Winter Watering for Ducks

[NuggetTheChicken]

Hi all. This is my first winter with ducks. My question is that do I need to provide them with swimming water? Like in a kiddie pool. They have a separate place to drink from and a separate place to swim right now. Do they need water to bathe in the winter? I currently empty out and clean out their bath water everyday. Maybe in the winter, I could let them bathe once or twice a week, at most. Thanks!

 

[sourland]

Provide them with a bucket where they can bury their faces and provide bathing water on days where it will be above freezing here in NJ.

 

[RainbowHen]

They don't need it but it is nice to provide it occasionally. They can get a bit dirty over the winter.

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

Provide them with a bucket where they can bury their faces and provide bathing water on days where it will be above freezing here in NJ.

Thanks. I'll be sure to do that. Don't want a skating rink to slip on.

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

They don't need it but it is nice to provide it occasionally. They can get a bit dirty over the winter.

Thanks. I'll give them fresh water to swim in once or twice a week

 

[RainbowHen]

Thanks. I'll give them fresh water to swim in once or twice a week

Sounds like a good plan!

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

I don’t bother with a kiddie pool in the winter, except on those extremely rare freaky days that are truly nice, and then I only bring out the small kiddie pool. I provide a black cement mixing tub for bathing the rest of the winter. It allows them to get a thorough bath, and it never breaks, even if I forget to dump it and it freezes solid. They drink from a rubber livestock bowl the rest of the time, which they can get their whole head into, or when they’re being obnoxious and impatient for a bath, their whole body! Anyways, both are easy to fill using a bucket, and both are indestructible.

 

[Callender Girl]

I give mine a heated dog watering dish that's big enough to get their heads into. There are weeks and weeks and weeks (get the idea that winter is not my favorite season?) where it's likely not going to be above freezing, so I don't use the rubber dishes, the kiddie pools or the 15-gallon stock tank in winter. Maybe I should consider it, but they've been doing okay without winter bathing ...

 

[threebrookscorner]

We are in northern Maine and have a real good place for ducks with the brook directly behind our house, where all 9 are sleeping atm. Without going into detail about our setup again, in the winter I let the ducks out into their run every day temps are over 0 F and they get a pool (old green turtle sandbox) filled up which lasts 5 or 6 hours before I bring it back in the cellar after banging the ice off it. 2 or 3 at a time they all take a bath, frolic around then preen and oil up. They stay in beautiful shape all winter but it takes a lot of time which I fortunately have.

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

I don’t bother with a kiddie pool in the winter, except on those extremely rare freaky days that are truly nice, and then I only bring out the small kiddie pool. I provide a black cement mixing tub for bathing the rest of the winter. It allows them to get a thorough bath, and it never breaks, even if I forget to dump it and it freezes solid. They drink from a rubber livestock bowl the rest of the time, which they can get their whole head into, or when they’re being obnoxious and impatient for a bath, their whole body! Anyways, both are easy to fill using a bucket, and both are indestructible.

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My ducks also have the cement mixing tub to swim in. I wrote kiddie pool instead of that. Thanks!