Coy fish?

[2chicks poultry]

Hi everyone!!!!

sorry about he misspell in the title lol This does pertain to gardening and chickens lol ok so I was wondering how I could raise duck weed for my chickens? And I was thinking of putting it in a big black tub that I have and putting a couple of koi in there with them and maybe snails? But I dont want to use any chemicals because of the fact that I am going to feed the duck weed to my chickens and because of the koi but What do i do about mosquitoes? will the coy eat them? I hope so. If anyone has any ideas on the subject feel free to reply

Thanks!

 

[Aaron Shealy]

I had 2 gold fish ponds for years. Well up till my girls got old enough to stay in the ponds then i cut the liners out. My fish keep the sketters down. The ponds were very self sustaining. I did have to remove the plants once and a while to repot them.

 

[DurhamDuck]

I think- either the chickens would peck at the koi or be afraid to get in the water because of them.

Big black tub? How big? Koi need a lot of room. Even if you found a type of fish that would fit in the tub, it would eat all the duckweed, and then, the chickens would probably scarf down the fish if they had access to it.

 

[dekel18042]

The fish should eat the mosquito larvae, but wondering why you would want koi as opposed to the common goldfish which, IMHO are hardier? You can get small feeder goldfish for ten cents each and they do grow.
I put four 2 inch goldfish in my pond thirteen years ago and still have three goldfish now between 10-12 inches long.
If you want the plants for your chickens, goldfish are easier on plants than koi.
Interestingly, my chickens will drink out of puddles, runoff, etc, but they for some strange reason, never drink from the pond. They'll stand by the edge and watch the fish, but that is it.
If you want to overwinter the fish (Did I mention how hardy they are?) you might want to consider sinking the tub into the ground so it doesn't freeze all the way down.
Depending on your winters, an above ground tub could freeze solid and that would kill the fish.

 

[2chicks poultry]

oh ok thanks for the feedback. I think that I will do goldfish and the tub is huge so there should be space for them. The chickens dont have access to the tub so the fish are safe. In the winter can I put a heater in the tub with the fish or should I bring them in? because I dont think that burying the tub is an option. Thanks!

 

[dekel18042]

You can put a heater in. Don't heat it too much, just don't let it freeze all the way down. Studies have shown that goldfish in ponds brought inside to overwinter in aquariums have shorter lifespans than those left ourside. Goldfish can stand cold water but water temps fluctuating too much in cold weather aren't the best for them.

 

[2chicks poultry]

oh ok thank you I will leave them outside.

 

[barbiegirl]

Koi need a lot of space. They should be kept in ponds at least 1000 gallons of water. Koi can grow up to 30 inches long. They need filtration, koi and goldfish make a lot of waste. Koi are killers on plants. Duck weed will not survive koi. For mosquitos I used Rosy minnows since my koi didn't eat the larvae. For a tub I would recommend the Rosy minnows and not koi. Be careful to make sure that the water doesn't freeze all the way solid, the fish won't survive.