Duck Coop with yard with automatic watering/feeding system
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Overview of a DIY duck coop with attached duck yard.
The coop was built to provide:
1. Easy accessibility to clean/access eggs without needing to enter the duck yard
2. Minimal size to increase insulation properties with R13 insulation in the floor and ceiling (8' x 3' x 3')
3. Raised coop to protect against predators and provide shading /protection to ducks during the daylight hours
4. Horizontal sliding door on a track system to allow ramp access
5. Designed to easily add electricity, timed lighting system and automatic door opening using light sensors
The duck yard was designed to be:
1. Predator proof using PVC coated hardware cloth
2. Self filtering, low odor and easy to clean due to 8" depth of construction sand (also provides necessary grit for duck digestion)
3. Gravity fed watering and feed stations to allow +2 weeks of water/feed without need for replenishment
4. 7' ceiling height with +300 square feet of space
Update to the watering pails... made some thermal insulated pails to get me through the winter. You can see a video of them here: drive.google.c...
I also talk about how to build them here: www.backyardch...
The gravity fed watering station (20 gallon garbage can) is filled once a month. I put in 1TB/per gallon (or 1 1/4 cups) of Apple Cider Vinegar into the station each time i fill it up. ACV increases the acidity of the water which inhibits microorganism growth in the water. ACV also is thought to boost poultry immune systems.
Update to drinking station: devised a new water station that provides continuous drink and dunking water for ducks in the late spring, summer and fall months. You can see an overview of it here: • Continuous Watering De...
You can see the ducks using it here: • Ducks Using the Contin...
A 3-part video showing what is involved in taking care of my ducks on a day-to-day basis can be found here: • Taking care of ducks -...
Also of interest is how to cut feed costs be raising mealworms for your ducks. The following videos provides an overview of the mealworm lifecycle and shows a simple 3 drawer method to raising mealworms: www.youtube.co...
Finally, if you're interested to know how I go about maintaining the sand (rinsing, disinfecting and de-compacting) you can see all about that here: • Cleaning Sand in a Duc...
Current updates to the duck yard/coop include:
-install of a poultry light on a timer providing the ducks at least 15 hours of light per day (necessary if you want to continue getting high egg output): www.onceinnovat...
- Solar lights on inside and outside of duck yard to help with maintenance when the sun goes down
- A three sectional 6' nesting box station for ducks to go into to get out of the rain, lay eggs, keep warm, or just to be by themselves
- A 6' x 2' x 2' utility shed in the duck yard to keep all tools necessary to maintain duck yard.
- Solar power Christmas lights which go around the yard (top and sides) b/c everyday with ducks is like Christmas day...
Please comment on your thoughts or improvements that could be done below. Thanks for watching.
Sooo glad to hear that you are going to be putting a pond in. When you see how much they enjoy swimming in the water, it will give you joy just watching how much fun they are having! I just got two ducks and I love watching how much fun they have swimming ❣️ They dive in the water like little torpedoes back and forth in the water. I never get tired of watching them ! 💦😂
One of the more informative and still brief yet enjoyable videos on UA-cam! nailed it
Incredible!! That is fantastic. I was gonna get chickens, but after reading about ducks... looks like I'll probably go with ducks. It's much more difficult to find videos and information on raising ducks than it is on chickens! I really appreciate your video. Thank you.
+lliz j
Welcome. Please let me know if you have any questions. Also check out the 3-part video which shows actual time of labor from start to finish for:
1. Letting ducks out in the morning/collecting eggs (takes 5 minutes or less)
2. Shooing the ducks back into the coop and refreshing their water and food (takes 5 minutes)
3. Cleaning out the coop (takes 10 minutes; once every two weeks)
Duck eggs have more vitamins and are packed with more protein vs. chicken eggs and are also more mild and have a creamy rich flavor (plus, b/c of the added protein they are great for baking with).
Ducks are hardier, less prone to disease and can handle colder temperatures vs. chickens. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DUCKS!
+Malcolm Smith I subscribed to your channel and will for sure check out all your videos. This is great!
Nice and safe from predators. thanks for sharing
Jerry of Pine Meadows Hobby Farm
It's great to see someone else who enjoys and takes time into the care of maintaining and fixing up ways to make ducks safe , comfortable and worry free environment and easy to keep clean ,dry, and mud proof, lol. I can tell you really enjoy your ducks , as do I, they are so entertaining . I actually have one drake(Welch Harlequin) that lives Inside my house as a pet. (BeeGee). and very spoiled follows me everywhere, whether it's cooking or repairing things around the house or garage . He is right there trying to help . lol. Thanks for a lot of great ideas . Just wish I had a yard like yours . I am currently trying to figure out how to use an old coffee maker I took apart as away to prevent the duck water from freezing this winter like heated dog waters do . Keep up the good work .
Kelly, thanks for the compliment. I would love to see how a video of how a duck is raised indoors. That would be a hoot. In terms of water for the ducks during the winter, I use a insulated bucket system which works pretty well, uses no electricity and still allows the ducks to get water and dunk their heads for cleaning. You can see a video of it here: drive.google.com/file/d/0B8U_zuXEtYujVnJDcGtTLWVPeU0/view
And a write up how it is built here: www.backyardchickens.com/t/1071957/diy-insulated-water-pail
thanks for all the info and the complement is well deserving . And your welcome . Please share any helpfull ideas that make it easier to feed, water and clean duck areas . Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving , I will work on home video of raising ducks inside lol. my hardest part of BeeGee (my welsh harlequin drake ) is getting him to stop trying to breed me, lol I brought a female in that thru herself at him and I have even put duck porn lol (mating ducks) and he still thinks I am his woman . A temporary way that has worked so far is to hold him down and stretch his neck out like drakes do hens for a few minutes and I get a break . Keep up the great work . Kelly C
Greetings from Wisconsin and thank you for posting this great video! Love the house design and use of sand. I have Ancona's and Cayuga ducks. We place a couple kiddie pools around the gardens, in predominantly shady areas for them. I change the water every other day. The pools are then emptied into the gardens next to them thereby fertilizing and watering my plants. The location is then changed to another area that needs watering/fertilizing. I understand that ducks don't necessarily NEED a pool to swim in but I personally feel that raising them without one is quite sad. I love watching their antics and my gardens have never looked better.
Victoria. Great idea! As long as you use the water to fertilize non-edible plants, I would think using to fertilize your plants would be fine.
Malcolmn, why not add the water to edible plants???? Don't want to do that if it's bad
Larry, ducks excrete indiscriminately in the water when they are swimming in it. You basically have duck manure water. On one hand, this is an incredible rich source of nutrients (fertilizer) for plants, however, it is still raw manure in liquid form which is unsanitary to say the least. It would be fine to use pool water in a flower garden or with fruit trees, but contamination of the surface of with edible plants (lettuces, carrots, etc.) would not be advised. If you have very tall vegetable plants (tomatoes, cucumbers, etc) and are careful when applying, I suppose you could use the pool water on the soil near the plant , but there still may be the risk of splash onto the fruit. You could also harvest the water in drum and allow to age 5 weeks or more (provided that it gets hot enough in the drum to kill off any pathogens present), but I've never done that so you'd have to search around a bit on the net to find out how this could be done
Malcolm, not sure if anyone mentioned but you could bury a 5 gallon bucket deeper than the one you use to let them clean their nostrils. Then you can put one 5 gallon bucket in the other. For cleaning, all you need to do is pull out the inner one, clean it, and put it back in. easier than trying to put in back in a dirt hole that could collapse. Larry
Larry, great point. Actually, great minds think alike as that is exactly what I do. I have two 5 gallon buckets that are attached to a 4' piece of 1" x 6" lumber. I bury the buckets and the lumber about 30" the depth of the 5 gallon bucket. I use the lumber because it keeps the buckets in place and level even during freeze/thaw events. I then put in two more buckets which are the insulate buckets that you see. I originally tried filling up 5 gallon buckets but noticed that the ducks didn't drink anywhere near 10 gallons and it was a waste of waster as I needed to dump them each night and then refill them (which is not pleasant when the water is very cold). Also, the bucket-in-the-bucket technique alone didn't provide enough insulation and the buckets would freeze together. Then I moved to insulating the secondary bucket and adding a tertiary 3 gallon bucket (which is what you see in the video). Hope that makes sense.
thanks for the ideas
We're in PA near Gettysburg, so some of the ideas for winter will be really useful for me to implement when my ducklings come.
fantastic thanks so much for all the ideas , grt job,,,, i love ducks too, had them when i was a kid in EU
for the 5 glad buckets you have there. you could put in a shallow water trouft that has a drain plug on it. face that outwards away from your garden. when you want to clean it open the plug and clean it out and refil. might want to put it on a slant because of the sut/sand that will come off the ducks so it can be easily cleaned out too. shallow means less water and less you have to bury it into the ground
Mrs. Reyna thanks for response. I've actually moved away from using the large 30 gallon watering system with water cups. I found that the ducks would dump so much sand into each of the cups each day that I would need to clean it out each night so they could use it the next day (which kind of eliminates its effectiveness over a long period of time). I think this system would work great though if you didn't use sand.
I've since designed a new watering system in which the build design is discussed here:
www.backyardchickens.com/t/906368/any-ideas-for-automatic-watering-system-for-ducks/10
and a video of the system can be seen here: ua-cam.com/video/l8ybQ40noV0/v-deo.html
Hi, Thanks for helping my ducks! I see you haven’t upped a vid in a while hope all is as it should be with you. Maybe show us some more of your ducks if you can? You’re helping future ducks as yet unhatched long into the future, think of that!
I've got tons of content, I just need to upload it. Working now on putting in my pre-formed pond using a variety of filters: radial flow and UV filter. Deciding on wether to add a mechanical and biofilter. Once that is done I'll upload a pond build video, a egg hatching video (hatched some Welsh Harlequins eggs that I purchased on eBay and had excellent results) and am also thinking about uploading a duck culling video for those that need to sacrifice some of their flock for various reasons.
smithmal that all sounds great, subbed! Iv been wondering if I could use one of those square plastic tubs that come in an aluminum frame as a settling out reservoir for my ducks kiddy pool. To separate their solid waste for later use in the garden while clearing up and reusing their water. Boy I know some duck owners would love to use less water! Anyway your aviary is inspiring these videos will help ducks live better lives long into the future. Yeomans work 👍
One of the easiest ways to find out if you got enough ventilation is clean coop out , don't wash it climb in close the door wait 5 minutes see if u can breathe if you can-good if not just think they set there for hours 🤷♂️🤭
First of all great job all looks great and I may use your sand idea in mine. I would be careful with the temporary five gallon buckets full of water as my Indian running duck (one of five) got in and the others would not let her out. She is fine now but was exhausted and a bit tattered when I found her in there . the problem is they get in and splash half the water out then can't extract themselves. I have since abandoned the five gallon bucket idea. Good luck and again great job ducks are A lot of work but fun as all heck.
Doug.. the same thing happened to me which is why I use a top with a drinking hole cut out. It eliminates their ability to get stuck in the bucket and also greatly reduces the amount of water loss due to the ducks splashing around in it.
+Malcolm Smith
You can see this if you click on the link above discussing the water pails
You can use some thick electric wire or garden fence with big mesh on top of those buckets. Will keep the ducks from jumping up and make it dirty, but they can still drink and clean their beaks. (thin wire can hurt their feet).
I will be using wood chips in the duck pen this year. Can use it in the garden as mulch and fertilizer when I need to change it.
Mikkel. Thanks for the feedback. Came up with a solution in which I cut out a half moon semi circle out of the 5 gallon container. I allows them to drink and clean the heads, but doesn't allow them to get in. Has worked great for the last year or so. You can see them if you view the "Insulated Drink/Dunking Pails" video on my channel.
nice operation. one idea would be to place 6" or 8" perforated black pipe in the sand a few feet apart sort of like a septic system and also run a larger network of that pipe throughout the garden about 12"-18" deep at a lower elevation. if you use the bathtub idea you would drain it into the garden system. this should disperse waste over a large area and fertilize and water your plants. you could use organic microbes like lacto bacilis and micorriza to break stuff down faster. at the far end of the garden place a sump hole that you could use to purge the pipe system if it ever got clogged up. free fertilizer and great duck eggs! i used to raise ducks and it was great except for the mess. a system like this may solve that problem in a beneficial way.
Kanechika interesting idea. I would need to dig everything up to do so. Rather than looking at a pool system that would constantly necessitate me dumping/purging my water, I rather recirculate it and clean it with microbes (as you have suggested) and other biofilters (plants, beads, rocks, etc). Dumping pool water into my veggie garden does not sound very hygienic so I'm hesitant to do so.
Our oppossums, weasels, and mink could get right through that 2 x 4" fencing. Learned that the hard way.
Yeah.. those guys are really hard to deal with. So glad we don't have them in our neck of the woods.
how about a kiddie pool the harder plastic round ones ....fix a PVC pipe and spigot system but with a pipe that runs under the sand from it out with a spigot and hose on other end ... when you want to water your garden right there with the water when cleaning the pool you can hose out pool let it run out to clean and water same time. close spigot at other end refill the pool .... seeing your buckets submerged gave me idea sink the pool so they can get and swim, put in a drain system and give you fertilizer water in return as they always poop when swimming ....I'm thinking about getting some ducks again thanks for inspiring me love your set up ... it's very ingenious and well thought out ...
Thanks for the comment. The above solution is a good one and I've seen other videos where this is design is used. I have two issues with using a kiddie pool though: (1) Ducks should never be allowed to swim in stagnate water; (2) Using this solution would necessitate my emptying kiddie pool every day or every other day which is a huge waste of water. Also, I'm a bit leary to add contaminated fecal water to my vegetable garden without aging it. I'm fine with doing this to my fruit trees, but not my vegetable garden. Moving the water to my fruit trees though would be a monumental task since they are spread throughout the yard.
The issue with designing a duck pool which:
1) Is large enough for numerous ducks
2) Can automatically clean itself
3) Is low cost and low maintenance
is no small feat.
I'm looking into a solution sort of like what Lee Taylor posted below which is using numerous plants as biofilters and also using bacteria. Lee covers using plants pretty well, but I will also be flushing the water through a skippy filter which uses colonized bacteria to consume biomaterial in the processed pond water. The skippy filter design is discussed here: www.skippysstuff.com/skippybugs.html. I would also like to add a swirl filter to remove a majority of the large biomaterial and will be keeping my pump outside of the pond to save it getting continually clogged with biomaterial and dying after a couple of months.
I also need to come up with a pond design which is elevated (similar to Lee's pond) and easy to clean out (which most likely, even after using a swirl filter, plant biofilter and skippy filter will still need to be done every three months or so) and can be shut down during the winter months with minimal labor.
Good setup
I wanna built exactly like yours 😁👍
Great set up.
Very nice set up 👍
Otherwise, I think it's ingenious!
Ducks usually need a pond, not just to clean their faces, but to mate. :-) I use a small child pool. I have a little mop, every other day I fill it maybe half to 3/4 full. If you put it next to garden, you can use the duck pond water to water your garden.
Thanks for the reply. I don't breed my ducks as I get ducklings from a certified nursery but may be interested in doing so. Can you tell me where you found this information and/or why ducks need a pond for breeding purposes? Thanks.
They mate in the water. Sometimes I think my male will drown my female, but she always is able to get her head out of the water in time. :-) He has tried on dry land, but they are awkward. Apparently it's easier in water. Doesn't have to be deep. I have a child's plastic pool. To clean it, I dump it out, I have a pressure nozzle on my hose that does great, then fill it about 3/4 of the way.
It's beautiful!!
Thanks for the compliment!
you're welcome! :)
the only solution i found for the water is a small 35gal pond in the run, connected to a filter sump or waterfall tub that is just as large (35gal) filled with mechanical and bio media and UV light. this will take down maintenance to once a month for changing filter pads and refilling the food bin.
you can get rid of that automatic waterer too.
Jacob, thanks for your response. I would be interested to see pics or vids of your setup. I just scored a 350 gallon pond liner on craigslist for $25 so I'm going to move forward with designing a low maintenance pond using three different filter medias in series (skippy filter, stone filter and three plant filters). Wish me luck.
Hi. 2:30 I normally prefer to hinge on the top. So it will never be open enough for ducks or chickens to get out if the lock fails for some reason (tried that a few times!).
Mikkel, thanks for responding. Putting the hinges on the top would make a lot of sense from that standpoint. If you watch the cleaning of the coop video which is linked here (ua-cam.com/video/7Wdqw2FdJJw/v-deo.html) you'll see why I decided to put the hinges on the bottom, though like you said, there's a risk in that.
Great stuff , My Home WiFi reaches to my coop so I’m thinking more automated with Apple Home kit :) , opening and closing coop , draining and cleaning and reffing small raised up water tub , ;) all controllable from my iPhone , I still wanna go there ones a day , just thinking how effectively save as much time on maintenance:)
A WiFi controlled coop and water station? Now that would be a match in heaven!
smithmal yes :) these days it’s cheep,u can get WiFi range extender to reach the coop , Apple home kit or any home automation system will work great , I go out for weekends a lot and vacations ... it would be nice piece of mind to be able see on your phone what is happening , evan WiFi web cam it’s about $50 ;)
What about a kiddie-sized pool in there that drains from the bottom that has a pipe running to your garden area for irrigation. Have a rain barrel system attached to your duck pen and refill the pool with this water... is this something viable?
Deitra Brunner ... the rain barrel will eventually run empty.
Deitra Brunner but you could still fill the barrel with a hose if no rain water. . Make since
Did you ever have ducks in this system before you made this? the waterers would need constant cleaning at the “cups” and they would pull lots of feed from that feeder and the sand, (depending on the number of ducks) wouldn’t really “filter” the waste. If I had to guess.
Update?
SBP, there have been numerous updates since that video. Please check out my channel. A general video update can be found here: ua-cam.com/video/5ISz7a269J4/v-deo.html
From what I’ve read and understand about ducks is, they only require a pond to mate properly. If you’re breeding them for ducklings you’ll need a pond.
This is not 100% correct. It depends on the breed and how difficult it is for the male duck to impregnate the female ducks. Heavyweight and bantam weight ducks do not need a pond to mate. Smaller ducks may as water increases their ability to successfully copulate. I spoke the Dave Holderread (foremost expert in raising and breed duck who has created his own breed and several reference documents) and he has indicated that he only provides water for swimming for ducklings. His breeding adult ducks do not have access to a pond.
I tried using sand, but didn't have it very deep + it rains lots in the uk so it was constantly wet. I currently use bark chips, which last about 3 months with the occasional turn over, & then it goes on the garden. I may try sand again over the summer, but do it deeper like yours.
Lee,
Thanks for your response. 4-6" is minimum. I just put another three tons into the duck yard last weekend which probably added at least three more inches. Make sure you use construction sand, not sandbox sand. Construction sand will have pebbles in it that the ducks can use as grit and is more difficult to compact. How are you cleaning your sand or tilling your sand? If you don't clean/till it, the muck and yard debris will cause the upper layer of sand to congeal together making it difficult for the sand to filter the water away and it will turn into a mushy mess when it rains (it will also begin to stink). If interested, please check out my sand cleaning video on my channel.
They also take a bath with the water.
Ducks do not clean themselves by swimming. Their feathers allow them to be virtually waterproof. They clean themselves by preen. Many species of ducks use dust to clean themselves and remove parasites: www.dkfindout.com/us/animals-and-nature/birds/how-birds-stay-clean/
Thats so awesome! I might get some ducks next year, and was wondering how much room would you need for four ducks?
+Three Acorns
Your coop size should be 3 - 5 square feet per duck. I'm not totally sure about yard size but will check out Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks and see if the author has a recommendation.
You also need a pond so that their eggs become fertil which means they can lay eggs which will turn into a baby duck
its, interested in this comment.... I don't have any males, so I'm not breeding, but it I were, why is a pond necessary to ensure the eggs are fertile?
i was researching because i wanted to make my own chicken coup and found out in a video they need a pond to lay fertile eggs and that made me change my mind( chicken don't need a pond but goose and ducks do)
its, according to this thread, ducks will copulate on both water and land (although they prefer water): www.backyardchickens.com/t/229101/do-ducks-only-mate-in-water
What video indicated you must have water for mating/copulation to occur?
Thanks.
i don't remember the video but his ducks did not lay fertile eggs until he put a pond in his coup
and thank you for the information
Very informative video! Nice to see another Maryland duck keeper! Do you know of any events in maryland for ducks? Or places where they sell them (other than the feed store), the only other duck farmer I know is Dana Key of Moose manor Farms. I'm just outside of Waldorf but will probably move further south since I had no idea ducks could be so loud and my neighbors aren't saying anything but I don't wanna press my luck.
What breed of ducks do you have? I have three breeds: Silver Appleyard (very quiet), Sweet Emily (pretty quiet, but flighty) and Pekin (very quiet, very large). I got my Silver Appleyard ducks along with a farmer in Derwood, MD from Holderread Farms (Corvallis, Oregon). The farmer in Derwood, MD now specifically sells Silver Appleyard ducklings which are rare and my favorite breed (heavyweight duck, great layer, great temperament). The farm in Derwood, MD is called "Broken Willow Farm." They have a facebook page with additional information.
I have/had 4 Khaki Campbells (had to temporarily relocate them to my aunts because of one very very VERY loud duck), and 2 Golden cascades which appear to be mixed with appleyard and saxony they're silent! The only time I ever even hear them is when I try to grab one unexpectedly or something scares them badly., they aren't friendly though probably because I got them as adults one sort of comes near when I feed them but the other stays no less than 10-20 feet away. Ohhh! Ok they sound like a really nice duck! Will they let you touch them or get close? I'm thinking about letting my aunt have these ducks because unlike my Khaki's they don't seem to have any training for garden work (won't hunt down bugs or clear mosquitoes in the pond), and just starting over with a new flock to train this spring. Do you think they'd be good in a garden? I'm leaning towards welsh harlequin or more cascades but if they lay a lot of eggs and are calm I'd love to get some. About how long did it take you to finish their enclosure and watering system?
Not sure about their garden foraging apttitude, but I can say when I put mealworms out into the sand, they readily peck through the sand to eat them. To me, that would indicate that they are good foragers.
I think WH and GC are both great breeds, but they are much smaller and therefore have smaller eggs. Silver Appleyards (SA) have eggs anywhere between 80-110 grams. The WH and CC breeds are probably more around 60 - 80. My Sweet Emily (otherwise known as White hybrid) ducks are a smaller breed similar to the GCs. They also lay very well.
I can say that the SA ducks I have were raised since they were ducklings will eat out of my hand. I have read that handling/over interacting with ducks does cause a degree of stress to them which can reduce their egg production so I avoid handling them. Although the ducks and I do have "great conversations" when I visit each day.
I think SAs are a great breed. They were designed by a duck keeper in England to be large and good meat flavor, good temperament and have good egg laying capacity. They lay anyone between 300-330 eggs per year, but you have to make sure you give them 15 hours of light per day to keep their egg production up.
I made the mistake of getting my ducks before finishing my coop. I raised them in a shower stall which they quickly grew out of. I remember bringing 6 of them home in a shoe box (very cute). Within a month and a-half they were almost full size (3 feet tall).
It took me about two months to build the coop and the yard working on the weekends. I went through a couple different coop designs before I settled on the one I am currently using. With 20-20 hindsight I could probably build it in 2-4 weeks if I had all weekend each week to work on it (which I generally do not).
I wonder what's more important for you? A mess or the health and wellness of your ducks? Ducks need water places to cool off on hot days. A duck pond still fulfills another vital function: It serves the waterbirds the feather care. If this is not possible, the animals can become ill. A bucket isn't enough for this.
Have you ever seen how much ducks enjoy a swimming spots? A children's pool already would be sufficient.
+Katrin Grosch
Thanks for your response. It's a common misconception that ducks need ponds to successfully raise them. Do ducks enjoy swimming in a pond? Indeed they do, but if deciding on including one in your duck yard you should ensure two things:
1. Ducks should never be allowed to swim or drink from stagnate water
2. Ducks should always be protected from predators
Regarding your assertion that ducks need water to remain cool this is untrue. Ducks should not be allowed to stay in full sun over 70F for an extended period of time. A pond on a hot summer day will have water temperatures well in excess of 70F.
What ducks need to stay cool is shade and/or a duck yard/coop that is well insulated. The location of my duck yard is beneath large evergreen pine trees that provide ample shade for the ducks during the hottest part of the day. Moreover, the raised coop provides an additional source of shade underneath it for the ducks to rest and relax during a hot summer day. Using sand within the duck yard also has the additional benefit of being used as a heat/cool trap due to its insulating properties. Sand insulates so well that 6" of sand is equivalent to 1" of fiberglass insulation. Sand will cool down faster in the summer and stay cool longer and warm up faster in the winter and stay warm longer compared to other yard bedding such as dirt and leaves. Finally, a well insulated, well vented coop will also provide another source of comfort for ducks.
Moreover, your assertion that ducks need a pond to keep their plumage clean is also untrue. Ducks "preen" themselves continual to clean their feathers. They also molt their feathers on a continual basis to remove old damaged plumage. Please see the comment posted within the 3-part video link questioning duck feather maintenance.
Within Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks (which is considered the #1 reference guide to raising ducks)
(page 226) "Contrary to popular belief, ducks can be raised successfully without water for swimming. In fact, there are some advantages to having only drinking water. If a small pond is overcrowded, sanitation problems often arise. Ducks must not be allowed to swim in or drink filthy, stagnant water."
(page 227) "If no bathing water is available, ducks will keep their nostrils and eyes cleaner if drinking water is deep enough to allow them to submerge their heads. Because ducks frequently wash their bills, it is impossible to keep drinking water clear; however water should be kept reasonably clean and should never be allowed to become putrid."
The mentality that ducks are dirty and difficult to raise is a common misconception and it generally turns a lot of people away from exploring duck rearing. I typically spend less than 10 minutes a day of labor taking care of my ducks using the design noted in the above video. I've also linked a 3 part video showing in real time, the actual labor involved to take care of my ducks on a typical day using the coop and duck yard design noted above.
I am currently still exploring different pond designs that will allow ducks to have a clean, protected area to swim that is low in continual maintenance. Personally, I think the mentality of using a kiddie pool as a pond will necessitate a tremendous amount of water being wasted to maintain the proper amount of cleanliness. A closed loop filter system is the key. The issue is that most closed loop systems will fail under the stress of trying to filter out the large amount of waste that ducks will introduce to the pond water on a continual basis. Moreover the additional cost of electricity, pump and filter replacements will greatly increase the cost-benefit ratio of raising ducks for eggs.
Thanks for the response Malcolm. I know that a daily water change is urgently needed.
I use European resp. German guides if I looking for informations. They recommend water places for the reasons given above.
In addition to your comment: The drinking water should also never be hotter than 20 degrees Celsius.
Wow!
Bhot khas re gadi...
put a old buth tub 4 a pond with pull type pug,that rains down hill
Thanks for the reply. Using a bath tub is not a bad idea and I have thought about it. Would need to figure out how to get the water to recirculate though... please see my reply post to petsarenotmypeeve below as to my current ideas
What abt weasels? They can get thru the larger hardware cloth...
+HoneyBaer
Great point. The 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth only goes up 4'. Weasels could easily climb to the height where the 2" x 4" cloth starts and gain entry. That being said, I try to make sure all the ducks are shut into their coop each night @ twilight. The sliding door that the coop uses is not physically locked so I suppose a weasel could push the door open. I should probably install a locking latch to protect against that.
Did you have issues with the staples coming out? I know our ducks/chickens would eat them if we had used staples to secure the hwc.
Shawn, before building the coop, I looked at lots of chicken/duck yard construction videos. One of the builders suggested screwing down a secondary board on top of the area that the hardware cloth is stapled to the fencing. You'll see the double board system at the 3:08 mark in the video. This reinforces the staples ensuring the the hardware cloth and staples do not pull away from the fencing. I've read horror stories of predators like the raccoon easily pulling hardware cloth apart from fencing if its not properly reinforced. Of course, this is an added cost, but you'll never have any issues with staples or fencing coming loose. Hope that helps.
Ty
I have to about 2 months old ducks for my 3year old want it. but the only thing is I don't know how to build a duck pen for them. I'm a single mom I have no clue how to build it. if anybody could tell me the easiest way to make one that would be great. I didn't know how fast ducks grow they r so big right now I have them inside but I have to get them outside asap. so any ideas would be great to build a duck pen.
Lots of questions first:
1. How many ducks do you have
2. Do you keep them in a pen or are they free range
3. What is the temperature range in the location you are in
4. How much are you willing to spend
Did you say 8 inches of sand that weighs 7 tons total? I threw my back out just watching the video. 😂
My math was slightly off when I made this video.
I've got a 15ft x 15ft duck yard. If I want to fill sand to a depth of 8" that would be:
5.556 cubic yards of sand = 7.49 tons of sand = 14,983 lbs of sand
Here's a good sand calculator: www.gigacalculator.com/calculators/sand-calculator.php
Where do the ducks lay eggs? What kind is sucks do you have
+S P2000
The ducks primarily lay eggs in the coop on the opposite corner which they sleep. One particular duck (not sure who) can't be bothered to go to the other side of the coop and lays where she sleeps. The ducks generally lay in the early morning hours when the poultry light first turns on (5:30am).
Every once in a while, a duck chooses to hold out and I typically find an egg in one of the nesting boxes but this happens very infrequently.
I think the ducks feel more secure laying in a closed secure coop then the open nesting boxes. I built the nesting boxes b/c I was told by another Silver Appleyard owner that her ducks lay during the late morning/early afternoon (which would mean they were out of the coop for a good 3-4 hours). For me, this turns out to not be the case.
My duck breeds are Silver Appleyards (4 ducks; Large brown/white ducks) and Sweet Emilys (2 ducks; other wise known as the White Layer Hybrid; Medium-Large white ducks).
I love your ideas. Could you let me know what brand of water heater and how you’re going to power it? Also do you have any problems with rodents eating food?
Kate, I use insulated pails for providing water to the ducks during the winter (no heater, no power). Its keeps the water thawed down to about 18F. Below that I'll start getting a thin top layer of ice on the water. The colder the temps, the thicker the ice is. You can see a comparison of the insulated pail vs. no insulation in this video: ua-cam.com/video/y_DS2NdUIHU/v-deo.html
In terms of rodent issues, I haven't seen any evidence of this occurring. However it could occur at night without me knowing about it.
Anyway you could provide an updated video to show your system in action.
+Bill Eaton
No problem. Anything specific you'd like to see? I do have some updates to my water buckets which you can see video/info links in the description above.
+Malcolm Smith
Waterer, specifically how water is building up or not
building up. Buckets with water for cleaning duck heads, how you deal with
mess. House, are they actually using it for laying eggs. Anything you
really like or would do different.
What kind of ducks do you have? and how many?
+Bill Eaton
There's very little spill over using the large water bin with the watering cups. The only issue with the watering cups is that the ducks tend to get sand in the bottom of them. Eventually there's so much sand that the pivot trigger within the cup can no longer be pressed down and water is not released into the cup. I check it every couple of days and remove any excess sand/dirt that is in it. I did not use this container in the winter as I did not have access to a large enough water pail heater. Using just the thermal water pails worked fine (from what I could tell).
The 5 gallon water pails were a bit of a mess until I restricted their access by putting on a pail top with a half circle opening cut out of it (see link to video showing thermal insulated watering pails in the video description above) . I also reduced the amount of water they have access to from 10 gallons to 4 gallons. There's still some mess as they dunk their heads in, but they are no longer able to jump into the bucket and make a huge amount of mess.
They tend to defecate in the sand a lot near the watering pails so when I need to clean out the muck it is generally around there. Cleaning out the muck consists of scraping the top 1-2" layer of sand out and replacing it with new sand.
I'm planning on trying to recycle the muck sand by washing it in a wheel barrow with a non-toxic disinfectant (Ecover non-chlorinated bleach) and then rinsing it several times, drying it and then adding it back to the coop. We'll see how much effort that is...
In terms of the house/coop the elevated design has served me well. I stapled the thickest plastic I could find to the lower half of the interior and then added hay. Every two weeks, I change out the hay and use the soiled hay as crop cover/compost. This procedure takes about 10 minutes (if that). The ducks lay in the house each night (actually I think they do this in the early morning hours when the interior coop light comes on and wakes them up) and usually all lay in the same spot. Because of this, my interaction with them in the yard is very little. I read that ducks produce much better when they have a stress free environment (i.e. no handling and reduced interaction) and are kept to a strict schedule. With the light and the warmth of the coop, I saw no reduction in egg production by them over the winter months (average 5 eggs per day). Every once in a while I forget to shut the coop door so they come out early when they wake up and lay in the yard (they tend to lay in the nesting boxes I built).
I'm contemplating putting in a small pond for them that they would access using a door that I could open up each day. That way I could restrict their access when I needed to clean the pond. The pond would be covered with hardware cloth just like the yard is. I'm trying to figure out a design that would keep pond maintenance low which is really a challenge as the duck feces would be a real problem in terms of clean up and hygiene.
If I could do anything differently it would most likely be the feeding station. They tend to spill some of the feed out when they eat and when it rains a lot the outer layer of feed in the PVC pipe gets wet causing the pipe shoot to get clogged. Once I clean this out, (takes seconds) the system is back to functioning normally.
In terms of the quantity of ducks, I have:
4 Silver Appleyard hens (large eggs; on average 3 per day)
2 Sweet Emily (white Layer Hybrid) (medium size eggs; on average 2 per day)
In terms of a video update I was thinking of making "A day in the Life" of maintaining the ducks including:
1. Opening the coop and collecting the eggs
2. Closing the coop and changing out the dunk pail water
3. Cleaning the coop
4. Muck maintenance
That should give anyone interested an idea of how much effort it takes to keep ducks (which is surprisingly little).
+Malcolm Smith
Completed a video showing the day-to-day effort to take care of ducks using this coop/yard layout. Please see the link in the vid description to access it.
+Malcolm Smith Thanks for info. UA-cam videos shows marked as private and Google Drive link shows empty. I really appreciate you taking time for detailed response.
This video is a couple years old now. How did watering cups hold up. Also wondering about sand and watering buckets. I use a kiddie pool and must clean at least every 2nd day. A pond or creek would be ideal, but not available on this piece of ground.
I am needing to make a change in my Duck pen. So curious about longevity of your set up
Ralph. I actually completely changed my watering system. Please see my updated video that is present on my YT channel
What brand did you use for the watering cups?
+MrRbriano
Sorry for the delay in replying.... you can purchase the cups I used from here:
www.cornerstone-farm.com/equipment/poultry-production-equipment/300-cup-drinker/
I guess you could buy a small kiddie pool to replace the pond issue..
Very nice set up! I have 3 free range ducks and 2 free range geese (all white) on my farm in SW Colorado and cannot get them to go inside any type of shelter. Even in winter they just want to hang out in my front yard on the lawn at night, even when it snows and is very cold. I carry them each night into the chicken coop when it is winter and they hate it.... I have built so many contraptions for them... to nest & shelter in and nothing interests them... Anyone have some advice? I worry myself sick about them.... They have a good size pond and even ignore floating "islands" I made for them... Is this even normal?
My family calls me the crazy Duck Lady because I drive them nuts with all the nest and shelter building I do....
Have you tried locking them in the coop for a couple days to get them to realize and learn that’s there home.
@@gavinfitzgerald3912 Well, not other than when I physically put them in the chicken coop in the winter. I let them out each morning. My chicken coop is 16'x12'. And very secure from skunks and weasels and such, but the goose comes out with broken wing feathers sometimes... Guess I should put my field cam in there...lol
Do geese and ducks make a certain kind of nest?
We had our ducks from babies and what works for us is keeping their food and water inside the coop and they just learn that's their home and go in every night, just like chickens.
Going by your 'logic', it must be a miracle that ducks and geese have lived for millions of years in cold weather and managed to survive. smh.
Do you have a link to the auto door opening antenna system you spoke of in the video? Thanks!
My initial thoughts were based on a design similar as to what is shown here: ua-cam.com/video/LyTHrtQqUX8/v-deo.html
I decided that due to the weight and friction opening/closing the coop front door, using a car antenna motor would not be able to provide the necessary pull-push force to effectively (and reliably) open/close the coop door. A better design would be to use a heavy duty piston actuator that pulls the door up (to open) and pushes the door down (to close). In other words the door would lift open and close similar to the back coop doors that in the back of the coop. Since I already designed the coop door to be a horizontal sliding door I decided to totally bail on creating an automatic coop door. However, if I did it all over again, I probably use something similar to this design: blog.netscraps.com/diy/heavy-duty-solar-powered-automatic-chicken-coop-door.html. Hope that helps
Do you leave food out all day? I've heard ducks can get too fat if they eat too much
Food restriction should occur for 1st 8 - 12 weeks. After that restrictions are unnecessary.
What size would you recommend for 2-3 Cayugas?
Same. Cayugas and Silver Appleyards are about the same size (7-10lbs).
Shallow Wall-mart kiddies blue plastic poo for $ 6-8 bucks. They poop in the shallow water and you will need to clean it out daily or more often. They are a hoot to watch and even play with. Just lay it in your coop,(don't do it out side... try my way first) fill it 2/3 full of water and they will hop in and 'go to town" .
Chip, thanks for the advice. I'd like to create a system that provides a continuous water filtering solution that is low maintenance and I think I've figured it out. Just got a 350 gallon preformed pond liner for $25 on craigslist, so I'm almost ready for the build. Stay tuned...
Chip Friday do they always poop in the water or just sometimes? I am trying to talk my neighbors in to this type of duck for our pond.
15x16=240. not a little over 300...
Yeah, I was just, "that guy".
Doh.... math police get me again.
You built your own Duck coop, How much $ you spend to built one Duck coop like that ? I wanna try to built one for myself too
I'd say roughly $200. To make the raised frame, about $75 in wood and cement. To make the coop about $75 in wood and paneling and $30 in hardware and another $25 for the roof (PVC roof).
General steps are:
1. Dig four post holes (2' deep) and put in 4" x 4" posts. Coop is 8' wide and 2' deep so place posts 7' apart and 1.5' apart.
2. Pour cement and make sure posts are level. Once cement solidifies cut posts to height you want and ensure coop will be level with your cuts (my coop is 3' high).
3. Screw in 2" x 4" on inside and outside of each 4" x 4" posts so the coop has plenty of surface are to sit on. 2" x 4" are also screwed in every 1' wide-wise to provide strong support of flooring.
4. Coop's interior frame uses 2" x 4". Coop's design is slanted (back of coop is taller than front by 1') so that water sloughs off roof to inside the coop yard. Top and bottom of coop is insulated with 8" of R-15 insulation, walls are not insulated.
5. Floor has 8 mil plastic stapled to the floor to reduce floor rot (plastic should be replaced annually).
6. Roof and floor are made of 1/2" plywood.
7. Outside of coop is made of Textured Redwood Grain Fiber Panel Siding. Using jigsaw, cut out openings for front sliding door and back access doors.
8. Each back access door is attached to coop using two 4" hinges. Top of each access door uses a padlock hinge to lock the coop. Inside door rests on a wooden track system and is 1/2 plywood with a simple rope pull to open and close door.
Took me about a month to build the coop (working on weekends). Learn from me and make sure you get your coop built BEFORE you obtain your duckings!!
A breakdown of all sections can be found here: drive.google.com/file/d/1FTEXr3so2RIaahTgsujlWEy_g7Zh0YmX/view?usp=sharing
Those 5 gallon water buckets are a total chore. They will be hard to get in and out of the sand. An elevated podium with a bucket stuck inside a few vertical chocks to keep it stable. Fix a flange to the bottom and a valve so you can drain the dirty water fast to a covered holding tank. Great stuff for your veg. Add a valve at the top to similarly make refill easy - perhaps a float valve so they always have water. You'll still have to clean the bucket but far less regularly.
Gary,
Thanks for the response. I've move away from the buckets for a lionshare of the year and use a continuous watering system design which you can see a vid for on my channel. In terms of the buckets being in the sand, it's actually a bucket in a bucket system. The outer bucket is screwed in to a support frame which is buried in the sand. The frame allows the buckets to stay level at all times. A inner bucket is what water is added to so the water bucket is not actually buried in the sand but actually loaded inside the outer bucket. Again, you can see this better from some of the vids on my channel.
In terms of the "dirty water" there's no real dirty water since the ducks can only get their head in it. I do get a little sand in the bucket which needs to be rinsed out, but other than that the water stays relatively clean.
The bucket system is now only used in the winter months. The inner bucket is lined with 3" of insulation. I would be able to drain it into a holding tank in the winter as the water would freeze in the line between the bucket and the holding tank.
Garry Hoddinott I need to create a water system for my ducks, would love your advice.
Zeldabug, questions that need to be answered to get a good response for your situation include:
1. Does your coop/duck area have access to continuous water?
2. Do you have winters that dip below the freezing temperature?
3. How many ducks do you need to provide water for?
smithmal 1. Yes I can run a hose to the coop area
2. Winters occasionally dip below freezing, I live in central Arkansas. 3. I have five welsh harlequins.
Hmmmm... looks like you are right near the freezing line. You most likely would be able to get away with using a continuous water system all season long (at least you could try and see how it goes one season). As Gary Hoddinott above suggested, having a system that uses a tank with a float works well. Please check out my DIY continuous water system which is found here: ua-cam.com/video/l8ybQ40noV0/v-deo.html
There's a thread discussing how I built it found here: www.backyardchickens.com/threads/any-ideas-for-automatic-watering-system-for-ducks.906368/page-2#post-17316064
All the materials used for this build can be purchased online and/or at your local hardware store. Hope this helps.
I had a kiddy pool so they could swim
Desafortunadamente no sirvio para my flock. No le mueven a lo amarillo. So no agua. 😞😩🤷🏻♀️
I've found that if you want to train your ducks to use the watering jug you can give them some yummy lettuce and then put some in the jug and they will go in there to eat it. Once they do that they will now know where the water is. It only takes one duck to figure it out. Once one does the whole flock will follow.
I raise rare ducks and geese. This set up is for people, not the ducks... Ducks need to immerse their heads to keep their nostrils and eyes clear and clean. They also grab a bite of food, then wash it down. They will quickly wet those crumbles into mucky concrete like glue, then it will mold. I Only use a crumble when they are babies , oh and it gets all sticky all over their face, eyes and nose. They need a pool so they can preen and waterproof their feathers. You could build a wire platform, so they won't noodle around it like they so love to do.The sand will also tend to abrade their feathers and make them dull.... loose pond rocks or pea gravel would be a better choice if they are confined all the time... Plain old gallon horse buckets work well as watering buckets, easy to clean out and you just have to dump and clean them... A small kiddie pool or one of those HD concrete mixing bins.(about 4-8" depth) works well...unless you want to sink a pond and put a 4" or more drain in it.... I know people mean well when they build nice houses ... but waterfowl are different than poultry or game birds...)
Horselackey, thanks for you response. The water system I now use has been altered. Please see the pop-up notifications in the beginning of the video for the changes. I understand your thoughts on using sand, but using pond rocks or pea gravel would be very difficult to clean allowing all of their waste to build up quickly causing issues with odor and disease. The sand can be raked and I've also introduced a system to clean and disinfect it (again, please see the pop-ups in the beginning and throughout the video). Thanks.
Horselackey what do you use to feed your ducks if not the crumble
I use pellets. They last longer, don't mold as easily and others have indicated that ducks prefer eating pellets over crumbles.
Horselackey, thanks for your response. I use pellets instead of crumbles. This video is over 2 years old. I have updated my water system which you can see from my new video (updated video noted in the cards attached to this video). Thanks for watching.
I don't think the car antenna will work on you door, to much friction. Car antennas have no power to push or pull stuff. Unless you install some ballbearing slides to the equation. A car window regulator motor will definitely work. Some on the net show how they used window reg motors.
I am going to install a harbor freight winch to open my chicken door !! 😀
tisiluca, thanks for the info. I agree. Lots of friction here. Works fine to open manually. Do you have any sources which discuss using a car window motor with a coop door on a timer? Thanks.
@@smithmal01
ua-cam.com/video/_1owipsnfoY/v-deo.html
As far as electrical and timers, its the same as car antenna, 12 volt system.
I was eyeballing my garage door opener for my chicken coop. ....😀
And there was one guy using some sort of winch system with a gate latch for a secure trap door thing deal...
Lots of ways to skin cats.....
I wanna build this lol... but how much did this cost you? Something this awesome looks expensive.
Conner, check out the build link I posted in the description. I talk about pricing there.
Malcolm Smith Do you mean this (www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chickens-eating-black-widow-spiders.107/)? Because it was the only working non video link and it talked about spiders.
Conner, Whoops... sorry I was confused as to which video you were talking about. In terms of cost breakdown for the entire coop/yard, I would say:
Coop cost = $200 - $250
Yard Fencing cost = $250 - $300 (1/2 x 1/2" hardware cloth very expensive)
Yard lumber = $150 - $200
Sand cost (4 yards) = $200 - $250 (with delivery)
Water Station cost = $40 - $50
Feeding Station cost = $30 - $40
Took about a month to build working on weekends.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks... Will Really Help me out!
Ducks need a pond not buckets
where are the ducks???😂😂
Lester/Maarij, Please check other videos on my channel to see the ducks. Thanks for watching.
You don't find that ducks gorge on the food ?
Food restrictions only need to be in place until they reach full size (about 3 months). After that adverse reactions to over eating are no longer a concern (I wish I could say that for myself:) Thanks for watching.
@@smithmal01 ha ha ha ha myself also 🐖🐽
where were the videos you got the ideas from IE how do i find the cups for the water system
I didn't get the idea from a video, I got the idea from the following post:
naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/01/comparison-of-poultry-cup-drinkers.html
I have since moved away from using the drinking cups. Mainly because the ducks tend to fill them up with sand on a daily basis (which in turn necessitated me manually cleaning them out on a daily basis). I now use insulated 5 gallon pails (for the winter) and a 13 gallon drum with an internal float (for all other times).
wow! i disagree! This is a terrible duck run and coop! The only thing I can agree with is the enclosure itself. Well built top to bottom. Although predators can and will dig right under that no problem. Also mink and weasels can fit through something like 3 inches. They are just as much of a threat as a fox or hawk.
Now my OPINION is that anything more than 3 ducks inside this run would be cruel. Unless you plan on letting them out during the day but it appears you are not...So, you're keeping them confined and now you have taken away the dirt and grass/weeds they like to eat and is crucial for their diet, and replaced it with some sand that looks unsafe as hell for them. Oh but hey it's easier to clean and shit right?
Now that you have removed any grazing or enrichment for them let's move on to your water situation. Them cups work well with chickens, not for a duck. Also am I the only one who thinks that using a preen bucket for a waterer is a bad idea? I don't care how much you rinsed it off first! This is what they will do, use them two buckets in the ground to drink and slosh their food in. Do your research, ducks have no mucus membranes so they need access to water (including inside where they bed down at night ) 24 hrs a day.
Why are you even keeping them if you don't want to have to do any real work involved in having ducks? DUCKS ARE MESSY! They are going to get things wet, and make a mess its what they do. To try and take everything they naturally do away so it can make your job easier is absurd! I'm sorry but I feel for em. Ducks and chickens aren't for everyone, I have so many birds from people like you who thought it would be fun or cool, that got some ideas from pinterest and google. DO REAL RESEARCH! SAD.
Amanda - thanks for taking the time to voice your concerns regarding the duck raising system this video shows. Just about all your comments are correct and there have been several improvements to my duck husbandry system since it was first built (over two years ago) and I am always interested in additional improvements. There are many videos on my channel that discuss coop/yard improvements as well as lessons learned by me along the way. What you are seeing here is my initial attempt at constructing a duck yard and coop.
You are correct on your statements about predators. Luckily in my area, weasels and minks are not prevalent. My biggest concern are raccoons, foxes, hawks, owls and neighborhood dogs. There are two types of hardware cloth that I use to secure the duck yard. 1/2" x 1/2" surrounds the duck yard up to 4' high and is buried one foot below the ground to deter animals from digging. 2" x 4" hardware cloth covers the upper sides and the roof. Also I have three dogs that roam outside of the duck yard that provide another layer of surveillance/deterrence. Additionally, all ducks are secured in the coop at night. The breeds that raise (heavyweight ducks) cannot fly and therefore have little to no natural defenses from predators if they encounter them. That being said, no coop/run is 100% secure from predators. As of now, I have had no losses due to predators since being built, so from that sense, it has served its purpose.
Per Storey's Guide on Raising Ducks, the size of my duck yard is in line with their recommendations. In terms of sand, I admit that is off the "beaten path" in terms of ground material. The reasons for choosing it were:
1. Sand is an insulator keeping the ducks cool in the summer and warm in the winter
2. Well maintained sand allows them to have a surface to walk on that reduces issues with bumble foot
3. Sand can be collected and cleaned allowing for the removal/collection of manure which is used as fertilizer for plants/trees
4. Sand provides the necessary grit which is necessary for ducks to properly digest their food
I have come up with a system to regularly clean and disinfect and till my sand and harvest any manure embedded in it. This system is discussed on several of my videos if you are interested in watching.
In terms of diet, I also agree. Allowing ducks to free range is preferable however, due to my concern on predators, I have decided to keep them secured. I do also supplement their diet with meal worms and fresh greens. Apple cider vinegar is added to their water to boost their immune system.
In terms of water, also you are correct. The drinking cups that were used with the watering system shown in this video, though marketed as a watering solution for ducks were not optimal and I have since updated the system I use (again please look at my channel) with an HDPE drum + float to provide continuous water. Ducks do not need a pond, but they do need a source of clean water that is deep enough for them to continuously clean their bills and eyes (as you mentioned).
As you stated in your comments, anyone interested in raising ducks need to do their homework/due diligence in terms of research before attempting to raise ducks. I am continuously learning on all aspects regarding raising ducks and have reached out to my agriculture extension to ask questions regarding the systems that I use. I do agree that ducks can be messy, which seems to be the #1 reason that deter people from raising them, however there are options available that can reduce the overall labor to raise ducks. Thanks for watching and commenting as I appreciate the feedback. It would be appreciated though if you could watch your language if/when replying as I consider this a "family" categorized channel. Thanks.