Ducks insist on drinking their own swill

[publicradio]

I have 7 Khakis, and I had a previous flock and it's the same problem: I give them a kiddie pool, or a dug pond, or a basin to swim in, and this is the water they insist on drinking. It doesn't matter that I have clean waterers nearby. They gravitate to the swimming water, and it's more convenient to drink this.

I don't think it matters if they're drinking muddy water, but of course their waste is going into the water as they float in it, and then they're drinking their own wastewater. I guess they wouldn't do this if it was harming them, but I don't know for sure.

So my question is whether this is a problem for my ducks, and if so, how to I prevent them from doing it?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

It's no different than them drinking pond water in the wild when they take a swim. As long as you are emptying out the pool at least once a day and giving it a good scrubbing every once in awhile to prevent scum/algae build up they will be fine

 

[publicradio]

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the very slow response. I didn't get a notification but I'll fix that.

I appreciate the advice, but the system I have doesn't allow me to clean it very frequently. I cut the top off a liquid pallet, and put it at the end of a downspout from my gutter. I will often open it before a rain so it refills with rain water, but they gunk that up pretty quickly.

 

[Banana01]

If that is their only bath, you may want to add a second small tub that you can refill daily. Maybe add a tub that is nearer to your water source to make it easier for you. I refill mine two or more times per day, along with a natural pond. They really prefer and appreciate clean water, but also use the dirty natural pond.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Changing the swim water every 2 days or weekly plus providing fresh water daily, without a filter, that's really the best you can do. The ducks will be fine as long as there is fresh water available at some point in the day.

 

[Callender Girl]

I WISH my runner ducks preferred clean water. I swear, I will refill their water dish -- while they are watching and clearly talking about it among themselves -- and they will STILL walk over to drink out of the tub with brown water that they and the geese bathed in, and likely left more than loose feathers. Also, given the option, they prefer drinking out of the puddles that form in the white-rock-and-mud driveway.

I try to convince myself that they are building up their immune systems with constant exposure to potentially nasty stuff.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I actually have to ignore where they are drinking. Mine get fresh drinking water in all buckets every evening and 30 mins after everyone is let out in the morning most of the buckets look like they haven't been cleaned in months.