Water for ducks and chickens

[christiethorn1]

I probably already know the answer to this question but......I there any way to figure out a watering system available for ducks and chickens without the ducks completely turning it into a dirty mud fest?? It doesn't matter how much water is available or what container I put it in, I consistently have to change it atleast 3 times a day so the chicks have clean water. Any ideas???

 

[cosbackyard]

I'll suggest what I always do - use poultry nipples inside the coop and keep the food outside. Since ducks need to be able to dip their heads in water when they're eating you can have a bigger water supply outside with the food. Inside I attach the nipples to inverted 2-litre bottles and there's little to no mess.

 

[christiethorn1]

Great idea. Where would I get the nipples?? Any farm store??

 

[Going Quackers]

Probably call around, i haven't found any in my area lol they act like i'm all kinds of crazy when asking about such things... but do as the other poster said make sure the ducks have access to water they can dunk in, cleaning their nares is important!

 

[cosbackyard]

I got mine online here:
http://www.qcsupply.com/advancedsearch/result/?q=poultry+nipples

I think I paid $8 for six, shipping included, and they threw in a pair of gardening gloves.

The only tricky part is drilling the hole to put them into. You need a specific size of drill bit and they're a pain to squeeze in. But no leaks!

 

[DeannaMari]

My dad got like 50 for $26 on ebay. I'd look there. It also came with free shipping. Inside our coop, and along the outside of it we have pvc pipe with nipples every 2 1/2 feet. Then, we also have a kiddy pool that gets cleaned regularly for our ducks, and also a filtered pond (it's actually a swimming pool that we converted to a pond, but still use the filtering system for it)