First Winter with ducks, freezing water

libellula

Chirping
6 Years
Dec 5, 2013
16
1
57
I've read a bunch of threads here, but maybe I am not understanding. I would like to simply get a heated water bowl f or my ducks so their water doesn't freeze, this seems a popular option. However the only ones I can find are 1.Shallow dog dishes which the ducks well just splash the water out of. Or 2. Horse buckets which are too tall/deep for them to reach. Is there something else I just haven't found?

I have 2 8month old peekin ducks. I also live in the mountains of northern utah, we get down to single digits.
 
You are right that is what is available. Some people also use a stock tank heater or bird bath heating element.
 
We cut a big 50 gallon barrel in half lengthwise, dug a little pit for it, and we can fill it with water and put a stock tank heater in there in the winter. We change the water every few days, as they don't seem to get much in it. We can just refill it as needed, for my flock of 13 chickens and 1 duck. You probably won't need a 50 gallon barrel, but that was just our method.
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Dog bowls would be a pain for ducks, they'd drain it way to quick. I have buckets, they are small... not the big 5GAL those are too big...

like this..




As well i heat a 50GAL trough, i will be as soon as i am able adding a floater heater to my calls 40GAL as they adore swimming in the most frigid temps.
 
We use a large heated dog bowl for 9 ducks for the overnight. There is a rock in the middle and they don't get in it. We set it in a large flat rubber feed pan. It is never empty in the morning, normally at least 2" left each am.
They have several different size drinking and bathing bowls outside during the day and of course their kiddie pool. Works well for us. We just add hot water a few times a day to the outside bowls and they always have unfrozen water. We are in Maine and it gets COLD, but this seems to do fine for our flock.
 
Problem I am finding is the male duck is significantly smaller than the female. He can't reach into anything over maybe 1.5ft tall, especially if it gets low. Is it alright to half bury those heated 2 or 3 gallon buckets in the ground? W ill they still heat and be alright in rain/snow? Sorry im so unfamiliar, I didn't really prepare lol. I appreciate the suggestions
 
Problem I am finding is the male duck is significantly smaller than the female. He can't reach into anything over maybe 1.5ft tall, especially if it gets low. Is it alright to half bury those heated 2 or 3 gallon buckets in the ground? W ill they still heat and be alright in rain/snow? Sorry im so unfamiliar, I didn't really prepare lol. I appreciate the suggestions
There are dog bowls that are heated the same as the buckets, TSC carries them and they would be short enough for your duck to use for drinking.
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I thought the purpose of the heated dog bowl was to set the water bucket into to keep it from freezing, not actually put the water into it. At least that is how it was explained to me but I could have gotten it wrong. lol
 

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