Duck Ponds

[MudHog]

I'm looking for pond ideas for my new pen that I will start this fall. The pen will be 25' x 50' overall. I'd like to do a fairly good sized hole in the ground for them to swim.

How would I clean the pond?

 

[mandelyn]

Pump the water out and refill it, while having a filter set up too. It's possible to make a home made filter utilizing the pump and a 5 gallon bucket, you'll have to google the specs since I only have a general idea of it.

The other option is to build it above ground and install a drain. Make the drain with a hose attachment nozzle on it so that you can connect a hose and direct the water where it would not be an inconvenience. Or move it around the yard as a lawn watering system. I have a small pool, so I just pick a new spot in the yard to water every day. Mine is elevated just enough on the gravel base of the run to allow for natural suction. Takes awhile, but I have two hoses, I run water into the pool to fill the hose, go over to where the hoses connect, and I have this handy-dandy shut off valve incorporated into the connection (bought it) and I shut off the water, unscrew the hose (while keeping it very low to the ground since I only have about 8 inches of elevation on the pool, I can't really lift the end of the hose more than 8 inches off the ground)

That causes the water flow to reverse itself, and it drains the pool without a pump, and through a hose so I can choose where it goes instead of flooding the run.

 

[Scottingitup]

How many ducks? What size pond? I am still trying to get my filtration right - take whatever you see for koi ponds and at least triple if not quadruple the filtering requirements. If I had my choice I'd pump from a lake or stream and just recirculate back into it.

 

[MudHog]

I thought about a pump and that seems the only logical means with having the pond sunk into the ground. I'm looking at something a decent size, Lowes has one of the plastic lawn pond that is 275 gallons and 96" x 66". It's 18" deep too. Currently, I have a large mix tub as a "pond" for my pair of ducks. I dump and rinse it every day and they can make a mess in it. I'm just trying to think how I can clean a larger pond that I wouldn't be able to dump or take out to rinse. At 275 gallon, I won't be cleaning it daily, but weekly at a minimum.

I have thought about elevating it too and putting a drain out the bottom with a hose going into the pasture. Gravity would drain it, then I could just rinse it out and let the dirt a poop drain out the bottom. The pond would then be approx. 24" off the ground though.

 

[MudHog]

Quote:
I have two ducks now, but I plan to increase that number to around 12 or so. The pen will be 25' x 50' and I'm thinking of sectioning it off into (2) 25'x25' sections. One side for the ducks and the other side for the chickens. Maybe even make one section bigger for the ducks.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

We have 3 baby pools that get dumped and refilled, 1 large garden tub sunk in the ground that gets pumped out and refilled, 2 cement mixing tubs that are easy to flip and dump, and now adding a 7' metal livestock tank that is 30" deep. It has a drain at the bottom we can attach a hose to. I figure the geese will enjoy the larger water to swim in.

 

[TLWR]

I built the ducks a pond in April or May. Raised landscape timber ~900 gallon pond with drain and ~80 gallon filter.
It hasn't been drained in 3+ weeks. It is gross and brown and green, but the ducks have no problems hanging out in there when they aren't off sitting in a nest of eggs.
I was hoping the biologicals would be enough to keep the algae at bay, but not sure we are there yet. I'll likely drain it this weekend and start fresh again. I did buy a little pool vac and with quick testing, it seemed to work well. But pointless when I can't see to the bottom and it is already full of poop. So once it is drained and refilled, I'll start using that daily and hopefully less poop will mean less algae and less green/brown mess.

 

[Scottingitup]

Quote:
I have two ducks now, but I plan to increase that number to around 12 or so. The pen will be 25' x 50' and I'm thinking of sectioning it off into (2) 25'x25' sections. One side for the ducks and the other side for the chickens. Maybe even make one section bigger for the ducks.

That pond will not be big enough for 12 ducks - i have 12 ducks. Mine pond is a little crowded with my flock. I have one roughly 9' x 15' and 2' deep with a 100 gal skippy filter. It is green and if the pump clogs up at all it is gross and smelly. This weekends project will be to add a bog filter maze 16' down and back for 35ish feet of more filtration. I plan on filling this with cana lilies (very nitrogren hungry plant and not poisonous as far as I know). Hopefully that will be enough to keep the water clean.

 

[Hattiegun]

I have a 270 gal from Menards called the Key Largo... I pull the plug, let it drain, hose down and refill..(installed water hydrant at opposite end).. works great... I change the water every other day .. I put a stock tank heater in for winter and they swam every day..put plastic around the pen to keep out the wind and snow. Heat in the hut for me as they didnt care to much ... it will work if they all 12 dont swim at the same time...

 

[kangababy]

Our new pen we are building is 32x43, yea a weird size I know but that is how big it cou dbe to fit in the space we have. Our pond we are having dug is going to be 17x20 in the ground. Now this is a catch pen/sell pen that I will be running birds out of and my eventually become a real pen. not knowing your situation but we will have a drain at the bottom of it and it will run out to our large acre pond. that way when we drain it it will clean out as well.