# Ducks and their water mess..problem solved!



## Sherry in Iowa (Jan 10, 2010)

Some of you know that this is the first year of having ducks for us. Well..I love these ducks to pieces!! But I must admit the water mess was more than I had bargained for. 

Sweet hubby made the ducks a water grate and wow..what a difference it made! The ducks still have "fun" with their waterer, but the mess is not something I have to worry about cleaning up!

Hope this helps someone else who is new to ducks!

article


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## Ellie Mae (Jan 18, 2011)

Sherry,

thank you for posting this link!

we have had Pekin & Cayuga Ducks for about 3 yrs now and the water mess has really started to bother me lately..

Between the muck, the smell & the daily bedding I was getting to the point of wanting to sell them and we do get alot of joy out of them everyday.

Folks have suggested not feeding and watering them inside their coops, but as we raised them like that, they are used to the evening ritual and so are we.
at one point they seemed to be losing weight also, so we didn't want to give up their feeding at night...

great idea for a built in grate! 

We have tried gravel, thick bedding, etc, but none has worked for long.

sending the link to DH, he can add it to his long list of ongoing homestead projects, lol

welcome to the world of charming ducks!


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## Sherry in Iowa (Jan 10, 2010)

Ellie Mae..I feel your pain! I must confess that I am such a fan of ducks now..but the water mess was making hubby and I uncomfortable..lol. I can't say enough about the grate he made. It does just what I wanted it to do..contains the water mess. Keeps the bedding dry and the ducks are happy little quackers!:bouncy:

Hope it works for you guys too!


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## Ellie Mae (Jan 18, 2011)

Sherry,

could you post pics of your set up?

I get the general idea of it, as we had talked of coming up with something like that..
it always low on the list of wants, but many days I want it moved onto the side of needs!

thanks!


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## Sherry in Iowa (Jan 10, 2010)

I tried to put those two pictures here..I can't seem to do it. If you hit the pics in the article..they blow up to a bigger size. I'm sorry..it just shows up as a little red x when I try to put it here.


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## NorCalChicks (Dec 7, 2007)

Cool link - THANKS! I think we actually have all the stuff to do this, now I just need our son to come home from his holiday weekend to dig the hole.
What? Hard work builds character - I'm sure I have plenty of character at this point in life so I'm generously going to share! LOL! :thumb:


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## Ellie Mae (Jan 18, 2011)

Sherry,

I saw the one at the link, wanted to see yours, lol, I love to see how people do their projects as there is always something that catches my eye and makes me wonder, "now why didn't I think of that?!" 


seems I still can't figure out photo bucket to be able to post pics on here and we have pics of our adorable newborn baby goats I would love to share!


NorCalchicks,

can we borrow your sons after your done?? 

we have lot's of character building projects around here, lol


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## Sherry in Iowa (Jan 10, 2010)

I'm all for borrowing the sons for homesteading projects! 

Our chickens have a dirt floor, the ducks have a raised floor. I think I'd like to swap buildings and put a grate in the floor of the current chicken house. Winter months would be much better for the ducks if they could "play" a bit more!


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## BethW (May 3, 2007)

Great idea! We house our ducks in a horse stall, so I didn't want to dig a pit for a grate.

So we devised a different option. I put a bucket of water in a black plastic feed pan and then set the pan on one of those big white plastic washing machine trays. Works perfectly. The ducks can get to their water, but it's just enough effort that they rarely play in it and the mess is lessened and completely contained.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I've sat the waterer on an oil drain pan to collect the mess when I've had ducks in a coop. I much prefer not to coop the ducks.









Seems you could hook up some sort of drain pipe to the outlet, but it was only a temporary situation for me and I didn't bother.


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## Sherry in Iowa (Jan 10, 2010)

Wow..those are both excellent ideas. 

We wanted the ducks to free roam when they got older (which they are now). Their feed and water are still on the outside grate, but they are out and going strong all day long too. They kind of take turns going to the feed, the swimming pools and the pastures. They get locked up at night with no food or water and are let out first thing in the morning.

I hope this regiment is okay. They seem to like it. Ducks are such happy critters..and it rubs off on me!:clap:


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

BethW said:


> Great idea! We house our ducks in a horse stall, so I didn't want to dig a pit for a grate.
> 
> So we devised a different option. I put a bucket of water in a black plastic feed pan and then set the pan on one of those big white plastic washing machine trays. Works perfectly. The ducks can get to their water, but it's just enough effort that they rarely play in it and the mess is lessened and completely contained.


Beth...What is a washing machine tray???

Nevermind..I googled it. I never knew there was such a thing. Looks like I needs to get one!


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks for the link Sherry, that is a great idea for the ducks water. I lock ours up at dark & their food & water stays outside the duck house but they are let out at daylight again. But they still make a muddy mess around their water pan.


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