Ducks backwashing so much food into water!

[glloyd203]

I'm sure other people have had this issue but I haven't found a thread on the topic yet! I use a gallon jug with a hole cut near the top for my duckies to drink out of, and it's been working fine except for one thing... As we all know, ducks love to backwash their food into their water when they drink, and every time I dump out the old water to refill it, there are massive amounts of wet, yucky food at the bottom that slop out onto the ground. I typically just dump their old water onto the ground outside the run and refill it daily, but these piles of wet feed cause mold and I'm sure they could attract unwanted critters as well. Does anyone have any tips for how to dispose of the backwashed feed, or a type of waterer that somehow magically eliminates the problem? Thanks y'all!!!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I toss mine in a different spot each day. Are your feed and water really close together? I find more room between the two can cut down on some of the backwash, but unfortunately it comes with keeping duck. They are messy at both ends.

 

[glloyd203]

I toss mine in a different spot each day. Are your feed and water really close together? I find more room between the two can cut down on some of the backwash, but unfortunately it comes with keeping duck. They are messy at both ends.

They are really close together yes, I should try to space them out more. But don't you get mold when you dump them in the yard?

 

[dfalco]

I haven't got a solution, but would like to commiserate...I had no idea ducks could be as messy as little pigs. But they are so stinking cute!

Mine have a big watering trough for a pond, and clever as I am, I've built them a hay ramp so they can walk up to get in, as they can't jump more than a couple inches. They DELIGHT in grabbing big mouthfuls of hay and dropping them into their pond...it's their equivalent of eating Cheerios...tasty tasty, evidently. But ugh what a mess! And I'm using so much water! I'm scrambling to come up with a filtered duck pond, or at least a ramp made of something inedible.

 

[glloyd203]

I haven't got a solution, but would like to commiserate...I had no idea ducks could be as messy as little pigs. But they are so stinking cute!

Mine have a big watering trough for a pond, and clever as I am, I've built them a hay ramp so they can walk up to get in, as they can't jump more than a couple inches. They DELIGHT in grabbing big mouthfuls of hay and dropping them into their pond...it's their equivalent of eating Cheerios...tasty tasty, evidently. But ugh what a mess! And I'm using so much water! I'm scrambling to come up with a filtered duck pond, or at least a ramp made of something inedible.

I saw a picture somewhere of someone who made a ramp of stones that spiraled around the pond, I'm thinking about using that method if I buy a deeper pond for them. I use a plastic kiddie pool and usually have to dump it every few days, but I'm thinking about getting a stock tank from TSC because a lot of them have drain plugs near the bottom that would make emptying it really easy!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They are really close together yes, I should try to space them out more. But don't you get mold when you dump them in the yard?

I think most of mine gets washed into the soil. Otherwise I have lots of free range chickens who probably work the spots over.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I should add I use buckets for water, so there's generally about 1/2 the bucket of water with the sludge when I dump them daily or twice daily if they need it.

 

[Krazyquilts]

I toss mine in a different spot each day. Are your feed and water really close together? I find more room between the two can cut down on some of the backwash, but unfortunately it comes with keeping duck. They are messy at both ends.

I agree. I try to keep my ducks' food and water as far apart as possible. Plus it makes the lazy duckers exercise a little. There is still a bit of wasted feed, but not very much. And we have 6 adult ducks and 4 teenage ducks right now, just for comparison sake.

 

[dfalco]

I saw a picture somewhere of someone who made a ramp of stones that spiraled around the pond, I'm thinking about using that method if I buy a deeper pond for them. I use a plastic kiddie pool and usually have to dump it every few days, but I'm thinking about getting a stock tank from TSC because a lot of them have drain plugs near the bottom that would make emptying it really easy!

 

[chickens really]

What I do is dump it and then hose it all back into my lawn...In the winter I dump into one spot and my Dogs love eating the feed...