Ducks Drinking and Swimming.

[cluckcluckluke]

Can my ducks drink from the water that they swim in or do I have to have another water container for them to drink from. I know they will drink there swimming water but do I need another small bowl of water, I will also have the chicken water bowl.

 

[archil]

If the water they're swimming in is relatively clean I would think it should be okay to just have that
Are they on a large section or in an enclosure?
If its a large section I would place another bowl or a gravity waterer somewhere anyway so they don't have to go all the way to their swimming pool to drink

My ducks have a paddling pool a the moment because they're still small and they do get it messy in a very short time, so I keep a gravity waterer near them so they can have relatively fresh water if he pool gets too messy
Make sure that the drinking water is in a container that wont spill over at all
If I put my ducks' water in a bowl it will usually be spilt within a few minutes, even a flat bottomed container or a cat/dog bowl gets tipped over.




I use a hanging one of these for my ducklings, mine is quite small and I don't know if a full grown duck would be able to get water from it properly, but I'm sure you can find bigger ones somewhere
It gets a little messy in the tray sometimes but I just tip it over a bit until the gunk is washed away.

 

[Auxesia]

Yeah, I've found no matter what I use, the waterer ends up clogged, spilt or tipped over, and they always end up drinking from their pond.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

My ducks are at laying age, so I'll just let them drink form the pool.

 

[jdywntr]

As long as you can keep the pool clean, thats fine. There are a number of problems that you can run into if they are drinking dirty, poopy water. You would need to empty and refill a few times a day at least (in my opinion) so that they have clean water available. Remember that they need clean water to drink as well as clean their nares and eyes with. Pool water may not be the best for that.

What I use is a bucket. A regular mop bucket. I've never had one tipped and if you can get the right height, they are not able to splash that much. Occasionally I've had a duck take a bath in a bucket but not too often. I have 3 buckets placed in different spots. The ducks and the chickens use them. My month old ducklings also stretch to reach into a smaller one.

Chicken waterers are okay for ducklings but they also need to clean their nares and eyes and a chicken waterer isn't really big enough after a week or so.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Yeah my ducks are much older so they will need a bucket and there will only be two of them so hopefully not to much mess. It's not pool water as in chlorine it's just either tap water or rain water for their little swimming pool. They will also have access to a big proper pond which wild ducks go to.

 

[Going Quackers]

Since ducks must have water with food I would highly suggest keeping a separate form of water for doing that, yes they will drink from pools but I know from the mess at the bottom of my water containers I would not want that added into the pools they use to clean in, by offering both it will reduce the mess load and keep the water cleaner.

 

[TTeddy]

Can my ducks drink from the water that they swim in or do I have to have another water container for them to drink from. I know they will drink there swimming water but do I need another small bowl of water, I will also have the chicken water bowl.

Is it such a big effort to give them a separate water bowl? Pond is for swimming, other bowl/basin for drinking. It's not hard. Just give them fresh when you feed them. Easy peazy

 

[SJUDD]

I have a pond that I clean out once a week, a rubbermaid bin that I clean out once a day and two chicken gravity waterers in my pen. I have 4 ducks and I can say that the pond gets REALLY dirty after a couple of days. Unfortunately I have physical issues and time constraints that prohibit me from cleaning the pond daily (I have to wait until help is there to help me drain it) which is why I do the bin every day and the two gravity waterers. I let them out for an hour every morning and evening to roam the yard and they play (bathe, mate, etc) in my fish pond (I am sure the fish just love that) and drink out of the dogs water dish (a galvanized metal washtub) when they are out of their pen. I try to keep as much fresh, clean water out for them as possible. After about 4-5 days or so they stop drinking out of the pond alltogether which means I should clean it out twice a week but I cannot get help that often. Now that the mornings are so cold here (20-30degrees) I fill the rubbermaid bin with warm water in the mornings. They all push each other out of the way to fit all four of them in there.

 

[SJUDD]

Note: I did not have the physical restrictions when I got the ducks... and hopefully the Drs will figure everything out soon so I can get back to a normal relationship with my darling ducks.