5 Gallon Bucket Water Feeder

[natem1270]

First things first, I'm approaching a year of raising ducks so I am by no means an expert. We have been struggling with a way to keep the ducks water.... let's go with "not filthy" for some time now. We tried a larger open top bin of water at first, which quickly became a duck bath. We tried a smaller bin, which was promptly knocked over. We tried one of those gravity fed water feeders which would get both filled with food/poop and be empty by the morning.

Then I stumbled on a video (maybe this one but same concept):

For $6 at home depot we were able to get two home depot buckets and used a hole saw to create three/four holes around the feeder a bit off the ground. Make sure to sand the edges of the cut so they do not get scratched trying to drink. Now our duck's water is frequently clean (relatively... ducks are dirty). This seems to be a great solution because it holds over a gallon of water (could easily be more if holes are higher up) and keeps it clean.

Only issue thus far has been one night a single duck discovered how to get into the bucket and take a bath... so you may want to use a smaller hole than I have in the photo:

Additionally, as you can see in the side of the video the top of a bucket makes a nice feeding tray.

Hope this helps, and if someone has a more efficient method I'm always looking to improve my setup.

 

[sourland]

Great idea.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I do food buckets very similar to these and get very little waste.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

It is a great idea for your small number of ducks. But when your new Pekins get added to the mix you’ll need more. Not sure if you have room. I got the idea on here to use under-the-bed bin with a partial cover so the ducks can clean their heads but not bathe. I put draw up the sides so water doesn’t spill but it works great This is just a thought. And to show what has worked for me

 

[natem1270]

It is a great idea for your small number of ducks. But when your new Pekins get added to the mix you’ll need more. Not sure if you have room. I got the idea on here to use under-the-bed bin with a partial cover so the ducks can clean their heads but not bathe. I put draw up the sides so water doesn’t spill but it works great This is just a thought. And to show what has worked for me

Good point, in my old setup two buckets occupied a solid portion of the space. Our new setup is 8x4ft so I will easily be able to add another bucket. If I continue to grow my flock I will likely explore a water solution like yours.