Web footed friends are messy!

For Serjay and anyone else who has words to add, the Websters are making a terrible mess!

I have tried several different containers for water, and they all end up tipped over. I did have a large, heavy horse feeder and it didn't tip over, but there was always a duck in it. Went to two gallon pails, but they are always tipped over and I cannot believe the amount of MUD that ends up in those water buckets. The ground around the water buckets is churned up and eroded.

Is there a way to keep water infront of the Websters that doesn't get tipped, climbed into, or filled with mud?

I am becoming alarmed over how to keep water infront of them all winter. Do they need water 24/7, or mostly at feeding time?

Twice a day the Webstesr get let out and herded to their pool where they have swim class for half an hour and eat what few blades of grass are still green in this drought. So they DO get to play in water daily.

If they have to stretch their necks to reach in it helps keep the water cleaner. Also pile rocks all around their waterer or swimming pool do they cant dig holes in wet ground. Out soil is really sandy do no mud at all but they will dig those holes with their bills.
I have a water bucket outside all winter with a bucket heater and I do move it around.

Ducks are messy  

My ducks are able to free range so in summer I just use kiddie pools out in the paddock but in winter we get more hooting predators so they stay in covered pen more. In winter I use horse stall heated water buckets with a 2x4 over the middle so they can get heads in on either side but not jump in for a dip   I keep the water buckets at the farthest place from shelter. In winter even when the bucket is sitting on 2+ feet of hard packed snow and ice and they still get it filthy mucky! Its amazing to me but inevitable so in winter I dump water buckets every second day and otherwise just keep them topped up. If they're getting overly wild and unruly tipping the bucket use a carabiner (or something easy to unhook) on the handle and hook to an eye screw on a post or something so they can't tip it over but it's easily removed to dump and clean.

At least that works for me   I have about 24 adults and 3 geese and use 3 heated horse water buckets in winter. It sucks to clean and haul water for them but they always greet me so happily and chatter away while I work then dig in and mess up their water with such glee that I can't help but sigh and smile  

Oh yes Miry's idea about rocks also helps a lot! It keeps them from digging holes in the ground around the waterer which they make moist when gleefully flinging water  

I am with serjay on enjoying their joy! I think waterfowl are not for everyone (maybe not every soil type) but I do love how much they enjoy their water.
What I would REALLY like to be able to build is a pond with a waterfall or sprayer in it and a water system that cycles through.
Mine just love it when I spritz them with the hose and if they had a sprayer I think they would be in heaven!

I am really surprised to find how much I enjoy their enthusiastic response. Usually the Websters are quiet, but if they hear you outside they start squawking and gronking, they want OUT! Come let us OUT! So we tend to whisper to each other outside so we don't tip the Websters off. Good grief, whispering to avoid alerting the livestock!

I have placed their water bucket on a 3x3 rubber mat, hoping this would stop mud transfer. Nope. I don't know how they do it, but they do.

My question, do ducks/geese need water 24/7 or is once a day enough? In winter, my chickens get water once a day and learn to drink before it's ice. We have no heated water system and like Serjay, all water is bucket delivered (in winter, hose in summer). If I give them winter water once a day, will they survive? Or do they truly need open water 24/7? If so, I better get this worked out now, before the snow flies.

How about a tight lid with a duck head-sized hole?

Uno ducks need water to eat, they cannot swallow their food well without it and will tend to choke. Ducks can carry their food/dirt/anything in their bills to the water, to dip it in and then eat it. We keep our duck water in a large rubber tub, sink a sinking deicer in there in the winter and put a cattle mesh panel piece over the top so they can dip their heads and not their bodies in there.

In the summer we use kiddie pools like Serjay, they make them messing within minutes but still love to play in there all day. We dump ours every morning and refill with fresh water. This year we even dug a little pond for them, with sloped sides so even the little ducklings can get in and out.

Like Miry said, waterfowl is not for everyone, you must enjoy their antics and put up with their messy ways. LOL

I keep water in front of my birds at all time, if my young ducklings run out of water in their font they sure do let me know.

I remember another lady used a Rubbermaid tub, the 18" tall ones I think, would depend on the type of duck you have I guess. Used her circle saw to cut 2" holes in the sides up high enough they had adequate water storage but could still reach in to drink, fill it up, snap the lid on, and you are good to go. Said she used them in the winter too with a sinking deicer.

Could you put a big rock in the bottom of the bucket of water to make it heavy and harder to tip over?

Use construction caulking to glue your tub to a chunk of plywood!

I made a duck drinker out of a 3 gallon ice cream tub. As suggested, cut head holes half way up the side. It works well for one or two ducks, but would need more of these for more ducks.

The Rubbermaid idea might work. Will have to give that a think over. Thanks all!