Trouble finding effective watering system

[Bdavide]

Hi everyone,
I finally started my small backyard farm after wanting to do so for years. I have 4 hens and 2 ducks, all around 3-4 months old. They all LOVE water but I'm having trouble maintaining a water system. The standard circle trough type unit you get at a farm store hasn't worked out, it gets so dirty so fast and the ducks splash that water out for fun (funny to watch but empties it out!) I bought a few of those watering cups you screw into a bucket, they peck at the little arm to disperse water, but that's not working either. They throw sticks and dirt into it and it blocks the arm from being able to release water, OR they drink the cup dry and don't peck at the arm for more water.

I feel bad, they seem thirsty. When I run the hose to fill up their water they all go nuts drinking the small water pools created in the dirt. Would love some advice, it's a pretty small coop I have them in, no means to suspend something off the ground or use those screw-in nipples that go under a bucket. Any ideas?

 

[gtaus]

...I feel bad, they seem thirsty. When I run the hose to fill up their water they all go nuts drinking the small water pools created in the dirt. Would love some advice, it's a pretty small coop I have them in, no means to suspend something off the ground or use those screw-in nipples that go under a bucket. Any ideas?

I have raised ducks twice and know they love water. When they were ducklings, I had a little kiddy pool from Walmart in the run. But that always got dirty very fast. Fortunately, I live on a lake so when they got bigger, I would just house them in a coop and run, but let them out during the day to swim in the lake. They always came back when we called them for feeding.

I have one of those 3 gallon waterers that are made out of metal and are round. My chicks will scratch everything into that and make it a mess. What I did was put the waterer on a block of wood so the water ring was about 4-6 inches off the ground. That really helped keeping it clean. I'm not sure if that would help with your ducks, but it would be worth a try. If that does not work, maybe I'd try a small rubber feeding pan and fill it with water - in the morning and again at night and whenever else it needed. Ducks go through lots of water..... Good luck.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

How big is your coop? This is one of the reasons ducks should not be housed with chickens.

 

[Bdavide]

Pretty small, but for now it doesn't seem to be any concern. Their water is outside the coop all day, both the chickens and ducks spend about 80% of time outside the coop in a fenced area. Weather is warm now, ducks sleep underneath the "house" part of the coop, chicks put themselves inside..

 

[Steven Bussell]

I believe that ducks could have a 100 gallons of clean water and if you add a new 5 gallon container of water they could acted like they are dieing from thirst .
I used a 5 gallon container plus I made a waterer out of 4" pipe using both nipples and cups.
The ducks will use all 3 of them.
Keeping ducks and chickens together is definitely more work.
There are 4 cups and 4 nipples

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

That coop is way too small, I would only put one MAYBE 2 in there, especially if you are housing ducks with them! Those prefab coops are just too small, I would go get or build a small shed

 

[Bdavide]

I believe that ducks could have a 100 gallons of clean water and if you add a new 5 gallon container of water they could acted like they are dieing from thirst .
I used a 5 gallon container plus I made a waterer out of 4" pipe using both nipples and cups.
The ducks will use all 3 of them.
Keeping ducks and chickens together is definitely more work.
There are 4 cups and 4 nipples

Did your crew need an adjustment period when you put that in? Like a few days to learn how to use it? I feel like because I have multiple water sources they're lazy with the cups, fill them with debris then move on to something else.

 

[Bdavide]

That coop is way too small, I would only put one MAYBE 2 in there, especially if you are housing ducks with them! Those prefab coops are just too small, I would go get or build a small shed

Oh I totally agree, I'm actively exploring designs and stuff to build a much larger one. This store bought was just a nice way to get things going, during the nice weather they only sleep in there.

 

[bluemerle]

Nipples and other chicken waterers don't tend to work well for ducks - for one, ducks really need to have water deep enough to submerge their head (to clean out their nares). A simple solution is to cut a round hole in a bucket so they can stick their heads in to drink but cannot get their water as dirty by climbing in it etc.

Here's a design for an automatic waterer, if you want to get fancy!

 

[Steven Bussell]

Nipples and other chicken waterers don't tend to work well for ducks - for one, ducks really need to have water deep enough to submerge their head (to clean out their nares). A simple solution is to cut a round hole in a bucket so they can stick their heads in to drink but cannot get their water as dirty by climbing in it etc.

Here's a design for an automatic waterer, if you want to get fancy!

I understand that ducks need deep water. I also have a 50 gallon pond with a filter system for them. I supply around 60 gallons a day for them. 10 gallons fresh water daily.
Yes it work. But I know that before taking on the responsibility for them
That's why my filter system is set up to use the dirty water around the yard.