The khaki-Campbell duck Thread !!!!!!!!

[Showjumperstar]

Well my worries about having more males than females are gone. I got the okay to buy two females so we can have three males (or two) and three females (or four). Yay! I gotta wait for payday now LOL

 

[nchvac]

There are no real plans, I just see other people using this system so I did something similar. I am going to make the holes bigger, I think they were able to get in but not comfortably.

Splashing and making a mess is just part of being a duck. Minimizing the mess is possible but there will always be a mess.

You can search Google or Pinterest for duck watering or automatic duck watering and there are lots of ideas out there but all along a similar vein.

What size hole are you going to?
What is the idea behind the bucket? Do they keep their head in it while drinking and therefore don't make as much mess? And are the watering systems you write about set up like chicken/rabbit systems with the nozzles they push in to drink?
Hopefully I can figure something out because this messy situation is not going to work. I am going to build a chicken watering system but I am thinking the ducks may drain it, plus they are still going to have to have some water to clean out their beaks.
I think one area of concern for me as well is that I am noticing that they are eating a lot of dirt/mud which is against my plan because I don't want my eggs tasting like mud, so I may wind up having to put them back up in the hutch off of the ground.

 

[mzmolly65]

What size hole are you going to?
What is the idea behind the bucket? Do they keep their head in it while drinking and therefore don't make as much mess? And are the watering systems you write about set up like chicken/rabbit systems with the nozzles they push in to drink?
Hopefully I can figure something out because this messy situation is not going to work. I am going to build a chicken watering system but I am thinking the ducks may drain it, plus they are still going to have to have some water to clean out their beaks.
I think one area of concern for me as well is that I am noticing that they are eating a lot of dirt/mud which is against my plan because I don't want my eggs tasting like mud, so I may wind up having to put them back up in the hutch off of the ground.

I drilled two holes, one above the other and then used a hack saw to join them making the long *oval*. My original holes were 1.5" but 2" would have been better. I did enlarge the holes last night and I'm happier with them now. The goal is to allow the ducks access to water without putting their feet in it or getting too much splashed around but I still expect mess .. they are ducks after all. This is just to try and keep their drinking water clean and the coop semi-dry but they have a swimming pool outside. I have seen several good ideas for elevating the swimming pool onto a wooden frame that's filled with gravel and there is a drain pipe that sends the dirty water farther down to another area.


I saw one system like mine with holes in the bucket but they had another bucket beside it with a toilet bulb and garden hose that somehow automatically refilled whenever the water got too low. I don't have enough birds to need something that complicated and I'm happy with the one bucket. Then there was one with holes like mine but low to the ground and it had a 5 gallon water jug (from when you buy water for a water dispenser) up side down in it and as the birds use water it lets water from the 5 gallon refill their bowl. I thought I would just end up with 5 gallons of water all over so didn't like that idea. Great for chickens but not for ducks in my opinion.

I'm sorry, I don't seem to be able to post any links on this forum so I can't make it easy for you and you'll have to go search. Try You Tube and a website called Makin' it with Frankie (he's got a good waterer there)

Can I ask what you're feeding them? Eating a lot of mud sounds to me like they are missing something in their diet and trying to get it from the mud. Ducks also sift through mud on the bottom of ponds to get bugs and other nutrients but it doesn't mean they actually eat the mud, it just runs in and out of their beaks. Maybe that's all your birds are doing.

Ducks need water, it's the way nature made them. I don't think I would ever confine mine to a building or try to keep them away from water.

 

[Duck Love88]

Where would one be able to find an antibiotic for ducks? as i have tried every avenue in contacting a vet to get my little guy looked at. I posted a few days ago and he isnt getting any better. any suggestions on what and where to buy?

 

[Duck Love88]

I apologize if this is not where this goes but I have an emergency. My duck had started limping about a week ago and I figured maybe he just slept wrong on it or something. It has continued to his week so checked it out and his left leg is swollen with an obvious temp difference. Nothing is cutting off circulation where I can tell and he's limping pretty bad. Its not bimblefoot I checked that too. Any ideas on what it could be?

sorry this was my original post and whats going on with him. I believe it may be an infection in between his joints as there are no signs of it being broken or injured in any way. Any help is greatly appreciated and thank you for your time!

 

[caesargirl]

Where would one be able to find an antibiotic for ducks? as i have tried every avenue in contacting a vet to get my little guy looked at. I posted a few days ago and he isnt getting any better. any suggestions on what and where to buy?

@casportpony can u share some knowledge here?

If Kathy doesn't answer this, try looking at her profile for the info and send her a pm. She's excellent with this.

 

[Duck Love88]

ok and thank you! Ive never really dealt with anything needing antibiotics so I dont know what to buy and I dont want to harm him by giving him something not meant for what he has. This was just a process of elimination and the only thing i can think of that would be giving him an issue. Hes to the point now where he can barely walk so separated him from the others because they were attacking him. Poor fella im trying to help and read as much as I can so i can be aware of first, why this happens and second, ways I can hopefully prevent it from happening again.

 

[caesargirl]

ok and thank you! Ive never really dealt with anything needing antibiotics so I dont know what to buy and I dont want to harm him by giving him something not meant for what he has. This was just a process of elimination and the only thing i can think of that would be giving him an issue. Hes to the point now where he can barely walk so separated him from the others because they were attacking him. Poor fella im trying to help and read as much as I can so i can be aware of first, why this happens and second, ways I can hopefully prevent it from happening again.:/

I was working and couldn't respond. Have you done Epsom baths or compresses? Isolate the duck and keep confined. No extra walking be arm baths. Antibiotics should be a last resort. @Amiga.... Thoughts, advice?

 

[Jpg1961]

 

[Duck Love88]

Does that work on internal problems? There is no injury and I don't want him to get to the point of no return and won't be able to use his leg at all.