt anything.

 

[LemonDoodles]

I use pine shavings and they work wonderfully.

 

[BallardDuck]

I put in a french drain through the middle of my run. Then I covered the entire enclosure with several inches of sand, pea-gravel and washed (smooth) gravel. I keep the white pine shavings in their sleeping area inside. Seems to be working quite well!