Maintaining a Kiddie Pool Duck Pond

[fowlmood]

There's really no way around it. The water will need to be changed frequently. You need a way to siphon or drain it. I know it's a pain but when you consider what the ducks are putting into that water........

. Pools intended for people hopefully are not full of poop.

 

[FarmrGirl]

Quote:
Might sound silly, but ...How do you get the siphon going? All I can picture is sucking up the yucky water and it accidentally getting in your mouth

LOL!

Ewwww... DuckPoopSoup in your mouth is not advised!


I've used short pieces of hose to siphon... to get the water suction going I just put one end of the siphon hose under the water in the pool and use my regular water hose to shoot some water into the short section get the flow started. Once the siphon hose is pushing water out the other end it'll continue to suction the water out of the pool.

It's much easier to just install a drain bung in the pool though. I've got 11 "ponds" for my group... several kiddie pools, a few large cement mixing tubs, some plastic washtubs... all scattered around. I only dump once a week in the summer and maybe twice a month in winter depending on how dirty they are. In summer I put about 1/2 a cup of white vinegar in the kiddie pools, a little less in the smaller tubs. REALLY keeps the smell down and won't hurt anyone.

 

[NajmoNests]

My pools are the solid form little tikes and step 2 big splash. Happily they have drain plugs in them. Saddly, they are a big pain to clean. Question for pool cleaning: What do you all use to clean them with? I was told soap/bleach was toxic to ducks, even well rinsed. Replies please!

 

[manybirds]

Quote:
We have kitty pools for the ducks, both the huge ones and the small ones. The big one is such a hassle to dump, so we dump half of it everyday and all of it every other day. the small one we dump every day. The important thing is u have it where the water can drain away, because if it cant, the ground around the pool will get and stay wet and stinky. We have ours close to the driveway where it will drain into the gravel. We find that though ducks only need water deep enough to dip there head in they are much much more entertaining with water. at 3 weeks we never give them full time access to the pool so they don't get soaked through because there down dosn't have as much resistance.

 

[SassyKat6181]

Quote:
I have the Step 2 Splash pool for my ducks also. I drain it overnight about every other day, with 14 ducks it gets muddy fast. After its drained, I scrub it with a stiff bucket brush and rinse. Here's a link to the ones they sell at Jeffers. http://www.jeffersequine.com/lucky-star-bucket-scrub-brush/camid/EQU/cp/3X-LI/ It works great to remove the dirt and algae/slime and I don't see a need for soap.

 

[kaybats]

This thread was/is extremely informative and helpful! Thanks to all for posting your ideas....I need all the help I can get!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Baking soda and a stiff short bristle brush work well. home Depot and Lowes both sell the brushes and they can be put on a pole as well so you don't have to bend over constantly.

 

[smurfboe]

I pump out my kiddie pool with a submergable pump on a nightly basis. Well worth the money especially in the winter.

 

[troush]

I installed a baby pool last year and put a drain in it. I used 3/4" pvc pipe to run from the drain out into the woods. You need to have a drop in the drain run (I used 1/4" per foot of run). The drain itself is just a 2" PVC drain (it can be made of plastic or metal grid, it slips into a reducing coupler). The one I used was made by Oakley, 2" PVC drain, item # 253249 purchased from Lowe's. You will need to find a reducer to go from 2" down to 3/4" pipe or what ever size you want to make the run. The larger the run pipe, the faster the water will drain. From the reducing coupler, use a 90 degree elbow. Make sure that the elbow is a smooth curve, not a sharp elbow otherwise anything that goes down the drain will get caught in the sharp curve. From the elbow, attach the run pipe. Now, I installed a pvc quarter turn straight handle shut off valve in the middle of the run. I keep the valve shut while the pool it full of water. To empty the pool, turn the shut off valve. After you rinse out the pool, turn the shut off valve closed and fill the pool.

I began putting things together with the run (figuring out how long I wanted the run and where to install the shut off valve first), install the shut off valve, install more of the run, then the elbow, the reducers, then the drain top (item # 253249). Before you put the drain top, cut a hole the size of the drain top (in my case, 2") in the center of the pool, set the pool down over the reducer, then put the drain top in. You really don't need to glue the drain top on because it sets inside the reducer. If you choose to glue your parts together, remember to work quickly because the pvc glue sets lightning fast. I think the hardest thing about the project was digging the hole for the pool and getting it level.

I empty and refill my duck pool about every other day during the summer. During the winter, I can go several days before changing the water.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me ([email protected]).

I made a pole (from 2x4's) to turn the shut off valve so that I didn't have to bend down to access the valve.

 

[lovesgliders]

We have a pond that is really just a buried 600 gal stock tank and we use a bilge pump to empty it out and then refill it. Works great!