One benefit of having animals on your property is that some of these animals make poop that is good for your grass and good for your other plants as well, but is duck poop good for grass? This article looks into it
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Is duck poop good for grass?
If you already own ducks you’ll know that these animals produce a lot of poop, and thankfully, you as a duck owner can use this duck poop on your grass, in fact, it works well as a fertilizer.
So yes, duck poop is good for grass.
Poultry poop, poop from birds like chickens, turkeys, and quail, is quite hot. Manure that is “hot” is high in nitrogen, this nitrogen content will “burn” your plants, including your lawn.
Thankfully, duck poop is not “hot” and as a result, will not burn your grass. It can be used on your plants and grass and will be beneficial to the grass.
Duck poop is great manure because it contains high amounts of nutrients like phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. This makes it great for your grass
Although duck manure is more nutrient-rich than chicken manure, this high nutrient content doesn’t mean that it will “burn” your plants, duck manure can be applied directly to your plants like grass.
Using duck poop on grass:
Duck poop can be used on your grass but if you want to do this you have to do it in a very specific way.
If you let the ducks simply roam around on the grass then they may damage any young grasses trampling the young grass with their large webbed feet. Older grasses can take this but younger grasses cannot.
You’d need to keep your birds away from any of the new grass on your property
In addition, if you let the ducks freely roam around on your property then the birds will lounge around in the same area, and they will poop in the same area as well.
This will result in the over-fertilization of certain areas and under-fertilization of other areas stunting growth in both places due to over-fertilization and under-fertilization. This is how to properly use duck poop to fertilize grass:
Use duck bath water:
Ducks need access to bodies of water to clean out their nostrils and to drink. They will also poop in this water, you can use this wastewater to your advantage.
Allow the birds to poop in their duck pond and then scoop this water out using a container like a jug and pour it evenly on your grass.
If you’re using a large container, like a children’s paddling pool as the duck bath, then some of the poop will settle at the bottom of the pool after you’ve used the duck water. This material can be scooped up and used on your grass as well
You can also scoop some of the water from the pool, transfer it into a spray bottle, add water and use it on your other plants.
Direct the birds:
Ducks may be creatures of habit and stay in the same spot if allowed to, but this doesn’t mean that these animals can’t be herded to where you want them to be.
If you have a grassy area that you’d like the ducks to fertilize with their poop then you can create a fenced-off area using electric poultry netting, or even plastic netting, to keep them on a patch of land.
Move their food and water sources around on your grass when using this method, this will get them to spread their poop out.
Create a compost heap:
You can create compost using duck poop and litter if you prefer, hay can be used as litter in the bird’s duck house. Creating compost out of duck poop can be a bit of a challenge but it can also be very beneficial.
To do this you’d need to add hay into your duck houses and then water this hay in the morning on a daily basis. This will wet the hay and disperse the very runny poop. You can use the bird’s waterers to do this.
After watering, apply a fresh layer of hay onto the layer of wet hay and litter. You can add about an inch of hay daily. Repeat this process daily for two weeks.
Once the two weeks are up you can scoop this litter and manure mixture and transfer it to a compost pile. Leave this compost pile to “cook” for 6 months.
After the six months are up, the compost will be black and crumbly and you can use it on your grass and other plants
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other duck related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: How To Train A Duck To Walk On A Leash, Mother Duck Kills Duckling, Duckling Not Eating Or Drinking, Ducklings Dying Suddenly