Do you all have ponds for your ducks?

[stubbornhill]

To me, this sounds like a really silly question. Of course ducks need a pond. Don't they????

 

[bockbock2008]

Mine don't. They live with the chickens. BUT, when it rains, they do love those puddles!

 

[kuntrygirl]

I don't have a pond and I have a mess load of ducks AND geese. They have kiddie pools. The don't need a pond but it's nice to see them splashing in water and bathing themselves.

 

[stubbornhill]

Wow! I am glad I asked what I thought was a silly question. I thought for sure that they needed a pond and keep saying, "oh, I wish we had a pond, so we could get some ducks". We live up on a hill with no chance for digging a pond. So for the most part, do you keep them in the same way that you keep your chickens? Is there any major difference? Other than the obvious of course! Maybe in the spring we'll get some ducks after all.

 

[stubbornhill]

Just one more question. It would appear after looking at some of your posts that you have kiddi swimming pools for them. Have any of you ever put in one of those water feature ponds? The ones that have a pump with running water, a fountain or something like that?

 

[showjumper_girl2002]

mine have a giant kiddie pool that they love, but no pond. they seem to be just as happy with their pool though

 

[Going Quackers]

Nope, mine have to 'suffer' with a kiddy pool and puddles

They don't seem to care and i can keep the water they do swim in pretty clean that way.

 

[Amiga]

I have a concrete mixing pan and recently a friend gave the ducks a 4' diameter kiddie pool her pups had snubbed.

Regarding a water feature type pond, that sounds gorgeous! I would consider that, as long as I could figure out ahead of time how to handle the sludge. Poop is relatively minor compared to the vegetation that my ducks like to bring to the kiddie pool to play with.

When I used to design livestock watering systems (basic stuff, not rocket science), we always used 4" Schedule 40, because it is durable and widely available (at least where I was), and most things like leaves and such would flow through without getting clogged.

Some things that you might be able to use might be a wire cage around the outflow, 4" pipe, a T- or Y- cleanout for when it does get plugged up.

Many pond fountains use pumps with 1" or 2" hoses. In that case you might want to have some kind of reservoir where stuff settles or floats, and set the small diameter pipe in the middle to reduce blockage.

Those are my thoughts - enjoy the ducks! Take advantage of the BYC search - we have discussed all manner of topics.

 

[OrangeNational]

My ducks swim in big plastic storage containers. I couldn't bring myself to dig a giant hole in my yard.

 

[jerseygirl1]

$10 Walmart kiddie pool for mine, dumped on a daily basis, bleached and cleaned on Saturdays, and they enjoy it.................................