gooner.girl Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Does anyone else have the same problem as me and if so have you found a way to solve it? No matter how often i fill up the ducks drinking water in their glug it gets SO muddy SO quickly - i dont know how they do it - i know they like to stick their heads all the way in but their faces aren't dirty as far as i can tell so how does it turn to sludge so quickly? And is their any soloution other then refill it as often as you can - they don't seem to object to drinking dirty water and often choose to drink from puddles but i worry it can't be good for their insides... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feemcg Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Helen, this is one of the reasons Mac and Mima have gone to a new home - when I was at work they were in an eglu run till I got home and then they could get out to their pond (and mess up the chickens' drinkers' ). I was leaving them each day with a full glug of fresh water and coming home to a layer of 'sludge' in the bottom.........so I gave them a 2nd drinker and they emptied both......so I gave them 3 drinkers and...you can guess the rest . I was too worried about them running out of water, as it didn't seem to matter how much they got, it was gone in a day. I was too worried about going away for a weekend, warm weather (as if!) etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooner.girl Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 Yes Fee - mine mess up the chickens drinker to - hence why i decided to get a superglug and hang it high up so the ducks couldn't reach it and dirty the water but i don't think the chickens have got the hang of using it. Whilst i don't think theres an easy soloution is good to know i'm not the only one doing battle with this problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 We're just about to try a galvanised drinker like we use for the hens. It has a ball valve and will be topped up from a water butt. It has a guard over the top to stop the ducks swimming in it but I have a nasty feeling that it will still end up sludgey I'll see if I can find a photo to add...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckmomma Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Hi I think the muck comes from them washing their food in the water, plus soil or food that seems to cling to the bill when they feed. I know when our duck has been rummagging in the garden for slugs and snails her water gets filthy. To solve the problem of refilling the water (which seems to disapear within seconds with ducks ) Try something like a large heavy dog bowl. Get a 2ltr plastic drink bottle (larger if you can get one, maybe one of those big square bottles you buy water in , you would need something bigger than a dog bowl to stand it in tho ) Cut a few small slits or holes in it near the bottom (about the level of the top of the bowl, NO HIGHER!) Fill it with water Put the cap on the bottle and tighten it right up. Now stand the bottle in the bowl, fill the bowl almost to the top with water. Now loosen the cap on the bottle so water comes out the slits/holes The water will fill the bowl up to the level of the slits/holes and no more As the ducks drink the level is kept constant by water seeping from the bottle, you can control the flow of the water by tightening or loosening the bottle cap. When you put it in the run, tie some string around the neck of the bottle and then tie it to the top of the run to stop the bottle getting tipped over, Or tie it to the run in whatever way works best for you. You might need to experiment a bit. Hope this helps Edited to add Whatever way you tie the bottle it must be stood in the bowl, Not dangling over it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
