Ideas for building a duck pond

[sandy sea]

I would like to dug a duck pond for my ducks. Any suggestions would be great. Pictures also. What to use to seal bottom. Best way to keep it clean

 

[ExoticPetOwner]

Depending on how many poultry you intend on owning, having a pond on the larger size is always good, but can become very hectic to care for. For depth, it's good to keep it lower, ( especially if there's a possibility of ducklings hatching and going out on open water. ) somewhere around 2-4 feet deep is ideal. Ducks don't need deep ponds and ducklings can drown in deep waters. For smaller ponds, you can use Plastic or vinyl liners to seal it. For bigger ponds, you can use a clay, Bentonite, as a sealant. To help keep it clean, you can use pond filters, you can clean out debris daily with a net/pond rake, you can have a little current to keep the water flowing, you can add aquatic plants, add beneficial bacteria ( it's more of a fish thing ), keep it away from direct sunlight, so planting trees to grow over the pond, aerating the pond... Here's a link to read for more info on maintaining a bigger pond... CLICK HERE!

 

[sandy sea]

Thanks for your reply. I have now 15 ducks, down from 21.(sold some). During the spring and summer I have been using 5 different size kiddie pools and changing the water everyday. My pot bellied pigs use the pools when it gets hot to cool off also. During the past summer the water that was dumped and overflowed from refilling the pools would make a nice large muddy water hole for the pigs. I had a tarp over the two larger pools for shade. Since it is cold I am not changing the water so often because the water is freezing and pigs are not hot. I have plenty are area to make a large pond, but not sure if I should. The duck pond that is in the article looks fine. Has anyone else made it? How about using a round stock tank and digging it in the ground?

 

[telandra2]

I bought an above ground pool last winter and dug it in ground in the spring. The filter that came with it was too small so I bought a larger one, then bought a pond filter with UV. Lots of algae. The water was getting visibly clearer when winter came. I also got a cheap pool skimmer for the feathers.

It's a low cost entry to experiment. The pool liner and pumps are cheaper than pond specific ones. Digging it in by hand is work, but take your time and it'll get done. Biggest problem was the big rocks.

The big lesson learned is the birds really like shallows. They don't like the immediate drop-off that you'd also get with a stock tank. Putting a sandbox pool right next to the edge made a huge difference. They'll enter the box and bathe/splash before hopping over the edge into the big pool.

A small pallette with pool noodles for flotation and egg-crate on top for traction was the exit ramp/wildlife escape platform. Also keeping it filled to the max made a big difference in appeal.

I'm sure you know they also love mud. I'm thinking of adding window flowerboxes around the edge specifically for mudpies. Hopefully they'll dunk the mouthfuls of mud into the boxes and not the big pool.

8 ducks, 4 geese, and 6 goslings used it. About 100 feeder goldfish and 2 red ear sliders are currently hibernating with a floating ice melter to keep an air exchange open.

Pictures in a thread I previously made should pop up with a search.

 

[raingarden]

The amount of duck waste is not going to change. The pond water will get just as nasty as the kiddie pool water; it will just take proportionately longer. But, when you get up to about 500 or 1,000 gallons per duck you will start to notice some relief from the microbial digestion of waste. The usual rule-of-thumb is that in situ microbial digestion can remove three grams of waste per square meter per day. So, to keep the water as nice as a small lake you would need something like 7,000 to 10,000 gallons per duck.

I don't really want to get into the duck pond filtration argument again, but will note that it is cheaper to thow the water away and replace it when the cost of new water is not more than about $2 per thousand gallons. The amortization of the filtration equipment and the electricity to run it will cost about that much.

If you have cheap water but limited space available, your best bet may be to continually run a trickle of water into the pond and put in a drain field to keep the surronding area from turning into a swamp. You can do that with either kiddie pools or a small pond.

 

[sandy sea]

Thank you for the information.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

We are trying to figure out the pond thing as well. Actually, we have tried so many things over the past year that we have thrown away over $1,000 in failed attempts. The information you are looking for seems to be unavailable. I have spent 100’s of hours looking. Our situation is different because we have geese and they are what we call “flying goats.“ They ate the pump cord. They ate the seams we were forced to have in the liner. They would eat any plants we put in. They will eat any shrubs or young trees we might try to plant to help with algae growth. They ate some poor frogs that made their way in! We have purchased great pumps, and every kind of filter you can imagine.

We are currently working on making at least two tubs coming out of the pond. One for debris to settle into before it gets to the second one, which will house the pump, which will then pump the water to the waterfall and filters. I have to agree with @raingarden that replacing the water is one of the best choices. As such, we are also digging underground from the house to the pond (only about 60 feet away, which also causes worry about mosquitos! So now we have to get a bubbler…) and installing a pipe from the rain gutters so that all of the rain water from off of the house will flow into the pond. Who knows, maybe another $1,000 and we will still end up with a filthy goose pond (800 - 1000 gallons) that we have to drain and refill every week! Please post if you find any better info. I will attach a pic that I took from a post on this forum that describes what our tubs will be like, only we will start out with less of them.

 

[Jeepgirl0513]

The amount of duck waste is not going to change. The pond water will get just as nasty as the kiddie pool water; it will just take proportionately longer. But, when you get up to about 500 or 1,000 gallons per duck you will start to notice some relief from the microbial digestion of waste. The usual rule-of-thumb is that in situ microbial digestion can remove three grams of waste per square meter per day. So, to keep the water as nice as a small lake you would need something like 7,000 to 10,000 gallons per duck.

I don't really want to get into the duck pond filtration argument again, but will note that it is cheaper to thow the water away and replace it when the cost of new water is not more than about $2 per thousand gallons. The amortization of the filtration equipment and the electricity to run it will cost about that much.

If you have cheap water but limited space available, your best bet may be to continually run a trickle of water into the pond and put in a drain field to keep the surronding area from turning into a swamp. You can do that with either kiddie pools or a small pond.

Was literally gunna do something like suggested but with 55 gallon drum and set up almost an overflow ? Like a bathtub has and route it away and it would constantly be empty as the ducks get in and out and working to naturally filter.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Was literally gunna do something like suggested but with 55 gallon drum and set up almost an overflow ? Like a bathtub has and route it away and it would constantly be empty as the ducks get in and out and working to naturally filter.

I did finally find this article which is very helpful!
https://www.tyrantfarms.com/how-to-build-a-backyard-pond-with-diy-biofilter/#comments