Ducks without a pond...swimming pool?

[happytxchick]

So...what if I want to get some ducks, but don't have a pond on my property? What can I do? Could I use a kiddie swimming pool? What would I treat the water with?

Any other ideas welcome...

 

[my1stchicks]

I use a kiddy pool for mine, they love it!

 

[The YardFarmers]

We have Khaki Campbell ducks that are not "water ducks". They love to play with water from a bucket. We also use a heavy rubber tub that we bought at TSC, fill that with water, sometimes throw in leafy green or other treats and they play in that. A childs pool would work too. We don't treat the water- they mess it up in the day, so we have containers that are small enough that we can empty them out and rinse them at the end of the day.

What kind of ducks are you thinking of getting?

YardFarmer Julie

 

[Randy]

We just use a tub like YardFarmer was talking about.

 

[duck walk]

I use the kiddie pools too...they do fine...I make steps out of blocks so they can get in and out without hurting themselves...

 

[19hhbelgian]

Kiddie pool here

In the winter I use a shallow storage container that I can easily empty at night so it doesn't freeze.

 

[happytxchick]

Question asked is:
What kind of ducks are you thinking of getting?

Answer is:
I actually have no idea...TSC had some Mallards and some little yellow duckies that they didn't know the breed of...go figure.

I am a chicken person, so ducks would be all new for me. I'd have to get some duck education.

 

[veronicasmom]

One of those turtle sandboxes makes a great pool for 2-3 ducks. It is durable and easy to dump. I wouldn't treat the water, ducks drink their (gross) swimming water, so you wouldn't want anything in it. They mess it up fast, I mean really fast, so I would advise a clean pool each am or pm. Put a few broken cement blocks in so they can exit easily, ours is next to the ramp into their shed, so they can get into it easily too. You want to make sure they can get in and out safely to avoid leg injuries. There is nothing more fun than watching them splash and bathe. They love it so much. I now have 4 ducks so I got a bigger pool, it is actually deep enough for them to swim in. They really enjoy that!

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I DO treat my water. I treat it with frozen peas... they love it!

 

[gryeyes]

AHHH!!! FROZEN peas! I bought two bags of 'em because I saw it somewhere on BYC but didn't have the presence of mind to ask "are they cooked first?" or anything like that!!


THANKS!

I do have two backyard ponds with fish and plants, and do not intend to let the ducks in them. (They're outside the run, anyway.) But I am gonna build them their own pool out of a rubber water trough (which is currently their brooder). It will have a drain I'm building into it, which will drain out through some PVC pipe into the garden. I'll set this up slightly higher than the ground with those retaining wall concrete blocks surrounding it (just like my ponds). They can use the overlapping blocks as steps up.... and I'll put something inside it too, so they can get out easily.

Meanwhile, they are getting swim practice 3 times a week in a plastic dishpan in the shower stall.