DIY raised duck pond

[mixedUPturk]

So

 

[HennyPenny2]

are you using pressure treated wood? if not wont the rain rot the wood out and do you have to worry about splinters in the ducks feet?

It is treated 2x6s and treated pine fence panels for the top (which is not treated in the same way it used to be), and no, no worry of splinters, if that is a concern you can just give the top a quick sanding. I eventually plan to use an exterior poly on the very top board just to make it extra durable but this should last a very very long time. I also chose not to have the frame sitting on the ground but have it sitting on pavers.

 

[HennyPenny2]

Beautiful set up!

Thank you very much

 

[Bill83]

That greenish color of the wood says treated to me

Yeah i thought the same thing BUT i was under the assumption we should never use pressure treated wood where they will eat/drink/swim

 

[quackiemama]

I love your set up. Very nicely done

 

[EdgewaterDucks]

What a great-looking setup! Might consider it myself. Question: Do you run into clogging problems with the duck - ahem - "dirt" draining out like it does?

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Very nice!

@shawluvsbirds had something similar, I believe, before they put one down into the ground.

Love it!
Mine was a lot smaller scale. For call ducklings. but similar. I just had an old roasting pan for the tub.
I like the bathtub idea!!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

What a great-looking setup! Might consider it myself. Question: Do you run into clogging problems with the duck - ahem - "dirt" draining out like it does?

I think being above ground it will probably drain pretty good. With the tank I have in the ground it clogs up so bad because they fill it with mud from their bills. . it's not just their muck. Plus I get pine shavings in it all the time and they even like to throw rocks in it.

 

[HennyPenny2]

Yeah i thought the same thing BUT i was under the assumption we should never use pressure treated wood where they will eat/drink/swim

I have done my research and find it is harmless, ingested may be harmful such as horses chewing on a fence, but so would a lot of things ingested. It is not made with arsenic and from what I see is now pretty harmless. To each there own however and some may still not feel comfortable using it. But consider this, the wood in question is only being used to surround the tub, it does not come in direct contact with the water. There is no threat of anything leaching out into the water. Anything you build using wood outdoors would have to be pressure treated unless you want to constantly keep rebuilding as it will not withstand the elements or you use expensive cedar. I have absolutely no problems using pressure treated lumber, my run and coop are made of it as well. That's me, I understand some folks may feel different.

 

[HennyPenny2]

I think being above ground it will probably drain pretty good. With the tank I have in the ground it clogs up so bad because they fill it with mud from their bills. . it's not just their muck. Plus I get pine shavings in it all the time and they even like to throw rocks in it.

Thank you and that is one of the reasons I did not want this in the ground. I have had no issues with it getting clogged. Being raised it does an excellent job flushing anything out due to water pressure, I used a 1 1/2" pipe, well actually its 2" and then just outside the tub i used a reducer to go from a 2" to a 1 1/2" pipe, if concerned go with a larger 2" all the way. I have two buckets of water in the run that they tend to use to filter any sand they may pick up (i use coarse sand in my run so no dirt) and find that they carry very little sand up into the tub. Hope that helps. Oh also the drain I used is a flat PVC drain with a bunch of holes and will catch any rocks or feathers or larger junk from going down.