keeping your ducks water `fresh`

hola,

I am a new parent to 17 ducks ( by watching over a farm of friend for a few weeks ) and have tried multiple sorts of water containers so that they can have constant water in their coop but with no prevail. Currently i have one of those circular ones that let out water when space is give, but it needs a perfectly flat ground which is rather hard to find, but even if i did with it being right on the ground the little guys will just knock it over.And then there is just how quickly they dirty it, but i guess that`s just part of having ducks.

Any ideas to help keep these guys healthy and happy?

thanks!

Hi Dakota, and welcome to the wacky world of ducks! I have a couple things to offer both from experience and all the reading I've done.

1. Their water will always get mucky. I had a single mother and single duckling put an inch of mud into the bottom of a bucket waterer in two days. This is the case because ducks sieve water through their bills to filter the food bits out in the wild.

2. That said, change it as often as you can, at least every few days, or daily, depending on the number of ducks to a waterer. They can get sick if poop builds up in their water, or if it stagnates.

3. A 3-gallon bucket up on a cinderblock keeps them from jumping in but still allows them to dip their heads and bills, which they need to do to stay clean. You have to keep the bucket(s) full to within 6 inches of the top or so.

4. If you want to keep them from making a mess under the waterer -- because they WILL splash water all over the place -- you can put a couple of poultry mesh panels beneath it and/or move it to a new spot regularly, or if you can't move it, dig out the ground beneath it and fill it in with gravel so it drains.

Any questions? If these don't work with your particular circumstances, I'll see what other ideas I can come up with.

Good Luck!

Check out this post on Permaculture News: http://permaculturenews.org/2013/05/20/poo-free-self-filling-duck-waterer/

This is a DIY project and apparently works very well.

You guys are GRREEEAATT! thank you so much i think we might try to build either of those little waterers today! ill get back to you guys if we have any questions. Thanks again

Any updates Dakota?

Much appreciated,
Jake

This is what I use in the winter. Works for all of my birds. You can twist the hose connection to lower the ball and thus keep the water level lower if it's not level.

I also use dog kennels a lot. Ducks are easy going about where their water is held.

Its not the cheapest option but we use nipple waterers. The ducks figure it out just fine. They still make a wet spot but not nearly as much. This guarantees fresh clean water to help prevent disease. And we occasionally give them a pool so they can clean their nasal passages and the rest of them selves.

when I have the money I plan to set up a duckponics system so the water is always clean and fresh and used to grow duck food by filtering it through plants. right now I give my ducks fresh water daily in big shallow buckets and then I take their mucky water and give it to plants that thrive off the dirty duck water. I have tried various watering methods that prevent them from getting in the water but they seem to be so much happier and healthier when they are able to bath daily and cover their entire heads in water as needed when eating. I also only have 9 ducks which makes this all a lot easier than if I had a lot of ducks and we consider our ducks to first be pets so are happy to do extra work (plus my plants that get the water are so happy!) and spend extra money on them.

Here's the link to Elle Sagenev's waterfeeder, for anyone who was curious like me http://peacockorchard.com/2015/03/12/my-poultry-in-winter/

By the way, Elle, I really like your playground ideas. I had fun sifting through them for inspiration for a playground for our almost-two year old son.

Nicole Alderman wrote:Here's the link to Elle Sagenev's waterfeeder, for anyone who was curious like me http://peacockorchard.com/2015/03/12/my-poultry-in-winter/

By the way, Elle, I really like your playground ideas. I had fun sifting through them for inspiration for a playground for our almost-two year old son.

Haha yeah. I figure when we live as far away from civilization as we do a playground is necessary. If you do 1 thing, do the sandbox. It's the most used item in the playground for us. I have tomatoes growing in the tires right now. It's a great one!

I have 22 ducks this year, last year I had just 3. So water is still an issue, though I'm using the same stuff. The auto waterer and half a dog kennel. They get dumped every day, instead of every other, with all my ducks. Still working for me though.

Meryt Helmer wrote:when I have the money I plan to set up a duckponics system so the water is always clean and fresh and used to grow duck food by filtering it through plants. right now I give my ducks fresh water daily in big shallow buckets and then I take their mucky water and give it to plants that thrive off the dirty duck water. I have tried various watering methods that prevent them from getting in the water but they seem to be so much happier and healthier when they are able to bath daily and cover their entire heads in water as needed when eating. I also only have 9 ducks which makes this all a lot easier than if I had a lot of ducks and we consider our ducks to first be pets so are happy to do extra work (plus my plants that get the water are so happy!) and spend extra money on them.

Not to offend by linking to another site but if you go to backyardchickens.com they have a few duckponics set ups there. One of them is even mine, though it didn't work out in the long run for me. But quite a few people pump the water around and it works great for them.

I have spent time looking at all the duckponic set ups on the backyard chicken site. elle sagenev why didn't your system end up working? where my ducks are it is tricky to have electricity to run a pump so it will take time for me to save up enough money to pay for some sort of solar and battery powered pump.

Meryt Helmer wrote:I have spent time looking at all the duckponic set ups on the backyard chicken site. elle sagenev why didn't your system end up working? where my ducks are it is tricky to have electricity to run a pump so it will take time for me to save up enough money to pay for some sort of solar and battery powered pump.

My duckponics system was a pond. I had a biofilter section with the plants, pumped water through a few filtering pots that I had plans to put edibles in and then I also planted our garden next to it so I could flood irrigate with the duck pond water.

The problem is my lack of building skills and the ducks ability to get through my fences. They kept getting in and eating all of the plants and then my pond cracked and leaked. I haven't fixed it so it's just a big, cracked cement hole in the ground right now. I think we are going to sledgehammer the cement out and coat it with bentonite. Then I can give it another go.