winter, water and ducks!?!?!? I'll take all the advice I can get!

[Strawberry74]

The pallets are a great idea! I’ve been looking into the water heater. I’m not sure what to go with. The cage over the water is such a great idea! How often do you clean out your water?

These are what I use. I also have an expandable hose that I put a quick connect on and keep inside in a 5 gallon bucket so I always have access to it nonfrozen hose and bring it in when I'm done. I change the water out twice a week during the winter.

Tank heater
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...rfO-6o2JAxVQGzQIHSZAA3oQwg8oAHoECAYQFQ&adurl=

Pools I use because they have a drain! I like the small size.
Limited-time deal: Jasonwell Foldable Dog Pet Bath Pool Collapsible Dog Pet Pool Bathing Tub Kiddie Pool Doggie Wading Pool for Puppy Small Medium Large Dogs Cats and Kids 32" Blue https://a.co/d/f5cAopH

 

[Miss Lydia]

I will say this about using a heated bucket inside a container some years back a member on the goose thread had one of her geese electrocuted because the heated bucket was inside a container and must have shorted or something I’m not up on electricity so don’t know proper names. But I even sit my heated buckets up off the ground so when we have snow or an excess amount of rain the buckets aren’t sitting right in water.

 

[Trisha Lawson]

This will be my second year keeping small pools up year round with a floating tank heater. If you have electricity it's a good way to go. My coop isn't far from my garage so I run a heavy duty extension cord. I don't ever put water inside the coop they're locked in at night and they're fine without food and water. In past years I have also used a rubber tub with fencing over the top as pictured below with a tank heater so they can't get in it. Not that they didn't try!

View attachment 3995005View attachment 3995006

I have been on the search for what to do we have the same pools. This helps me, which tank heaters do you use in your pools.... We have the 80" diameter pool. I am also looking at solar aerators or just doing an all in one pond filter pump again. ...

 

[Strawberry74]

I have been on the search for what to do we have the same pools. This helps me, which tank heaters do you use in your pools.... We have the 80" diameter pool. I am also looking at solar aerators or just doing an all in one pond filter pump again. ...

Farm Innovators Ice Chaser 1250 Watt Cast Aluminum Floating Tank Deicer with Self Regulating Thermostat and Heavy Duty Anti Chew Cord Protector​

 

[Strawberry74]

You can get them in Amazon or any feed store.

 

[KylaG]

it’s long but hope it helps!

We have intense winters, and I got sick of hauling buckets in below freezing temps and having our coop turn into a frozen swamp! We made a shallow platform out of treated wood in our Duck coop and covered it with hardware cloth. We bought a 20 gallon tub from Tractor Supply, cut a hole in the bottom and installed a normal tub drain from Lowe’s, connected to PVC pipe under the platform. It connects to a flexible pvc line that empties at the back of our property. There’s a drain lever so I can flip the lever to drain the tub from outside of the coop. 20 gallons is not ideal, but it allows the ducks to swim a little and get clean in the coop while keeping 99% of the water mess contained and keeps their coop dry. (The leftover 1% is one of my Khakis who likes to splash relentlessly )

When temps drop I submerge a small round plastic-safe tank heater from Tractor Supply and the tub has never once frozen over. I wrap the drain lever portion of the PVC in a cord warming cable. There’s no risk of fire as it just keeps the pipe above freezing. I run a grounded extension cord from our house for the heating elements because we don’t have electricity by the coop.

When temps are below zero here I don’t bother with the pools, even with heaters they tend to freeze within a few hours and the ducks make an unholy mess which then turns their run to ice. I tried heated bowls and buckets but the ducks just made a mess or I was refilling them every few hours.

I keep a collapsible hose connected outside to fill it when needed. I drain the hose and tuck it into a large freeze-proof insulated faucet cover. Cinch it over the spigot and good to go!

Added a picture of the tub from when we made it. I stacked some pavers outside of the tub so they can get in easily but they usually just plop right in.

It probably cost $100 to assemble and could be done cheaper. The needed supplies are pretty cheap and if you can drain it in the same area you won’t need extra PVC. We had wood and hardware cloth lying around. The tub was around $20, the tub drain was $7 on clearance from Lowe’s, and the tank heater was a Farm Innovator 250 around $40. PVC is cheap and you can customize the size, length, direction, drain, etc.

You could easily adjust for a larger tub or build a platform big enough for a larger pool and provide a ramp for access.

 

[Klatimer]

it’s long but hope it helps!

We have intense winters, and I got sick of hauling buckets in below freezing temps and having our coop turn into a frozen swamp! We made a shallow platform out of treated wood in our Duck coop and covered it with hardware cloth. We bought a 20 gallon tub from Tractor Supply, cut a hole in the bottom and installed a normal tub drain from Lowe’s, connected to PVC pipe under the platform. It connects to a flexible pvc line that empties at the back of our property. There’s a drain lever so I can flip the lever to drain the tub from outside of the coop. 20 gallons is not ideal, but it allows the ducks to swim a little and get clean in the coop while keeping 99% of the water mess contained and keeps their coop dry. (The leftover 1% is one of my Khakis who likes to splash relentlessly )

When temps drop I submerge a small round plastic-safe tank heater from Tractor Supply and the tub has never once frozen over. I wrap the drain lever portion of the PVC in a cord warming cable. There’s no risk of fire as it just keeps the pipe above freezing. I run a grounded extension cord from our house for the heating elements because we don’t have electricity by the coop.

When temps are below zero here I don’t bother with the pools, even with heaters they tend to freeze within a few hours and the ducks make an unholy mess which then turns their run to ice. I tried heated bowls and buckets but the ducks just made a mess or I was refilling them every few hours.

I keep a collapsible hose connected outside to fill it when needed. I drain the hose and tuck it into a large freeze-proof insulated faucet cover. Cinch it over the spigot and good to go!

Added a picture of the tub from when we made it. I stacked some pavers outside of the tub so they can get in easily but they usually just plop right in.

It probably cost $100 to assemble and could be done cheaper. The needed supplies are pretty cheap and if you can drain it in the same area you won’t need extra PVC. We had wood and hardware cloth lying around. The tub was around $20, the tub drain was $7 on clearance from Lowe’s, and the tank heater was a Farm Innovator 250 around $40. PVC is cheap and you can customize the size, length, direction, drain, etc.

You could easily adjust for a larger tub or build a platform big enough for a larger pool and provide a ramp for access.

Thank you this is very helpful, especially to someone like me who has to haul gallons of water to the run. Right now we have small rubber bowls and a 3 gallon bucket with a bird bath deicer

 

[BrittKay]

What are some things you guys do for your ducks:
1. how do you keep the water from freezing? (we bought more rubber bowls)
2. how do you keep your coop from not being a wet muddy mess?
3. how do you keep the ducks out of the bowls?
4. how do you keep the coop dry?

We have winterize the coop because the temps are getting down to freezing already. We had our first bit of snow a few days ago. I took their pools out of their coop and if they could cuss, I DEFINITELY would have had some explicit words said to me! I covered the side of the coop that had rocks and covered it with straw so their feet down freeze. This is our first winter together. The more advice the BETTER!

First winter with ducks (this winter) - I bought a large 5x8 outdoor rug (best $35 I spent for winter) to put my pool on to avoid any mud so they can't go digging!!! I rake off the rug every week (poop galore). It's holding up really well and I'm positive I can store the rug outside for a few years before having to buy a new one. I do not keep ANY water in the coop, and it's only in the run area. bird bath heaters work well for smaller tubs of water for drinking, or you can buy the buckets. I have an actual Mallard and she is so tiny at only 2 pounds and not even a foot tall she can't reach into any buckets haha So I use the bird bath heaters for the rubber tubs so she can drink.

 

[Abbyroadrescuetx]

I caught all of mine and made them go into their 10x10 pen that has tarps all around it, 2 heat lamps halfway up the chainlink and 2 pools with floating water heaters. I put down sand to help with mud and mess. I also use 1 inch fake grass since it cleans super easily. I put individual kennels with shavings in each also. I want to let them out for the day, but i do not want to have to catch them all again! I am wondering if they will be smart enough to go back in tonight?

 

[Klatimer]

I caught all of mine and made them go into their 10x10 pen that has tarps all around it, 2 heat lamps halfway up the chainlink and 2 pools with floating water heaters. I put down sand to help with mud and mess. I also use 1 inch fake grass since it cleans super easily. I put individual kennels with shavings in each also. I want to let them out for the day, but i do not want to have to catch them all again! I am wondering if they will be smart enough to go back in tonight?

I haven't let mine stay out, because we lock the door to prevent predators. We have ALOT of cats and racoons. But when its time to go to bed, they just start walking to bed. I dont even have to say anything to them except one, she likes to be chased apparently