Anyone know the NPK of duck droppings? I have a small pool for my ducks (2 Indian runners, forgot what the other one is). After they swim in it for a while the water turns green of course. I was wondering if this stuff would make good fertilizer for some outdoor container plants primarily. Anyone tried something similar? I know my used aquarium water is excellent and was wondering if this might be good also. Any unpleasant side effects?

-- Kyle McAfee (kyle10500@webtv.net), June 26, 2001

Answers

Response to duck poop analysis

Should make fine fertilizer. Don't know what the NPK is. Just don't use it on root vegetables.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), June 26, 2001.

Response to duck poop analysis

I would imagine the NPK is Nitrogen, Phospherous, and Potassium (K is the chemical symbol for Potassium). i.e., waht are the numbers like 15-5-15 for fertilizer.

-- Brendan K Callahan (sleeping@netins.net), June 26, 2001.

Response to duck poop analysis

After a show we went to a fancy chinese resturant, and of course my girlfriends and I started talking goat. Soon we were talking about running fecals, and my girlfriend was making pictures of what a slide looked like in her egg drop soup! Laughed so hard, never did figure out what could have been on the slide!

Wonder what non animals folks think of all these subjects? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 26, 2001.

Response to duck poop analysis

http://ces.soil.ncsu.edu/soilscience/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-05/

Page down to duck manure. Isn't the internet wonderful? :>

Jennifer L.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@imcnet.net), June 26, 2001.

Response to duck poop analysis

LOL! No, no, I know what NPK is. I just didn't know what the NPK of DUCK poop would be. :D

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), June 26, 2001.

Response to duck poop analysis

Thanks, Jennifer. I'll do that. And thanks y'all for the laughs. :-D

-- Kyle McAfee (kyle10500@webtv.net), June 26, 2001.

Response to duck poop analysis

Are ya ready for this? Analysis for fresh Duck Poop: Total N = 28, ammonium =5, Phos = 23, Pot. = 17

Everyone better stand back when I start using this stuff. Well, actually I already have. :-)

-- Kyle M. Murfreesboro, TN (kyle10500@webtv.net), June 26, 2001.

Response to duck poop analysis

Kyle, most all of use who post on the Poultry Connection General Waterfowl message board use duck droppings all over for our flowers and vegetables. It won't burn like chicken manure will. some use the pond water, some use the water out of wading pools used for ducks. some like me, clean out the duck houses(keep pine shavings in them)and put this all around plants. Good luck and keep a machete handy! :-)

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), June 26, 2001.

Vicky, we probably don't want to talk to non-animal folks anyway, do we? I have no idea what they use for table conversation! Maureen

-- Maureen Stevenson (maureen@mtaonline.net), June 28, 2001.

You are right Maureen, in thinking about it I have very few, non- animal loving friends! :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 28, 2001.

I used to have ducks in my little pond by the garden just for the Duck Poop Soup. It's terrific for the garden. But don't pour it on your underground food, like potatoes. I never used mine on the strawberrys either unless it was very early or very late in the season, before and after the fruit. If you pour it on the base of your plants, like tomatoes and peppers and all, make sure the water dosen't touch the fruit. I would put all the tomatoes that touched the ground in a bucket for the chickens. We only ate the vegetables way off the ground.

With the melons, the growing stem is usually far away from the fruits, and I would just pour it in the circle for the stem only. Make sure to wash your hands real good, try not to let it splash on you. It really makes a jungle of a garden, and is one of the best things you can give your plants and your dirt and worms. I don't have my ducks anymore, they kept climing the fence and sitting on the porch. Now I just put poop in a bucket, add water, let it sit for a couple days and make tea for the plants.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), June 28, 2001.

I actually have a question, but could not figure out how to get to your list main page.

Here is my question:

A friend of mine and I have built a "living machine" to clean duck poop water. We have alot of success making the water clean, dealing with anything soluable. But the soldsa re bringing us down, because they clog the filters and pumps.

How can we filter the solids out of the water? We have some ideas, one being a sort of sieve system , the other being some sort of clarifier design, involving nested tubing that allows solids to settle in a smaller tube while water can flow out of it into a larger tube.

This is one of very few systems designed for this purpose. We have been able to create a three tank system where water from a duck tub is pumped into a marsh - a tub filled with gravel which now grows plants, and from there the ater flows into the third tank which is a fish pond. I n this pond we can grow water plants which the ducks eat. From there water flows back into the duck tub.

Things have been going well in the sense that we have not had to change the ducks pond water for three months. Before this, we had the ducks swimming around in little baby pools which needed to have the water changed about twice a week.\ However, the solids are the problem. Currently, the series of pvc tubes designed to take up the duck tub water are covered in eight inches of gravel, which we thought would grow enough bacteria to break down the solids- seems the ducks poop faster than the bacteria break down.

Since duck poop does make excellent fertilizer, we figured its time to find a way to filter it out and utilize it rather than relying on the appetites of bacteria which are obviously not sufficiently large.

Any ideas? Anyone?

Thanks! -Tanya

-- tanya thielke (tthielke@numuse.com), September 19, 2001.