[daveinmanc]

thought i'd post a few pics of a cleaning out of the duck house as a few people commented a while back after i'd built it, on how they liked the idea i had of the floor dropping down to make the task easier.

well it really is a doddle, coupled with another idea i had to put a 'groundsheet' in it, stapled to two planks of wood, the total time to clean it is less than ten minutes lol   . it probably takes longer to wash the grounsheet down and dry it than it takes to actually clean the house out ! (suppose it helps that we've only got three ducks i know a lot of you have an awful lot more lol )

it goes like this, open the side door and take the groundsheet out, unbolt the hinges underneath and drop the floor.





grab a stiff brush, sweep all the bits off the sides, grab the bucket filled with water and jeyes fluid and wash all the floor down, once it has dried, the floor can then go back up in place.




the groundsheets is then washed and hung out to dry. . . .



then that goes back in place inside the house . . . . .




followed by a couple of buckets of shavings. . . . .



and a large dollop of straw  . . . . . .







hey presto  . . . . jobs a good 'un  . . . .  



got some much better vids of the ducks in the pond too off my digi camera which i'll put up once they've uploaded to photobucket, if anyones noticed a marked improvement of my piccies in this thread then thats for the same reason lol, they're just so much better off a digital camera than the phone  

[Selkie]

Wow Dave, that looks really handy! You'd want to make sure all the ducks are outside when you open the trap door though  

Looking forward to seeing the video too

[Aunt Sally]

Very efficient Dave  :!:

Do you treat all the nooks and crannies for wee beasties ?

[daveinmanc]

to be honest AS we haven't done so far other than the thorough clean its gets here as shown, its actually 3 weeks today since we got them, although it seems like they've always been here now lol    

can't say i've seen any wee beesties apart from the odd mouse or shrew lol,  what should i be on the lookout for and what's the treatment i should be using???

the walls of the house do get washed down as well although having a groundsheet down seems to contain everything, virtually, and 99.5 % comes out when i fold it and take it out, always happy to take on board further suggestions though so what do you recommend?


 

[Aunt Sally]

My advice would be to sprinkle a little Diatom in all the nooks and crannies next time you clean it out.  Better to pevent a mite infestation than to treat one.   :!:  

[Aunt Sally]

Have a look through the Parasites information here Dave http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=5250

Ducks attract the same parasites as chickens

[daveinmanc]

thanks AS  

i'll look it up (diatom) and see whats available near me or i'll phone the agri -  supplies place and see if they do it, would rather prevent anything happening before it starts.

i take it this diatom is a preventative as well as a cure then ??

had a brief look through the link and thanks, its a really thorough article, i'll re read it later    

[Aunt Sally]

Diatom is an excellent product for prevention.  It dehydrates the little beasts before they get a chance to take hold  

[daveinmanc]

i take it this is for use on the house rather than the bird itself from what i can make out and its not full of chemicals?

just been mooching around and come across all sorts which makes it more confusing  :shock:, well for me lol

cant say i've seen any of the behaviour they say to look out for but i think an inspection just for peace of mind is on the cards so whats the best approach to an inspection AS?

they seem to be pretty good now being picked up and are calm when held so thats a bonus eh lol

 

[Aunt Sally]

Read the parasites topic Dave.  Lice on birds, mites in house.  Look around vent, neck and under wings for lice.  all nooks and crannies in the house for mites.  There's pictures on the information topic.

As I said, prevention is better than cure  

And as you said it contains no chemical.  :!:

[daveinmanc]

does it have a shelf life???

just wondering how much to get   :?:

there's some small shakers on ebay and after that a 2kg tub, am just thinking there's only 3 ducks and if it has a shelf life thats fairly short i'd rather get it in small regular amounts than try and keep it for long periods if the effectiveness wears off after time??

sorry for the barrage of questions AS but i'd rather ask than try and guess and there's no indication from what i can find about the life of the product  :roll:

[Aunt Sally]

It's hundred of thousands of years old Dave, So I don't think a year or two on your self will make any difference  

[daveinmanc]

lol i get ya now. . . . . .   just found some more info  on it  

apparently it has an unlimited shelf life  

many thanks for all your replies AS, yer a star

   

[Aunt Sally]

And Thank you Dave.  You've reminded me I need to buy some more  

[daveinmanc]

your welcome lol  


just ordered some from home farm fowls ebay shop, its probably somewhere near you. . . . . . .

cost me a tenner in carriage but i dont mind too much cos at least it shouldn't go missing and i cant find it anywhere near  me, not through searching off the net anyway  :roll: