I think I made a mistake.

[Knighstar679]

So ofcourse they didn't use the steps this time. I tossed Daisy in to speed things up and Daffy figured out his own way as you can see from the pics below.
View attachment 1779882 View attachment 1779881 View attachment 1779883 View attachment 1779885

This is the stump he hopped on to jump in the pool.

View attachment 1779889

Told yah he is a ahole

He looks like he is having fun getting in.

 

[christylynne11]

I use pet steps over the side of the larger pools. I pick them up at garage sales for $5. Some going in, some going out. I did stop,using snapset pools though because I was constantly having to patch them. Now I use the hard plastic pools.

 

[Cayuga momma]

Daisy got out by the steps

Daffy ofcourse got out by the side

And then they walked off into the sunset.

 

[Dees ducks]

Aww....Your ducks look fabulous!
I did slot of research re a pool before getting ducks for the first time in January this year.I started out with a preformed pool at first and spent slot of time digging it in and landscaping around it. The reason I chose a smallish pond was because I thought easier and cheaper to empty out and refill!
No no no no......
It took only a few days to realize that I needed to go bigger....
For one a small pool really does get stinky even after just minutes of emptying and refilling. Two is that, although my ducks were using it all the time they weren't really playing in it.
So several months later I've almost finished the final big pond set up, complete with landscaping, duck decking, diving platforms, filtration (doesn't keep water clean but helps a bit for sure),waterfall, pool layered steps to get in and out and small stepping stone in the middle that they can rest on and groom.
They love it.......
So, we'll done with the larger pool, what a bargain and you'll see them playing about much much more with the larger water space.

 

[Knighstar679]

Aww....Your ducks look fabulous!
I did slot of research re a pool before getting ducks for the first time in January this year.I started out with a preformed pool at first and spent slot of time digging it in and landscaping around it. The reason I chose a smallish pond was because I thought easier and cheaper to empty out and refill!
No no no no......
It took only a few days to realize that I needed to go bigger....
For one a small pool really does get stinky even after just minutes of emptying and refilling. Two is that, although my ducks were using it all the time they weren't really playing in it.
So several months later I've almost finished the final big pond set up, complete with landscaping, duck decking, diving platforms, filtration (doesn't keep water clean but helps a bit for sure),waterfall, pool layered steps to get in and out and small stepping stone in the middle that they can rest on and groom.
They love it.......
So, we'll done with the larger pool, what a bargain and you'll see them playing about much much more with the larger water space.

Wish I could do your set up but bargains is about the budget I am in right now. I am also relieved to know that going bigger might make life easier in the long run.

 

[Dees ducks]

Wish I could do your set up but bargains is about the budget I am in right now. I am also relieved to know that going bigger might make life easier in the long run.

Yes I can understand the need for bargains and I think that a big pond for $15 is fantastic!
I will be posting my finished pond ect... in the next few days but have sourced alot of items from eBay, Gumtree ect...
Also, I purchased in stages and at the end of the day it's taken me nearly 4 months to complete. Lastly, I thought "outside the box" and made a deck out of old scaffold boards, a duckling house out of a secondhand free Wendy house, the main duck house by partitioning off the shed with some plywood and the duck nest inside the shed with a outside storage box with opening cut out of the front which I got from eBay for £10. Some things I couldn't get away with getting cheap such as the pond liner for £43, the flag stones at £2.50 each x 26, the pond pump £55, sump pump £38, pressurized filter £31 eBay second hand, bricks and metal sheet to make the quirky rambling ruin waterfall feature £41 and finally the extra large dog run £110 which I used to make a very large partition for the ducks to have all of the above enclosed and separate from the rest of my garden.
I will post final pictures of project soon so keep an eye on the forum as it may help give you some ideas for the future.
All the best.

 

[Cayuga momma]

I would like to add that baby pools are better for winter. In the winter you will want to have something smaller to break up and dump ice and refill.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I would like to add that baby pools are better for winter. In the winter you will want to have something smaller to break up and dump ice and refill.

Speaking of refilling, how often do you have to refill your big pool? How do you let the water out?

 

[Cayuga momma]

Speaking of refilling, how often do you have to refill your big pool? How do you let the water out?

I just step on the side until its mostly empty and then dump the rest.
I fill it up usually every week sometimes every 2 weeks. It doesn't really get dirty, just starts to get algae.
Of course I don't use this pool in winter months, only once freezing weather is done.

 

[DuckyDonna]

So ofcourse they didn't use the steps this time. I tossed Daisy in to speed things up and Daffy figured out his own way as you can see from the pics below.
View attachment 1779882 View attachment 1779881 View attachment 1779883 View attachment 1779885

This is the stump he hopped on to jump in the pool.

View attachment 1779889

Told yah he is a ahole

So how does your pool hold up? What size is it? I'm about to hatch plus my 7 ducks need something a little bigger that I don't have to change out every single day. They can have their pool looking as bad as it did before I clean it in about 1 minute!