water for ducks in winter???

[Miss Lydia]

hi, i have been reading a lot of these posts and love all the ideas. my problem is now that the weather is changing, my hose froze. i also cant keep the water on all winter to fill their pool. i have two ducks that love their pool. just looking for some ideas on how to keep my hose from freezing while i still have my water on. thank you

I had the same problem and couldn't bring in a 50 or 100 ft hose to keep it thawed out so I splurged and bought the Xhose pro like they advertize on TV, not the cheap ones you see in Walmart, actually I bought one of those and had to take it back it leaked so bad, but the Xhose Pro is really a great hose and once through I open the sprayer drain all the water put into a bucket and bring it inside takes up hardly any room. when it's freezing I don't fill pools just water buckets that are heated to keep them from freezing, I have to wait till it's close to 40 before I fill cement mixing tubs for my flock to play in. They don't get to have their pools in dead of winter. [which is only dead of fall now]

I have seen heated hoses also.

 

[Mrs.H]

This is a good thread! I've had frozen solid water past couple mornings. It's been unusually cold for us. And this is my first winter with ducks. We just usually don't get below freezing that often. Crazy weather

 

[veronicasmom]

I'd be interested to see if anyone used the heated hoses. I read some of the reviews on Amazon and they were not very favorable. But the ones I looked at were for RV water lines. So maybe they are not very durable. Are there other ones specifically for farm use? I hate not using hoses and having to lug buckets. It's only been cold enough for the hoses to freeze for a few days and my back, neck and shoulders are screaming already........I should live somewhere warm.........................ugh.

 

[Mrs.H]

I had the same problem and couldn't bring in a 50 or 100 ft hose to keep it thawed out so I splurged and bought the Xhose pro like they advertize on TV, not the cheap ones you see in Walmart, actually I bought one of those and had to take it back it leaked so bad, but the Xhose Pro is really a great hose and once through I open the sprayer drain all the water put into a bucket and bring it inside takes up hardly any room. when it's freezing I don't fill pools just water buckets that are heated to keep them from freezing, I have to wait till it's close to 40 before I fill cement mixing tubs for my flock to play in. They don't get to have their pools in dead of winter. [which is only dead of fall now]  

I have seen heated hoses also.

Putting a hose in a bucket to take inside is a great idea! I don't have an xhose but I do have one of those spiral like hoses hanging around that's short and easy enough to toss in a bucket.

 

[crazyfeathers]

We keep our hose in the basement and sadly have to drag it out everytime we need to fill tanks. I guess if it's too much work to drag out 200 feet of hose you probably shouldn't keep animals. We use buckets for our ducks and the stay outside all winter with shelters provided of course. I am in central Wisconsin. This weekend is a heat wave, temperatures in the 40s so my ducks will get a swim.

 

[the builder]

We have 54 ducks in 4 day groups. Every morning we take 8 water buckets (ice cream pails) out to distribute. Set them inside short plastic tubs to help catch the splashing and avoid ice mounds. Same with food. every morning bring the food out with the water. Otherwise the mice and rabbits will get it. Then let the ducks all out for the day into their day pens. In the real cold weather they get put in the barn I built and spend the day with the chickens. When I get home from work they get the water buckets refilled and food dishes. About 30 minutes later its getting dark and we shuittle them all back into their houses and lock in for the night. Collect up the dishes and get ready to do again the next morning. On warm weekends I set up two pools for them to bathe in and make sure everyone gets their turn. They all free range when its warm. Ducks, goosies and chickens. The goosies are great watch dogs and keep the ducks in line.
For food I mix Purina flock raiser with cracked corn and sunflour seeds. This is a good mix for all. Same for my pheasants. Have 30 of those too.
I replumbed my house so all lines run from my bathroom. This allows me to turn off any line from the bathroom. So my outside hose line I can drain off after every winter use. Just have to wrap up the hoses after every use so they dont freeze.
For security I use nite guards all around and they work amazing. Simple, inexpensive and very effective. Im not predator free, but I have very few issues. Im in the great north woods of wisconsin and have had run ins with bears, bobcats, racoons and house cats. Plus im surrounded by coyotes.Best defense is to make rounds often and check on your babies.

 

[travislilliana]

I was asking for advice and did not think your comment about not having animals was appropriate

 

[travislilliana]

Thank you for all your information. Much appreciated

 

[Free Feather]

"I was asking for advice and did not think your comment about not having animals was appropriate"
Who? What?

 

[PoultryBird12]

Ducks don't need to water to swim in, so you can ditch the pool until summer. What I do for water, is I bought a metal bucket... tall enough where it will hold a lot of water, but short enough where they can easily reach their heads into it. Every night, I bring it into the house to thaw out then fill it up with fresh, clean water in the morning and bring it back out to them. That way, they get clean water every day and can still clean out their eyes and nose. I have a kiddie pool too..... but it doesn't really work in the winter. Much more useful in the Summer.