A pond for my ducks... and water for my garden?

[GiantDogs+Ducks]

I'm new, so thanks for any help you can provide! I'm ready to get my first ducks in the spring and I've decided on 4 or 5 Khaki Campbells. I plan to install an in-ground pond... probably a hard plastic liner with enough room for their cute flipping behavior

I'm planning to use a large pump to get the water from the duck pond to my 17'x15' garden (highly diverse heirloom crop population). I will pump the pond to empty and refill with fresh water 3x/wk in the winter and more during the summer. I will also install a "just in case" drain pipe that will empty outside the ducks' pen and down a slope. I found a reasonably priced pump strong enough to overpower the very slight incline between the pond and the garden and rated for 10mm solids. My question is, can anyone think of any drawbacks to this plan? Thanks!!!

 

[TLWR]

Nope. Sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[jynxster]

sounds good what kind of pump you getting or got?

 

[70%cocoa]

Excellent plan.

The only issue may be that the pump will not take absolutely all the water out. To deal with that I have my pump situated in a sump (ie. another tub which is a storm water pit I bought) that the pond completely drains to. I drain the pond using 19mm (3/4 inch) poly pipe. Don't use anything smaller than that or it'll get blocked.

Here is a pic of it. The white thing on the wall is a filter which is needed because the pump pumps to a drip irrigation system. I have to filter out the particles. But you wouldn't need the filter part if you are just going to water the garden manually with a hose from the pump. The white pipe is just to house the 19mm poly pipe that drains the pond so that it can be buried without getting squashed. If you use the sump aporoach make sure your drain pipe isn't so big a diameter that the pump can't keep up with the inflow. Just trial the pump first to get an idea.

My pump can handle solids up to 35mm. The pump itself has never gotten blocked but sometimes the pipe going to the filter gets blocked where it makes a right angle turn. Because of that it needs a little maintenance but it's no big deal. The duck water is absolutely fantastic for the veggie garden. Best thing I ever did for the garden was get ducks and use the pond water as a resource.

 

[Miss Lydia]

GiantDogs+Ducks :

I'm new, so thanks for any help you can provide! I'm ready to get my first ducks in the spring and I've decided on 4 or 5 Khaki Campbells. I plan to install an in-ground pond... probably a hard plastic liner with enough room for their cute flipping behavior

I'm planning to use a large pump to get the water from the duck pond to my 17'x15' garden (highly diverse heirloom crop population). I will pump the pond to empty and refill with fresh water 3x/wk in the winter and more during the summer. I will also install a "just in case" drain pipe that will empty outside the ducks' pen and down a slope. I found a reasonably priced pump strong enough to overpower the very slight incline between the pond and the garden and rated for 10mm solids. My question is, can anyone think of any drawbacks to this plan? Thanks!!!

 

[Amiga]

70%cocoa :

Best thing I ever did for the garden was get ducks and use the pond water as a resource.

Amen!

(And then there's the slug and bug management!)​

 

[70%cocoa]

Quote:
Amen!

(And then there's the slug and bug management!)

Oh yes, that too!! And they are industrious little weed eaters as well. I think my garden is duck dependent now - and so am I. They certainly pull their weight around here.

 

[hcppam]

I use my water for my trees and occasionally on my garden, don't use the duck water entirely on your garden (to much nitrogen) use fresh water like 3 to1. Just saying.

Hi from Big Bear Ca. This is a good place for quackers too.

 

[70%cocoa]

Quote:
It does have a lot of nitrogen. I find that my leafy greens go crazy on it. I was wondering how things like tomatoes and potatoes would go but I have heaps of those too, they are going very well. So 'fruiting' things and tubers can cope fine.

I use about 40 gallons of water a day that 7 ducks are pooping in. So, I find that about 1 duck per 6 gallons per day is diluted enough for the garden.

 

[suzysducks]

I'm planning to use a large pump to get the water from the duck pond to my 17'x15' garden (highly diverse heirloom crop population). I will pump the pond to empty and refill with fresh water 3x/wk in the winter and more during the summer. I will also install a "just in case" drain pipe that will empty outside the ducks' pen and down a slope. I found a reasonably priced pump strong enough to overpower the very slight incline between the pond and the garden and rated for 10mm solids. My question is, can anyone think of any drawbacks to this plan? Thanks!!!

I think that should work fine for just 4 to 5 Khaki Campbells. More than that, I'd take a hard look at 70%cocoa's plan which I think is very good!