Water for ducks overnight?

[Aglaboost]

Hi everybody,

I'm sorry if this thread has already been made, I didn't see any immediate threads relating to it, and I can't quite figure out the search function.


I have my ducks in a shed that has a concrete floor. I usually put them in at dark and let them out as early as I can in the mornings.

I'd like to give them water overnight. However, it seems any water that I do give them they drink/splash away within a few hours.

Also, with the concrete floor it's getting hard to keep everything dry.



Do any of you have ideas as to how to give them water overnight, but in such a way that they don't splash it away within a few hours and all over the place?

Thanks.

 

[1234duck]

First I gotta ask...Are you still leaving their "food" available at night when you take the water away? ~Julie~

 

[Aglaboost]

Quote:
Oh ya. I have a big feeder in there for them.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Because I know that ducks will want to drink durring the night- especailly in the hotter summer months- I do provide my ducks with water. A use a bucket in a lower but wider tray for catching drips and at least some of the mess. It does help a little- but doesnt stop all the mess of course. I know there are others that say water isnt neccesay at night- but I like mine to at least have some. I have been working on designing and building a small platform they can have there water on- with mesh covering so the water will drip down into a tray that can be emptied so they are not walking around in the mess.

 

[Aglaboost]

Quote:
I have one of these that I have been putting in for them:

I suppose that's not a bad idea to put that in an additional container of some sorts. Seems like they would splash it out of there too though.

 

[Going Quackers]

Since mine are just babies i am just using a dog/cat jug waterer but later on i intend on getting(or borrowing from the horses lol) a thick rubber type pan/bowl.. most feed supplies carry them, very strong walled and come in a huge array of sizes. I always leave food with mine 24/7.

Here like these, my horses love playing with them

but gives you an idea on the strength of them if they can survive that.

http://www.fortexfortiflex.com/rubberpans.html

 

[mandelyn]

I have a waterer sort of like the one above, but I built a base for it. Since I use pine shavings, I'm all about keeping it dry. So I bought a clear storage tote, about 18x24-ish, only about 8 inches tall (I have not measured this, I cut my wood for the frame using the tote and a pencil...) So I either used a 2x8 piece of wood, or it was 2x10... it ended up sitting flush against the tote top edge, making a nice little frame around it.

Then I stapled on rabbit wire for a top to place the waterer on. I folded the wire over the edges to prevent any sharps points from cutting the wire being around where the ducks would climb on it.

End result, they can do their messy duck thing, but all the splash lands in the bottom tote, out of reach, no more splashing. I screwed on a little handle, so I can grab an end of the frame and lift it to get to the catch pan for cleaning. You would be REALLY surprised to see how much waste water there is, and that would have been all over the place soaking the bedding.

Looks like you want about 8-10 inches minimum around the waterer to be wire, that's about as far as they throw the bulk of it. I bought a 3 gallon waterer and it doesn't sit on my frame right, not like a 1 gallon that fits perfect. So they have the 3 gallon outside (on gravel, no mud!) and the smaller one inside for that period of time between dawn and when I get out there to let them out.

If you keep ducks in a run, you need pea gravel. That's the best purchase I have made for these birds next to the catch container and frame. 2 tons of gravel covered a 10x10 area about 4 inches deep. It's amazing. No mud, CLEAN ducks! Hose the poo away, no hands on pick-up. That discourages the flies, if it never builds up.

I saw rabbit wire used in several ways to be a waterer area. Holderread hatchery has external watering stations attached to the building, the ducks go outside to get water in a secure little "porch". Water just falls through to the ground. Not inside at all. Someone else had like half their brooder as rabbit wire, with a concrete mixing pan under that you could pull out and dump. I'm totally stealing that idea.

Placing the water inside a container helps, but they can still play in the splash and "re-use" it. The wire prevents that re-use that further spreads the dampness.

 

[Stormy Autumn]

Quote:
Oh ya. I have a big feeder in there for them.

You shouldn't give them food without water. Ducks don't have any spit, so they use the water they drink to wash their food down their throats. They're much more likely to choke without access to water, and at the very least they're going to be uncomfortable from having crumbs stuck in their throats.

You can take away their food AND water at night if you want (that's what I do), but you can't give them just food.

 

[aineheartsyou]

right now i do not keep water or food in their sleep house but i recently ordered some nipple waterers that i plan to put in their sleep house so they always have some sort of water available. i would not have feed available without water available, they need water to help get their food down.

 

[SassyKat6181]

Quote:
I have two of the cr350 that i thought would be great......they love their baths in them