Ducks wont drink water

[Miss Lydia]

I wonder why they are so scared? Where’s their feed bowl have you put it next to their water bowl?

 

[Musolff2015]

I wonder why they are so scared? Where’s their feed bowl have you put it next to their water bowl?

We have a pvc feeder and it's in the run. They havent touched it however I did put that ⅓ gallon of feed next to the water bowl yesterday and they ate the feed just no water. My husband checked the voltage and theres nothing. They are clearly thirsty eating and snow they can find. I dont get it

 

[Miss Lydia]

I guess they will eventually start drinking. I just don’t think I’ve seen anything like this.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I'm sorry, I do not know. I will ask my electrician friend next week. Very strange, indeed...

 

[Kiwibird]

I like the idea of dunking a beak. It may encourage drinking or you may be able to see what goes wrong, if there is anything wrong.

 

[Lucyspals]

They get scared pretty easy, mine are seven months old and where scared of pond all summer. Now that they are older they are eating and diving in it all day. We did trap a muskrat, no snappers. We are not sure if that was it. Maybee they saw a reflection or something, I did what someone said I would stand near the edge and throw mealworms closer and closer, then they got brave again.
You could put your hands in and show them it is ok.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Test this: get rid of the heated waterer entirely. get it clear out of their yard. Their feet are wet, right? And they have to stick their bills in the heated waterer. I think they're getting shocked somehow. Just take it out and see what happens. It's the only thing that's new and different. It has to be the problem.

 

[Musolff2015]

I guess they will eventually start drinking. I just don’t think I’ve seen anything like this.

I just wanted to update everyone. I'm still unsure what exactly is going on but I think they figured out they need water ‍ day 4 without water I ended up buying a gallon of water from the store and made sure they saw me dump it in a bowl. The next morning it was gone as well as a good ⅓ of the 2gal heated bucket. Next day they drank nothing. Day after they decided to play in their favorite mud puddle when it thawed just enough for them to break the ice and drank most of a 1gal bucket. I had put out a large shallow rubbermaid container with roughly 10 gallons of water and they wouldnt touch it. Today they didnt drink anything but around 3pm I brought warm water out to the rubbermaid and put warm water in the 1½ gallon container next to it. They downed the entire bowl and ½ of the rubbermaid so I refilled it with warm water and put it in the run when I put them in at 5pm. I am still having to push them out of the coop daily though.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How old are they? At least their drinking now.

 

[Musolff2015]

How old are they? At least their drinking now.

3 drakes are about 4 months and the 4 hens I'm not sure on. I was told they were 4-5 months, but after getting them saw they were very malnourished with wet feather. I'm thinking they were closer to my drakes (3 months +- when I got hens) and yes I'm very relieved they have at least got water in them and ate feed vs just treats I have thrown out