Duck coop space and pool ideas?

[Beccazon]

We are in the process of splitting our ducks and chicks before they fully mature. We have a duck enclosure plan but want to make sure our space is appropriate for them. We have 7 ducks. The indoor space we will have is about 10'x3' by 3' high. The run area has more option but currently planned 10'x20'.

As far as a pond/pool goes, the thread here is sooooo long it would take me hours to read all ideas with my crummy internet. Plus we cannot do a fancy filtered one. So our two best ideas are a kiddie pool which is similar to our temporary current pool. But we would like to try lining a larger area with rubber from a friend for a more pond-like area. Maybe a pond around 10' circle roughly. My issue is...how would we keep it fairly clean? Is there a way without a filtration set-up? We are on nearly all sand. Does anyone have a sand yard and an unfiltered pond? Small holes and rocks at the bottom and daily refill? I need ideas. Cheap/free not overly physical (dumping a kiddie pool every day...we are on disability) ideas.

 

[PirateGirl]

Yes you have enough space. However, due to the messy nature of ducks, the smaller the space the more cleaning and maintenance it will need.

Second, I don’t know if there is such a thing as keeping a duck pool clean. A natural pond is different as it’s larger and has fish and plants and loads of microorganisms to break things down and naturally filter the water. I choose not to change duck swimming water daily. We live in a dry climate and going through that much water seems wasteful to me. Ducks will use and dirty as much water as you are willing to give them. Find a water schedule you are comfortable with. I do give a smaller container of clean drinking water daily. An alternative to dumping water or filtering water would be to get a small pump and pump out the pool. You can attach a hose to the pump and use the water to water a garden or trees or any landscaping you have.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Boy, that's a tough one! Without a filter system, I don't know how you'd keep an area that big clean unless you put in a ball valve in the pool to let the water drain out. I did that with a big kiddie pool my first year and it took forever to drain and they muck it up in about 10 minutes so I felt bad not cleaning it every day. It just got to be too much. I hope someone has a good idea because I don't!

I use medium size kiddie pools for my 7 runners, 1 in winter and 2 of them in the summer. I take a laundry soap bucket and bale it out every night. It's not a huge bucket and it's not hard and only takes about 10-15 times of baling (about 2 minutes) until the pool is empty enough for me to dump the rest.

I'll be anxious to see if there are others with good ideas for easy and cheap!

 

[PirateGirl]

I put a ball valve in to drain my kiddie pool and it generally gets clogged with muck and straw and it ends up being faster and just as easy to bail it out with buckets also.

 

[Beccazon]

Yes you have enough space. However, due to the messy nature of ducks, the smaller the space the more cleaning and maintenance it will need.

Second, I don’t know if there is such a thing as keeping a duck pool clean. A natural pond is different as it’s larger and has fish and plants and loads of microorganisms to break things down and naturally filter the water. I choose not to change duck swimming water daily. We live in a dry climate and going through that much water seems wasteful to me. Ducks will use and dirty as much water as you are willing to give them. Find a water schedule you are comfortable with. I do give a smaller container of clean drinking water daily. An alternative to dumping water or filtering water would be to get a small pump and pump out the pool. You can attach a hose to the pump and use the water to water a garden or trees or any landscaping you have.

Good idea! I contemplated a pump. Even the old fish tank siphon. Lord knows I sit and watch the ducks long enough to do a partial water change! Even if just weekly. Thank you! Yup they get separate fresh drinking water about 137 times a day too

 

[Beccazon]

Boy, that's a tough one! Without a filter system, I don't know how you'd keep an area that big clean unless you put in a ball valve in the pool to let the water drain out. I did that with a big kiddie pool my first year and it took forever to drain and they muck it up in about 10 minutes so I felt bad not cleaning it every day. It just got to be too much. I hope someone has a good idea because I don't!

I use medium size kiddie pools for my 7 runners, 1 in winter and 2 of them in the summer. I take a laundry soap bucket and bale it out every night. It's not a huge bucket and it's not hard and only takes about 10-15 times of baling (about 2 minutes) until the pool is empty enough for me to dump the rest.

I'll be anxious to see if there are others with good ideas for easy and cheap!

Neat! Never considered ball valve! Since we are literally on a sand pit, I wonder if it would drain faster here or maybe just let it drain overnight if I go a bit smaller. Hmmm! Good food for thought thank you!

 

[DuckyDonna]

Neat! Never considered ball valve! Since we are literally on a sand pit, I wonder if it would drain faster here or maybe just let it drain overnight if I go a bit smaller. Hmmm! Good food for thought thank you!

I had attached a hose to my ball value set up too but like Pirategirl said it takes forever and does get clogged with gross stuff.

 

[Runner duck mom]

We have a pretty sloped yard so added a pool deck to our duck run last year and used a 45gal. cement mixing tub for them to swim in. Added a 1" bulkhead fitting (cheap on Amazon) for a drain and a hose to drain away from their run. I do want something bigger but it's working good for now. Takes about 5 mins to drain, we change their water every day and only occasionally gets clogged. We just pull the valve off to drain since the pic valve is really hard to open and close. The ducks love to play in the stream of water when we drain their pool

Probably too small for 7 ducks but thought I would share. The pool deck is nice too because we can just hose off any poop. Their deck does need a good pressure washing, water and Georgia heat have turned it pretty green in a short amount of time, please excuse.

 

[Beccazon]

We have a pretty sloped yard so added a pool deck to our duck run last year and used a 45gal. cement mixing tub for them to swim in. Added a 1" bulkhead fitting (cheap on Amazon) for a drain and a hose to drain away from their run. I do want something bigger but it's working good for now. Takes about 5 mins to drain, we change their water every day and only occasionally gets clogged. We just pull the valve off to drain since the pic valve is really hard to open and close. The ducks love to play in the stream of water when we drain their pool View attachment 1771790
View attachment 1771791
View attachment 1771789
Probably too small for 7 ducks but thought I would share. The pool deck is nice too because we can just hose off any poop. Their deck does need a good pressure washing, water and Georgia heat have turned it pretty green in a short amount of time, please excuse.

I like this idea! We don't have a sloped yard but I had considered a deck area to lessen the muck around the pool as well as in it...even if only a bit. My Campbell will quite literally stay in the pool, which currently is simply a tote sunken to ground level, for the entire day if I let her. But I cannot as the younger 2 are not fully feathered and nearly drowned a week or so ago and need supervised so the lid is on when I am not nearby. 2-3 of them fit in ok but with no real room to swim. So yes, bigger is what I need but this idea looks easy and clean! My hubby thinks now we will get a pump to drain the pool each week or so. I am pretty sure I will incorporate the deck.

 

[Runner duck mom]

We have landscape fabric covered with mulch in their run to keep the mud down but they can still get to the dirt/ mud around the edges of their run. I think between that and the walk up the ramp to the pool deck helps keep dirt out of their pool.
Our ducks spend a majority of their day in or next to the pool too, swimming and napping in there.
Will be nice when your babies are fully feathered and they can all hang out in the pool together