does anyone know about ducks?

[renae]

i bought five ducklings from my local feed store and raised them in my home untill they were old enough to go uotside( mistake #1 if you can help it raise youre ducks outside THEY STINK) i have moved them to the chicken coop where they can get to know eachother since there will be times they will roam together.im putting up a fence around a half acre and then the ducks will roam that area permanantly while the chcikens of corse stay in their area.well my question is since i have never had even one duck before i am learning as i go with my five ,i bought a large pond like thing for them to swim in but i am finding it is not really big enough for all of them to be in together and requires alot of every day 2-3 times a day changing the water.i thought it might be easier to just dig out a large hole in the ground and line it with something and just make a premanant pond for them thus eliminating the constant pond water having to be changed.is this just wishful thinking or has anyone out there done it and could tell me how.

 

[NiftyChick]

Hi, Renae. Just thought you might want to check out our thread on ducks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1071

No one's said anything about a large pond, but it sounds like a good idea!

 

[eggchel]

If you put in an in-ground pond, be sure to put in a drain system of some kind, unless it is really big and has it's own eco system of plants and fish to clean the water. I just use kiddie pools. I dump them out once a day or every other day depending on how many pool I have and how many ducks and geese are using them. I just grab the edge of them and dump half the water out, give it a swirl to loosen the mud on the bottom, dump the rest and then refill with the hose. The hose kinda scares them, like it is a snake, but they love to play in the water coming out of it.
Here is a tip..... keep your kiddie pool on a layer of rocks so that there is no bare dirt right around the pool. That makes drainage easier and then the little buggers cant muddy up the water so quickly.

chel

 

[munchkin]

Hi!

We tried building an inground pool, but their sharp little claws destroyed the liner and it leaked! Now we use a food storage bin (the big plastic ones) cut in half lengthways..
Just need to be careful that it was used to hold food, not chemicals or poisoning can occur..

Happy swimming...Quack!

 

[renae]

this is just a thought... what if i were to dig the hole ,line it with a pool liner or pond liner whichever and then on top of the liner place large flat rocks so they cant scratch at the liner just athought trying to think this through before i get myself into some half baked idea.(lol)

 

[munchkin]

Oh, we tried that too, but rocks (even the flattest ones) tend to have a way of creating tears too..You may have more success though..If you try it, get the toughest grade liner u can afford..
Another alternative; I ended up buying a sheep water trough, it is about 1.6 metre diameter & 60cm deep..Also has a built in drain plug! Cost about $180 Aussie dollars but will last forever...It came from a livestock feed supplier.. We lined the perimeter with rocks so they can get out. It is dug into the ground, with the drain clear, and it almost looks natural..

good luck!

 

[renae]

now thats a good idea this way it could be drained into the ground and still look like it belongs there. i think i might try that once the fence and what not is finished thanks

 

[munchkin]

No worries! Another thing to consider (if you have a water shortage problem- our whole country is nearly in drought) is if you put in near something that needs a bit of water, when you empty it throught the drain hole, the water & poo will seep into the ground and be absorbed by nearby plants. We have roses and ferns near ours. and they are thriving.. Quack quack..

 

[loopy]

Hi All,

Renae congrats on the new ducklings. I bet they've doubled in size by now. We have call ducks which are a bantam breed and we have a lot of success with your basic livestock aluminum waterig tub. We made a ramp to allow them to walk up the side to get in. They sometimes get in all at the same time but have also learned to take turns. We change the water once a day. It is amazing how hearty ducks are with filtering filth. They just love mucking about. We also have a few shallow pans that we fill for them. Just enough to blow out their nose holes and cool their haunches. You can see the set up by checking out our videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8E012919425A9280

They are the such sweet garden pest controllers. We don't have snails or slugs. (at least not many)
We have a small house with an attached run for them. We keep them in the run when we see hawks or osprey circling. They have free reign of a fenced garden area most of the time. I never thought crows could be have much use but they are usually the first birds to make a racket when there is a hawk hunting.

Cheers,
Karen -(Loopy is our white duck)

 

[waynaria]

we sometimes let our ducks swim in our cold tub in winter wen theres no chlorine in it
they love it!!!!