Question about my new ducklings and water.

[Tinman0ut]

Soooo I have a chick water dish but was noticing that my ducks were having a hard time getting their bills into the water up to their nostrils (read that was important ) so I took one of our spare dog food dishes (1/2” high walls) and filled it about 1/2 way so that they could more easily soak their beaks... well one of our newer ducklings has decided that he/she likes to swim in the bowl instead (poops in it as well)...

Was wondering if I need to worry about the duckling getting too cold or sick from doing this? I have gone in and changed the water (lukewarm/room temperature) several times so that the other ducklings aren’t stuck drinking the poop water (I know ducks aren’t as susceptible to coccidiosis as chicks are but rather safe than sorry...)

The water bowl is next to the drain in the tub and he has a towel at the other end of the tub to “dry off” on and the heat lamp is on that end but was just wondering if it’s safe for it to do it since they are still so young?

(just got the bigger yellow ducklings 3 days ago and the smaller ones yesterday)

Sorry for the long post, and thank you in advance for your time.

 

[nao57]

The best thing for a dish for small ducklings in my humble option is cutting a hole in the side of a 2 liter 7up pop bottle. (And free after you repurpose them!)(

So you could do this and fill it with water.

However, you'll want two of them. One will have the hole smaller for the first 2 weeks of life when the chicks and ducklings are smaller. Then the next one will have the hole higher up for when they are taller and so it can hold more water.

This way they won't poop in their water, and you won't have to worry about disease.

And this came from trying stuff out like you did, and finding out what worked and what didn't. I had the same concerns as you; pooping in the water, keeping the water clean, space efficiency also. These pop bottles work for feed the same way also. I really like having them be upright and tall, for space efficiency a lot.

Now you can still use shallow water containers for them to play in. And they will like to play in them, so you still will get something out of what you spent. Steel is good too as the plastic stuff will only get so much mileage.

 

[Tinman0ut]

The best thing for a dish for small ducklings in my humble option is cutting a hole in the side of a 2 liter 7up pop bottle. (And free after you repurpose them!)(

So you could do this and fill it with water.

However, you'll want two of them. One will have the hole smaller for the first 2 weeks of life when the chicks and ducklings are smaller. Then the next one will have the hole higher up for when they are taller and so it can hold more water.

This way they won't poop in their water, and you won't have to worry about disease.

And this came from trying stuff out like you did, and finding out what worked and what didn't. I had the same concerns as you; pooping in the water, keeping the water clean, space efficiency also.

Now you can still use shallow water containers for them to play in. And they will like to play in them, so you still will get something out of what you spent.

Already had the dog food dish we have 3 dogs and it was one of their puppy dishes... but I will definitely try out the pop bottle idea in the morning... how big/small would the holes need to be?

 

[416bigbore]

Ducks grow very fast, I would start looking now for your next larger water dish up grade now! Ducks LOVE water and lots of it, trying to keep it clean and healthy for them will seem like a second full time job for you.

 

[ibarbidahl]

Yup - I tend to use a gallon milk jug. I also keep the food on the opposite end of the brooder once they are about a week old. So much easier to clean once a day then all day long. LOL