Best pool for ducks?

[BigLar368]

We have 4 WH's that are fairly young along with some other chicks. We bought a stock tank Tractor Supply. Rather than burry it in the ground I am going to build a stand for it and plumb into my garage sewer cleanout. Just hook up a valve and dump and rinse into the sewer without a huge mess. Here is a link to what we bought. I will have it up and ready in a few days.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rubbermaid-structural-foam-stock-tanks-50-gal-capacity

 

[21hens-incharge]

You can see I used a stock tank as well.


Showing my ball valve set up. I cannot find the pic with the rest of the plumbing....anyway it has a 90° elbow taking it to the fence, a hole drilled through the board under the chain link, another 90° elbow and a looooong pipe to take water away from the coop/run.
I built a deck to keep them from bailing out and landing hard on the ground. Inside has stacked blocks so they can get out easily.

 

[Going Quackers]

A couple of kinds, typical round kiddy pools, we also have stock tanks.. now in all fairness they aren't for the ducks anymore but that doesn't stop them from getting in them lol.

I mainly have Muscovy though and their claws are very bad, i should mention super large plastic pools by step2(long since discontinued ) are very nice, they go into my grandchildrens all the time lol.

 

[BigLar368]

You can see I used a stock tank as well.

View attachment 2210577
Showing my ball valve set up. I cannot find the pic with the rest of the plumbing....anyway it has a 90° elbow taking it to the fence, a hole drilled through the board under the chain link, another 90° elbow and a looooong pipe to take water away from the coop/run.
I built a deck to keep them from bailing out and landing hard on the ground. Inside has stacked blocks so they can get out easily.
View attachment 2210584

We have pretty much the same size. Just curious how many ducks you have for the one tank. Thanks.

 

[21hens-incharge]

We have pretty much the same size. Just curious how many ducks you have for the one tank. Thanks.

I have 7 welsh harlequin ducks. They do all get in together......it is tight when they do. Most of the time there are 3 or less in it at the same time.

If I could have found a larger one that was still short I would have gone bigger.

 

[BigLar368]

I have 7 welsh harlequin ducks. They do all get in together......it is tight when they do. Most of the time there are 3 or less in it at the same time.

If I could have found a larger one that was still short I would have gone bigger.

We ran into the same problem. Would have like to have gotten a bigger pond but not as deep. If yours is good for 7 then I guess it will work for our 4. Going to be working on setting it up today. The WH's are about 3 weeks old and they seem to grow a half an inch a day...lol. It won't be long before they have the run of the back yard.

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi! We have six silver Appleyards (large breed) ducks. They are three years old. Here is their story told through the lens of water!

When they were very little, they used a roasting pan (don't worry, the irony was not lost on us).

They then used a kiddie pool with a ramp to get in and some rocks in the pool to help them get out.

We built a proper pond, but they only would swim in the overflow on really rainy days...silly ducks!

We thought they might give the real pond a go....but no dice...

Then they found Duck Landing! A small intermittent drainage that has water much of the year and doesn't often freeze because of natural springs. They can't really "swim" in it, but it became their favorite spot.

We then dug them two little pools in another natural drainage that runs most of the year. The area is affectionately known as "the waterpark," and they love it!

They still have two small pools for when they are not free ranging. The use them regularly!

We improved the waterpark with a little more depth, and boy did they like that! lol

They still love Duck Landing (especially after a big rain!).

And even with all that water, when they hear the call for breakfast or dinner, they still come running!

This is awesome!

 

[3bird]

This is awesome!

They are great ducks! On the big picture, we struggled with this until we figured out we could exploit some natural features on our property that naturally flush. Even with just seven ducks, we found the water in a larger pool fouling too quickly in the summer, necessitating daily clean-out...and that just was not sustainable even with trying to utilize most of the water in the garden (and then you need to consider issues of fecal matter on things like lettuce, etc.). The small pools we use for them in the summer when they are restricted to the pasture around their run work great. Low volume but enough for them to splash.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I also have found that my ducks prefer the small pools. I have two large pools -over 40 gallons. One is a pond liner, one a feed trough. I also have two small ones. One is 5 gallons, the other 10. My six ducks all take turns in the small pools when they are let out in the morning. Later in the day, they will go in the larger pools but usually always one at a time and they spend way more time in the small pools. I don't think ducks think like humans and think bigger is better. I think they prefer easy in and out. If I ever redo my set up I will have six 5 gallon horse feed bowls. I will place each at the end of one of my raised garden beds so each can be emptied into a bed.