Waterer and feeder ideas for coop?

[ruthhope]

Sounds like the square plastic tubs for water work great for you. Just wanted to mention, once again, to encourage people to put their geographic location on their member icon. Where I live, in northern Minnesota, we have freezing temps for a good 6 months of the year. When water freezes, it would break any plastic tub. This is why I have to spend extra money to buy those expensive black rubber tubs at our local Fleet store. When the water freezes into ice, you simply turn the rubber tub over and give it a good whack to pop out the ice chunk. Then you can refill the tub. Anything plastic, filled with water, is broken with the first freeze.

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Little Giant Heavy Duty Rubber Tub Durable Rubber Feed Pan on Amazon.com, different sizes available.

I bought my rubber tubs from my local Fleet store a few years ago when they went on sale. However, their everyday price was less expensive than the same items on Amazon. If OP lives in a northern state where you have freezing temps in the winter, then I suggest considering paying the extra money for these type of rubber tubs up front as they will last for many, many years.

For my chickens fresh water, I use the metal water fount and the metal heated base. It's old fashioned, but I have had fresh water (not frozen) in temps as low as -35F overnight. Mind you, the metal heated base only advertises to keep the water from freezing down to +10F, but I am telling you that my waterer, in the chicken coop, was not frozen even at -35F last winter. I don't know how well those metal water founts would work for ducks, but it might be worth looking into if you have cold winters.

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Search link on Amazon.com metal water fount

YEs! My son and I are in N Florida: freezing water is not an issue for us

 

[gtaus]

YEs! My son and I are in N Florida: freezing water is not an issue for us

Exactly my point. I have no idea where OP lives. Because I live up in the frozen north, I built my chicken coop twice the recommended size because my chickens live inside the coop for almost 6 months out of the year. I also designed it big enough to hold my feeder and waterer. Everything has to fit inside the coop. Knowing the mess ducks make with both food and water, I wonder how people up north care for their flock in the winter. Like I said, I raised ducks in the summer on my lake property, but I never carried any over the winter.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have tried water an food inside and it has never worked. My Runners are the biggest slobs in the waterfowl world I have to say. Even putting the heated bucket inside of something with a hole in the lid they still managed to have water all over their bedding and you talk about a mess on days when it is frigid. Nope mine have food and water outside. I use heated buckets and place a scrap board over half so they can clean their faces but can't climb into them or splash all the water out. They come out to eat and drink and go back inside to warm up.

 

[NatJ]

The waterer needs to be not too small or too big bc I don’t want it to take up so much space, but I want them to have enough water to suffice them for a while that I don’t have to refill it so much. I don’t trust gravity waterers or the ones that have holes in them. My ducks will be able to flip over gravity waterers or anything that’s not too heavy to flip over.

You might try a big bucket (2 to 5 gallons), and fill it about 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Check to make sure your ducks have long enough necks to reach up and over the side, then down in for the water.

It might be heavy enough to stay in place and not tip.

(I've never had ducks, so I am just guessing about whether this would work-- but if you already own a bucket, it's very easy to try and see. You could try it first in the run, in case they spill it in the first few minutes. But if it stays un-spilled for a few hours, it's got a fair chance of working in the coop too.)