Pool in the winter? How to?

[Burkeeks]

Hi! I'm new to raising ducks, to my understanding, ducks will still need a pond to swim in daily even in the winter.

We can get some harsh winters and our irrigation is turned off during the winter. My ducks currently have a large kiddie pool to swim in that i fill up daily. It's not a problem since it's summer.

How do you fill up a duck pond during the winter? Do you hand walk buckets of water to the pool? How do you keep the pool from freezing? Lastly, how do you keep the pool clean during the winter months?

 

[igorsMistress]

Hello and welcome.

Depending on how brutal your winters are it may not be possible to keep the pool from freezing. As long as they can dunk their heads to wash they don’t necessarily need a pond. A bucket works for that. When the temps were freezing here my ducks swam once in a while but not as often as summer. Emptying the pool before nightfall can prevent freezing if daytime temps aren’t so low that the water will freeze.

I imagine using a heater would be the same as using a/c in summer and prevent them from acclimating to the temps.

 

[DoodlesDuckies]

I honestly feel like I am writing your posts from a couple months ago. I love it!!

The pools will have to be put away for the winter if they are harsh temps but some people are willing to use tank warmers. I plan to pull all my pools at some point (which makes me sad- and will them) And then the fun will start keeping the water open for them somehow. People have said rubber tubs work great...have a few around and when they freeze replace with a different one, the rubber should be flexible enough to get the ice chunk out. Also, heated dog water bowls people have used, or tank warmers. BUT the real question is how to keep a giant ice rink from happening from their playing/drinking ect...In WI we get -10 or colder for sometimes WEEKS at a time.

 

[telandra2]

Rubber tubs are great in winter. Even when they freeze solid they don't weigh too much to flip and thry put up with the abuse of being kicked or stood/jumped on. Mine fit 3-4 ducks or 1 goose. I use a use bucket heater that keeps it open except on bad sub-zero snaps.

I also have a pond with a floating de-icer. That only keeps the area directly under the disc open for air exchange -- not enough for the birds to drink or bathe.

I hand walk warm water buckets out or use a expanding hose which is kept inside so it doesn't freeze.

Yes, it can create ice rinks. I -think- I just toss snow on top for traction but can't recall. (Straw would end up in the bowl.)

 

[telandra2]

Found a pic...

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

I have a 400 liters resin and fiberglass pool for my ducks...

In winter, apart for the warmer days, cleaning it is complicated.
I usually do clean it once or twice per month then, and it is only if the temperatures are superior to 4 °C (39,2 °F) AND I can break the ice...

Thus, if I don't want my ducks to go without being able to bath, I (just) put one or two 10/11 liters basins outside I fill with water (then changed several times per day - because of the cold).
...Not ideal, but better than nothing...!

...In winter, you do what you can with what you have.
Don't worry too much : your ducks won't die if they are not able to swim during the cold(er) months...!

 

[Callender Girl]

I am always impressed by the lengths we will go to for the happiness of our poultry!

I also put away the kiddie pools for the winter and make use of small rubber tubs that I can break ice out of and refill regularly.

I used to keep a heated dog dish in the duck run -- until the day that the plug -- because I had run an outdoor extension cord to the outlet on the house -- fell into a small amount of melting snow and began smoldering.

 

[igorsMistress]

I honestly feel like I am writing your posts from a couple months ago. I love it!!

The pools will have to be put away for the winter if they are harsh temps but some people are willing to use tank warmers. I plan to pull all my pools at some point (which makes me sad- and will them) And then the fun will start keeping the water open for them somehow. People have said rubber tubs work great...have a few around and when they freeze replace with a different one, the rubber should be flexible enough to get the ice chunk out. Also, heated dog water bowls people have used, or tank warmers. BUT the real question is how to keep a giant ice rink from happening from their playing/drinking ect...In WI we get -10 or colder for sometimes WEEKS at a time.

How warm do the tank heaters keep the water? Just curious, I don’t live where it gets cold for long periods.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I use 2 gallon heated rubber buckets from State Line Tack so they have water deep enough to dunk their heads. In the winter. It gets in the -20F with -60F wind chills here so it just would not be safe for them to swim without turning into little duck pops pretty instantly. When I lived on the east coast and it stayed usually right above freezing in the winter or would occasionally dip below I used a stock tank with a stock tank heater to create a year round pool. My husband rigged up some pvc to a drainage pipe that led to my garden. So all I would have to do is turn the valve and it would empty.

 

[DoodlesDuckies]

How warm do the tank heaters keep the water? Just curious, I don’t live where it gets cold for long periods.

This will be my first year experimenting with water/ducks. I am sure a ton of money will be spent on failed trials of ideas/buckets/tanks ect..I am guessing there is no easy way to keeping water thawed in -10F and below.