Advice for new duck pond plz

[Joev1973]

Ok 2 updates:
2 new ducks a black swedish & my fav a blue swedish.

As for the pen, the fencing is up & done with gate installed and bird netting covering the whole enclosure. Old neighbor came down amd built a nice ramp. So all that needs dont is their house needs moved and im building a little roof for their food & to cover their house for shade. And the redneck fountain needs installed. Will move the ducks into their pen tomorrow.

Finally can move on to the next new pen & a banty coop that needs built as I have 25 assorted bantys in the brooder box & decided to keep them seperate from the main flock.

 

[Joev1973]

You know i live in a rural area , as rural as it gets & have a property large enough to do something bigger. Would make my life easier as anything that makes the lawn mowing easier I support lol. I wonder how much it would cost for someone on an excavator to make a pond 3 ft deep over a 1/2 acre ??

 

[BReeder!]

Yes, and of course my husband wants to do exactly what you said, overthink and overengineer the whole thing so it's developing into a big project and an even bigger argument. I don't want to do it at all now! Maybe I ought to just do it on my own but it's too big of a job I think.

At the end of the day, a pool of water is all they need... I like the deeper idea, but even then just dig a hole, drop a liner and you have a pond. Adding rocks and landscaping certainly helps make it pretty. The easiest deep pond build is to dig a hole and mound the dirt you dig up around the perimeter. Then you can plant the mound on the outside. The mound creates depth with half the digging. Just be sure to tamp it and cover the exposed dirt with plants, rocks and/or mulch to keep the ducks from eroding it away as they walk on it. Occasional maintenance is needed on the mound in the form of adding mulch and perhaps dirt. As for something under there liner, carpet remnants or old floor padding/underlayment works well. Look around the day before garbage pickup to see if anybody had tossed any out add part of a remodel. I got lucky doing exactly this. Sand makes another good option, and even cardboard will work. Keep it simple, but as big as you can (including considerations for water flow and filtration).

 

[DuckyDonna]

At the end of the day, a pool of water is all they need... I like the deeper idea, but even then just dig a hole, drop a liner and you have a pond. Adding rocks and landscaping certainly helps make it pretty. The easiest deep pond build is to dig a hole and mound the dirt you dig up around the perimeter. Then you can plant the mound on the outside. The mound creates depth with half the digging. Just be sure to tamp it and cover the exposed dirt with plants, rocks and/or mulch to keep the ducks from eroding it away as they walk on it. Occasional maintenance is needed on the mound in the form of adding mulch and perhaps dirt. As for something under there liner, carpet remnants or old floor padding/underlayment works well. Look around the day before garbage pickup to see if anybody had tossed any out add part of a remodel. I got lucky doing exactly this. Sand makes another good option, and even cardboard will work. Keep it simple, but as big as you can (including considerations for water flow and filtration).

How would you clean the pond?

 

[BReeder!]

Note the "considerations for... filtration".
I previously posted about a simple biomech filler using lava rock, sponges or filler pads in a water trough or plastic barrel. Additionally, the water can bu pumped out and refilled from time to time as needed. Fill drains may not be required if you design a backwash function into the filter. My old folder had mesh bags even holding the lava rock so I could pull them out, hose them off good and stick them back in. Follett cleaning took about 10 minutes. Ducks do get the water muddy and like to drop poop and even eggs into the water. However, a large pond with simple filtration can handle quite a bit.

 

[Ratchnick]

Make sure you put some good vents in that plastic igloo. 1 sqft per duck

 

[BReeder!]

Guys i bought a 16x16 ft liner. Paid some young kid to dig the hole stalled out in the hard tennessee dirt & roots. I called an old neighbor down with industrial tiller attachment on his big tractor and he pulverized the dirt roots and all. Wouldnt you know it as he finished the rain began. 7 straight days of rain and 1 heck of a mud pit. I suspended the job until the ground drys.

I bought the fencing and top bird netting today and when this project is done the ducks will have their own pen 20x30 with 12x12x24" pond & fountain. Even got a sump pump to pump the poop water to the garden thats always parched in the southern heat.

Today bought an x-large igloo dog house for the 4 ducks. Its coming together just a rain delay. I will update when we get er done

12x12x2 would use the entire liner in the hole. how will you keep the sides from falling in? You might want to consider 10x10x2.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Guys i bought a 16x16 ft liner. Paid some young kid to dig the hole stalled out in the hard tennessee dirt & roots. I called an old neighbor down with industrial tiller attachment on his big tractor and he pulverized the dirt roots and all. Wouldnt you know it as he finished the rain began. 7 straight days of rain and 1 heck of a mud pit. I suspended the job until the ground drys.

I bought the fencing and top bird netting today and when this project is done the ducks will have their own pen 20x30 with 12x12x24" pond & fountain. Even got a sump pump to pump the poop water to the garden thats always parched in the southern heat.

Today bought an x-large igloo dog house for the 4 ducks. Its coming together just a rain delay. I will update when we get er done

Where did you get your liner and how many MIL thick is it. I'm thinking about doing the same thing but the Youtube video I watched didn't give any information about the liner thickness, just the size. Thanks!

 

[Ratchnick]

I think they usually come in 20 and 40 mil. If you can afford it go 40

 

[BReeder!]

How in the world are you going to be able to clean the igloo? Does it come apart because the ducks are going to poop all over it? Mine seem to aim their butts right at the walls for some reason and you wouldn't believe how far up the walls they can aim! I'm a bit concerned about ventilation too. Ducks expel a massive amount moisture that needs to go somewhere especially in the winter.

Usually the top and base of an igloo separate. Also, my ducks don't poop much in the duck house. The eat and may lay eggs there and spend the rest of their time outside by choice.