Ducks & Water

[Ducklover2]

How much water do ducks need to be happy and not fly away over winter? I'm thinking of getting ducks but i want to know if they need a pond.

 

[PirateGirl]

Most domestic ducks cannot fly and will not migrate, whether you have a pond or not. This also means they can be vulnerable to predators because they cannot fly out of reach.

I would say the more water they can have the happier they are, and the more ducks you have, the more water you need.

I know that's not the greatest answer. You can have ducks and provide them a small pool to swim in and daily fresh water in a bucket for drinking and cleaning themselves.

I do not free range my ducks due to predators, so I'm not sure if they would stick around or wander off without a fence.

 

[lomine]

Most domestic duck breeds don't fly. They are often too heavy. There are of course exceptions, such as Mallards. In those cases you can clip one wing so they can't fly.

Ducks don't need a pond, technically they don't even need swimming water but they are much happier with it. I have plans to build mine a pond but right now they are happy with their stock tank and kiddie pool. In very cold weather they only get their heated buckets (so they can clean out their nares).

 

[Ducklover2]

Thanks for the input. We plan on building a pond but we need to fix our backhoe before than.

How much water do ducks need?

 

[Sue S]

I have mallards & they will not fly away even without clipping a wing & they really enjoy water I have 2 ponds on our property, but I also put a kiddie pool in their pen so they could swim when they were not let out. Good Luck.

 

[Quacking Pigeon]

Domestic ducks don’t migrate. I have Mallards who I let out to free range every day I can and they don’t have their wings clipped. Also most domestic breeds can’t fly, the ones that can are: calls, mallards, muscovies, miniatures and bantams. About water they need enough water to dunk their faces under but the more water the better.

 

[PirateGirl]

If you want a concrete number, I will say I have 4 ducks that use a 3 gallon bucket for drinking and cleaning their nares/eyes. This bucket gets filled with fresh water daily. I'd say that a gallon a day per duck is probably the bare minimum. They just about empty this bucket in a day and I refill it in the afternoon with clean (and unfrozen) water.

 

[lomine]

Do you mean how much water do they need for drinking or how big of container/pond for swimming?

I don't know how much water mine drink as I have a mixed flock with about 30 birds. They have multiple buckets all over the place and nipple waterers (during warm weather) I try to keep full all the time. I've never tracked their usage.

For swimming water you can use a variety of things. For cold weather I fill a concrete mixing tub because it's easier to dump when frozen. During warmer weather I fill a 50 gal stock tank and a 200 gallon kiddie pool. For a pond, I would say make it as big as you are willing to go.

 

[Ducklover2]

i had no idea ducks went through so much water.

 

[lomine]

To be fair, they aren't drinking most of it. Ducks love to play in their water, especially if it's clean. If you have plants you can use the poopy duck water to water them. My plants love it. At my old house I had a peach tree that thrived on it.