New Pond Finished Today....Let there be ducks!!!

[LittleChickenRacingTeam]

I always used to joke when I had a boat, that it was a hole in the water that I threw money into.

Well now I have a large hole in the ground that I threw money into, & am hoping for 40 days & forty nights of water/rain

After 14 days of digging, & $15,000 later I have a hole about an acre in size, that should make the 2 call ducks I plan on getting in the spring very happy.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

uhm.. you're planning on lining that right? If not you just built a giant sesspool.

 

[LittleChickenRacingTeam]

There's about 6" of clay packed underneath a light layer of soil. It will be planted out with natural vegetation in the spring & a windmill hooked to a pump will be installed to circulate the water. The company that did the work has been in business for 30 years, & the guy down the road used them & his pond is stocked with trout, & the water is clear as vodka. Hmm, I need a drink now.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

wow that must be some really heavy clay. Dad's pond was a giant bog until we cleaned it out, put a liner in. Then it finally held water properly. Up until that point we had to have a constant flow of water to keep the water level constant.

 

[arlee453]

nice hole in the ground..... reminds me of a pool, but hopefully not as much upkeep and $$ going forward.

Those are some mighty spoiled (and expensive) ducks...

Really nice though!

 

[LittleChickenRacingTeam]

We had our existing pond in the same spot. You can see a pic in this post.....http://backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=22624

Old pond was fairly shallow, & the new one is 10-12 ft deep & seasonal runoff is what kept the old one filled. Also, all the gutters on the house are linked to drainage pipe that feed the pond. This year is the first time in 7 years of living here that our pond went dry.

Our location is known for the heavy clay layer that sits underneath the topsoil. Hopefully this will work out fine, or we will just fill it in again.

 

[tiffanyh]

Just two duck---well see how many it is by spring!

Beautiful by the way!

 

[DuckLady]

Nice going!!
I take it you decided not to sell?

 

[Katy]

Not to put a damper on things, but how are you gonna protect your call ducks from predators?

 

[allen wranch]

And I thought I spent a lot on my chickens !

Wish I could build a pond, but it would take dynamite to dig the hole and gunite (sp) to keep the water from seeping through the limestone.

Are you still moving in a year ? What are the developers going to do with the pond ?