dangerous waterer??

[kada6305]

I also forgot to mention that I have 15 ducklings so I'd like to have something I don't have to fill up every 5 mins as I'm not always here. Kada I've seen your waterer in a different thread and I really love the idea but I'm wondering how well it would work for 15 instead of the 5 you have. I suppose I could just use a bigger tupperware thingy? Going Quackers (love that name BTW) I had a waterer almost similar but they would sorta flood their brooder. When I cleaned it out each morning I would have puddles and have to get paper towels to soak them up. Which is why I switched to the milk jug thing. However I didn't have to worry bout things like this with my waterer which is nice. Wildpeas what were you using before the stall pellets? Do the stall pellets seem to help your brooder stay cleaner? Thank you guys so much for all the great information. I'm thinking bout copying what you have kada. Just one more question as you can see from my perfect circle cutting lol I'm not really all that good with making things straight if I messed up on the holes and they weren't square enough would I end with something like I have now? I really don't want anything to happen like that again.

What I would do depending how big your brooder is, mine is pretty big so I could do this if I need to in the future but what about having muliple water?

 

[ducklover87]

You know that didn't even cross my mind lol I know how messy they are with their water I never thought about giving them 2.

 

[kada6305]

You know that didn't even cross my mind lol I know how messy they are with their water I never thought about giving them 2.

lol yeah, I am putting in a second for my 5 since there are only 4 holes and 5 ducks..and rascal like to sit on top of it LOL

 

[EggsnQuackers]

Straighten out that funny shaped hole on your milk jug so it's not a V. Flatten or round it out so they can't get caught in it so easily. If you have trouble, take small snips and go slow. It doesn't have to be perfect, but that sharp V shape will get you in trouble every time.
If you do go back to a chick waterer, we've had luck mounting the waterer onto a block of wood so it's higher off the ground and putting it into a pie tin to catch any water that gets flung around.

 

[wildpeas]

With 15 ducklings I would definitely add extra water stations. Like many others on the board, last year I used a water box to catch the mess. In my case I made a frame out of wood and covered in hardware cloth and put it over a cement mixing tub filled with stall pellets (pictured). It worked well but the tub got very heavy with the weight of the wet pellets and was hard to lift out. I was using shavings for bedding. This year I only have two ducklings in the brooder so I am forgoing the water box and am using all pellets for bedding.

 

[Miss Lydia]

heres one laying on it's side. you'd have to have 2 or 3 for 15 ducklings though. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/52173/less-mess-duckling-water/10

 

[ducklover87]

lol yeah, I am putting in a second for my 5 since there are only 4 holes and 5 ducks..and rascal like to sit on top of it LOL

Lol that's too cute. Mine like to sit in their food bowl so no one else can eat, or my hand if I'm hand feeding them treats lol. Again thank you guys for all advice I will definitely be adding more waterers. I threw out the milk jug so no worries there. And I am in the process of making something along the lines of kadas set up. Although my holes won't be so perfect but I will try. Hopefully I can find the scissors so I won't have to use a knife like last time.

 

[kada6305]

Lol that's too cute. Mine like to sit in their food bowl so no one else can eat, or my hand if I'm hand feeding them treats lol. Again thank you guys for all advice I will definitely be adding more waterers. I threw out the milk jug so no worries there. And I am in the process of making something along the lines of kadas set up. Although my holes won't be so perfect but I will try. Hopefully I can find the scissors so I won't have to use a knife like last time.

mine don't like hand feeding anymore although rascal likes to nibble on your hand and fingers...lol I used a pair of kitchen scissors for my holes, which is why they look like they are even lol. I'm glad I could help when I started I was using a chick feeder but they grow out of it whithin a week and it was making such a mess, remember have it deep enough so they can dip their eyes and beaks

 

[ducklover87]

Lol mine do that too. They've figured out they can pull and twist and sometimes it hurts so I'm trying to teach them no but I don't think that's gonna happen lol. I will deff make sure that its deep enough. Thanks again!

 

[pagumby]

A few minutes ago my cat tried to jump onto a chair with some stuff in it and instead slid off and fell on the floor next to my brooder. My ducklings all freaked out and started running around. One of them(one of my rouens) ended up running into my milk jug waterer and got stuck. It took me a little bit to get him unstuck. He kept wiggling which was making it harder to get him unstuck. I almost had them he opened his wings and it was back to square one. I was able to fold his wings back in and slowly pull him out. I checked him over really good especially around his wings and there's no bruises or marks or scrapes of any kind. My bf says that we aren't using that type of waterer (even though he didn't help me just yelled. aren't men useful sometimes?) However I really wish I could keep using this waterer because it keeps the bedding so much more dryer. He don't clean the brooder so he doesn't understand. The holes aren't really big either so I'm stumped as to what to do. Should I just make a new one with smaller holes? Has this ever happened to anyone before? I'm really unsure of what to do and their safety comes above anything else so if I have to go back to their waterer I will. Any and all advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I also made a waterer for my ducklings out of a milk jug. NOT a good idea. It only had a hole 1" highx4"across. Sometime early in the morning 2 off them got into it and unable to get out. Once I realized what all the chatter was about I freaked. One was running around inside frantically stepping on the other. I had to get scissors to cut the jug. Long story short the one getting trampled on lived for only about 7 hours after that tramatic experience. The jug was thrown out immediately. I now use 2 cool whip containers with a small hole cut in it and have duct taped the lids on. It is working fine. They are messy little buggers that's for sure. Good luck.