How to Keep their Water Clean?

[jlgoinggreen]

I know there is a very funny post going about how dirty our ducks can be, but I was wondering if anyone has figured out how to keep their pools somewhat cleaner. We change the water in their pool every other day, but now wondering if it should be a daily chore. We do add water daily until it's full so that they can swim, but on the second day that water is just plain brown. I really can't stand watching them swim around in icky brown water. It's just it will take soooo much water to empty out their pool and refill it daily. Is there any other way?

I was wondering if maybe adding rocks to the bottom might help keep the ickys down some. Has anyone tried this?

What are some ideas you can share? All suggestions are welcome.

 

[columbiacritter]

They gross up their water within minutes of it being cleaned, I just dump thier pool daily.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
See bleach in pond?post here. Also tried was a swimming pool "vacuum" cleaner to remove poop from the bottom (too much work for the results.) If you have a good cheap water supply keeping water flowing thru the pool so it isn''t stagnate helps but takes lot of water. I routed the outflow water from the pond to irrugate garden and lawn but had to quit due to water restrictions.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

When we pull ducks off the pond, we use kiddie pools as a replacement. These pools are always replaced with fresh water every morning. That's why they call it chores.

 

[chickensioux]

cleaner?...........

Seriously tho'......you can't. It's part of their charm.

 

[chickboss]

I change mine up to twice a day depending on how bad it looks. I can't stand the idea of them playing in total filth either. No doubt they can handle a decent bacteria load, but I don't think they were meant to swim in their own feces on a regular basis, so until they are on the pond or creek, it's lots of water changes for me.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

We have 11 ducks, 3 geese, and 3 pools.

cleaner? yup not happenin

We dump and refill two of our pools every morning, and then we dump & refill all 3 every afternoon. If not then ours are green by the afternoon, and nasty slimy by day two. At least we enjoy being with our flock cuz we spend a lot of time with them in the summer fillin & refillin pools,

Good luck with your pool. We're on a well so we don't have to pay for our water. It's great for your garden & trees though if you can find some way of running a pvc pipe

We have a small 3/4 inch pvc pipe running from one of our smaller pools so all we do is twist off the top & it empties for us running the water into the sod we planted.

 

[jlgoinggreen]

Thanks so much everyone. I guess I have no other choice then but to buy them a much smaller pool and my son's dream of owning geese will just have to stay a dream. I was really hoping there was another way since we love them so much and wanted to get more, but I definitely want to keep my animals healthy (as it is my responsibility to them) and waddling around in your own filth is just asking for problems. So I will just keep things as they are, but in a smaller pool so we are not wasting as much water.

 

[RunnerDucks]

Sorta...

Set the pool on top of sand or pebbles, not dirt, so that they don't go mud eating and then clean their beaks in the water.
Set the pool well away from their food sources to prevent the eat drink eat drink eat drink habit that they have.

 

[TK Poultry]

even if you do that I highly doubt they do that.....they will dirty the water.... you'll just have to do what the rest of us do and change it daily. It's just like collecting eggs you'll have to just rinse it out everyday.