Best Pool For Ducks

[allyallyjohnson]

As my ducks are getting older, approx 2 months now, they have began to grow out of the kiddie pool I bought for them. I'm currently unable to dig into the ground and make an actual pond. I am wondering what kind things some of you have used as their pool source as your ducks grew. Please comment with anything! I am needing to buy a new one this week. Pictures would be great!!

 

[Louisiana Girl]

What do you mean grown out of the kiddie pool?

In my experience ducks don't like too deep of water actually, and prefer a few inches of water with dirt, grass, foods, bugs, etc. In it to eat and play with. They don't really care about swimming.

If the ducks can both stand in the pool and turn around it should be big enough. They can still get themselves very wet in a shallow pool

My ducks LOVE to swim. They dive down under the water and swim all around. I only have 4 right now and they are 4 weeks old. I want to get them a bigger pool when they get a little older.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

What do you mean grown out of the kiddie pool?

In my experience ducks don't like too deep of water actually, and prefer a few inches of water with dirt, grass, foods, bugs, etc. In it to eat and play with. They don't really care about swimming.

If the ducks can both stand in the pool and turn around it should be big enough. They can still get themselves very wet in a shallow pool

 

[Going Quackers]

Looks from your avatar that is the teeny pools, get a bigger one lol

I have a big kiddy pools, and troughs but those can be tricky to get in/out of... i also have the bottom of an old kids sandbox but it's shallow ..

 

[allyallyjohnson]

I was thinking about making something like this but with a bigger tub and going for about a 2 ft deep tub. Do you think this would be to big and that I should just get a bigger kiddie pool? They are 2 months old now and my only concern was that the pool is really too small for them to both get in and splash at once.

 

[allyallyjohnson]

Also to go with the kiddie pool idea would an inflatable pool be a bad idea? Like could they somehow pop it? That was one of my first options but I don't want to purchase something and it pop and I have to buy something else.

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

I have 29 ducks and 2 geese all fully feathered and they are happy with kid sandboxes. They are square. I got mine at Menards for like $20. I use four but two ducks would be good with one.

Here is the box.

 

[Shanadoodle]

Also to go with the kiddie pool idea would an inflatable pool be a bad idea? Like could they somehow pop it? That was one of my first options but I don't want to purchase something and it pop and I have to buy something else.

Hey! I've had two Muscovys and two mallards and they they did swim in a turtle sandpit but eventually we allowed them in our garden pond, but the sandpit was good enough tbh, but as for the inflatable pool my sister in law tried this and it resulted in a deflated mess on the grown, she only had mallards. Hope this helps

 

[Essie]

Don't get an inflatable pool! My DH picked one up and while the duck duck goose never popped it, it naturally loses air so you have to keep refilling it. Or perhaps there is a slow leak. Anyway, if I didn't pump it up daily it would unexpectedly dump water and scare the ducks. Plus that is a lot of water to lose.

I have a kiddy pool and a hard side soft bottom kiddy pool. Plastic kiddy pools seem to be best. Next time I think I would just get two.

 

[Featherfarmer]

Hi! Thought I'd add some more suggestions. I have 30 Call ducks, a pair of Pekins and had a pair of Cayugas....a raccoon killed my Cayuga hen (on a nest) recently and today I am hatching out her 5 eggs....so I have ducks of all sizes!

I've been raising ducks for 6 years now. For summer time pools I use 4 old sand boxes that I have picked up and 2 6' long oval shaped pools. All are hard plastic! The sand boxes are easy to dump out if they are placed on wooden pallets instead of the ground. Just easier to grab the edges so that the dirty water can be tipped out and an old scrubby works great for cleaning off any algae buildup on the sides. The 2 pools have drainage holes in the bottom. I rigged a small hose to the pool drain hole and I capped the end of the hose so that I could direct the water to areas away from the pools like into my sunflower patch! Duck water is excellent for your growing vegetables!

Now for the winter time and for baby ducklings I use old plastic sleds. Even my Pekins love these even in the summer time. They crawl into them and splash all the water out the minute I fill them so those get filled twice each of the days I do pools...about every 2 or 3 days max. (As you can tell I have alot of water sources for my ducks here) The sleds are easy for the ducklings to get in and out of if you tilt one edge down for them. Or a rubber mat placed over the side works really well too. And during the winter the sleds are easier to keep clean and ice is easily removed. Frozen sand boxes are heavy and it's just too much water for me to be hauling outside. I just make sure they get fresh water every morning and again in early afternoon. Then at night I just dump them out when I'm out locking up the troops for the night.

For the larger breeds I have seen people use horse troughs and fish ponds. As long as you have something for the ducks to walk onto inside the pool so that they can get out onto a ramp safely then that can work too. I've tried them also. Just in my experience the ducks are happier swimming around the surface instead of deep diving. But the choice is yours to make on what works best for you! I hope these suggestions are useful! Just thought I'd try to help!