indian runner ducks

[alison kyriakou]

i have a pair of indian runner ducks but cant seem to keep the pond clean,ive used paddling pools but they deflate easily what else can i use?id like a decent size for them to swim and splash around in also how to keep the pen clean and dry from the over flow of the pool,any ideas?

 

[Kevin565]

I've never had much luck keeping their water clean. I usually use a sump pump to siphon out the water.

 

[alison kyriakou]

ive thought about building upwards...creating a concrete pond they can walk up into with long steps on eith side,maybe a drainage pipe to empty once a week...?in the summer the flies will create problems!also have you ever let your runners out and mix with chickens?i have free range chickens and would love to see my ducks free too be worry about them being nervous around the cockrels ....

 

[Kevin565]

ive thought about building upwards...creating a concrete pond they can walk up into with long steps on eith side,maybe a drainage pipe to empty once a week...?in the summer the flies will create problems!also have you ever let your runners out and mix with chickens?i have free range chickens and would love to see my ducks free too be worry about them being nervous around the cockrels ....

I can tell you from my own experience concrete ponds can't with hold a week of ducks mess. I don't have chickens but my ducks run with my guineas, geese, and dogs.

 

[Tivona]

How about stock tanks? They come in many sizes. You mentioned that your pool deflates. You mean the soft blow up kind? I use a hard plastic kiddie pool in the pen and it works well except that they do seem to like splashing half the water out and get it muddy. Only ways to keep the water clean and have ducks is to change it often or filter it or buy a lake

. Here is one option that I have been thinking about trying myself. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/146829/the-duck-ponics-experiment-raising-minnows Like Wifezilla I was planning to try this on a pond outside of the pen where they spend the night. For the kiddie pool in their pen I just dump the water.

 

[jdywntr]

ive thought about building upwards...creating a concrete pond they can walk up into with long steps on eith side,maybe a drainage pipe to empty once a week...?in the summer the flies will create problems!also have you ever let your runners out and mix with chickens?i have free range chickens and would love to see my ducks free too be worry about them being nervous around the cockrels ....

I had my runners and my chickens in the yard together. They had seperate housing/runs but I would let them out to "free range" in the yard together. It wasn't a problem until I did not have enough hens for the drakes. Currently I have a Muscovy pair with my chickens. They are actually scared of the chickens so there are no problems.

 

[featherfinder]

My runners plus 2 others have a 60 gallon pond plus sump filter cloged in 2 days flat. Most of the time less. I have stopped running the pump all the time like i use to and only run it to drain the pond every couple of days and add more water. I plan on taking the pond and filter out and putting a plastic kid pool in there that i can dump easily and refill everyday to 2 days. If you only have a pair i think a kid pool would be just fine for them for a couple of days and maybe put straw around it to help?

 

[TLWR]

We built a ~900 gallon pond from landscape timbers for the girls last spring. There are only 2 of them using it. It easily goes a month. It is green, but it goes a month without issue. After 3 days with their big kiddie pool, they wouldn't even get in there. I built it with a drain to make cleaning easier and we drain and clean it every 6 weeks or so. We did every month in the summer. We also built a 65 gallon biofilter box that helps keep the pond swimable for the girls

 

[alison kyriakou]

thank you all very much as i notice im not alone in refilling the duck water on a regular basis.I love my ducks and just want them to be happy so ill shop around for a plastic kiddies pool while i come up with a new idea!thank you all for the ideas and suggestions!xx

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

I refilled my kiddie pool yesterday. I'm thinking ya really can't tell right now that I even did that. LOL. But I like the kiddie pool because in the summer I scoop out the water and pour it on my roses. I have the best looking roses on the block. Duckie poo is GREAT for flowers. I also like it because I can move it around easily to different locations of the yard and if it happens to crack it's only 10 bucks.