Ducks making a mess with their water !

[ducknewb]

Okay guys I'm a total duck newbie and just picked up 4 Indian runners who are a week old. I just brought them home an hour or so ago and their water dish is already empty. As soon as I put their bowl in they all tried to squish in lol. It's shallow so they can climb in and out but I can't keep refilling it every hour and I'm nervous they'll choke on their food.

How deep can their water bowl be? Maybe mine is just too shallow? I have no problem with them splashing and making a mess at all, just want to know if there's a better method for keeping water available !

 

[ducklover87]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426909/non-spill-duckling-waterer here's a link to help you. I know you said you don't mind the splashing but if they can splash they will splash all their water out every time. The link I gave you should help with the water being available for longer. Or you could always buy a gallon waterer that would work too but they would still splash.

 

[Amiga]

Here is some inspiration for you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/641902/created-a-water-saver-for-my-duck-brooder

Ducklings need water 24/7 for drinking, and they also need to be able to dunk their entire little precious heads in water to wash, frequently throughout the day.

jdywntr describes how this can be done here

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings

Ducklings are waterfowl. And it shows from day one!!! Once you get the water management down, you will all be even happier with each other

 

[Nebraskagirl]

We took a Rubbermaid tote and built a wire cover and put the waterer on top, so the ducks could dunk their beaks, but the excess water would drain into the tote. I would simply dump the tote and hose it out and replace. NO WATER SPILLED into the bedding.

 

[TLWR]

I used a 1 gallon waterer. With 3 I only had to fill once a day.