Post your exotic/domestic duck aviary/pool pics

[poultry09]

awesom setups evey one

 

[KansasKid]

That is fabulous. Can you give details on how you made it?
How deep?
Are those pond liners? If so, what size?
Will the pond liners ever tear?
What type of filter system do you have?
I really need a pond for my ducks and geese, so I am looking for ideas and yours look great!

The top pond is maybe a foot deep and the lower one 2-3.
They are pond liners from lowes, the 10x13ft ones. $60.
The top pond liner is my old pond liner, it has holes and cracks in it (after a year the sun makes the liner hard and brittle. Funny how the new one feels so rubbery compared to the old)
Most of the cracks are in the part of the liner that sat above water and was constantly exposed to sunlight and i ended up raising one corner out of the water by putting an old bucket underneath the liner to prevent the water from running out the small holes. otherwise it holds water pretty good (knock on wood) as i haven't noticed any major loss in depth.
As far as the filter system goes, in the north east corner of the lower pond i have a plastic tub i bought form walmart, then a plastic dishpan will holes drilled in the bottom placed inside that. As far as filter medium, large fish filter cartridges on the bottom, scotch brite pads on the top, and then prairie hay or barley hay on top of that. I check the filter every day to make sure its flowing right and the pump is getting enough water. The pump by the way is a oiless sump pump from atwoods. It doesn't keep it crystal clear but makes the pond last a week or two past what it usually does before emptying. I'm curious to see how it does when the summer and the algae rolls around.

 

[KansasKid]

old pic.

 

[KansasKid]

As far as how i made it. If you knew what my pen looked like before, i just put a board on the east side bewteen the 4x4s (south wall 4x4 with the brown nest box and the middle 4x4 that holds up the net) which ends up being the wall the waterfowl sets on, then i put a 2x4 on the south wall between the 4x4s, then i went to the west wall where i had a short board screwed vertically to the existing 2x4 on the outside where it holds up the tin. I went on the outside and screwed another 2x4 threw the tin to the corner 4x4 and the new board, then i got yet another board and screwed it on the north side between the middle 4x4 (the one that holds up the net) and the vertical board i had already screwed in. By this time i had a box made and had places on 3 sides i could drape the liner over. I then took 2 large wooden posts and put them beside the tin on the south side and just under the board on the north side (that way when the liner fills it doesn't try and expand out under the board and has something to put pressure on. Once i got the liner the way i wanted it i had to take a small board piece and screw it threw the liner into the 2x4 i had placed on the west wall threw the tin (to hold the liner up). From here it was a matter of using small 2x4 pieces under the liner adjusting the width of end to which the water flows and putting more rock around it for decoration. If you have the money i would recommend getting something like cinder block or landscaping timbers to build walls on all four sides.

 

[AuroraSprings]

Anyone have swans and pictures of their setups?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Anyone have swans and pictures of their setups?

You may want to post in the Ornamental Fowl thread.

 

[waterdog]

We have Mutes and lots of pics on our website www.fillmorehollowwaterfowl.com also on Facebook at Fillmore Hollow Waterfowl

 

[Mum]

Wow! Just, "wow"!

 

[KansasKid]

Well, after battling the black snakes this week and loosing 5 mandarin eggs i think i might be back on track. I have been doing some serious work on my pen and pond. I have planted honey suckle growing and have added another 2 layers to the original pond layout.
This is the first addition, which added another 300+ gallons to the setup. The water stayed fairly clear with this one and only needed to be changed every 2-3 weeks. W/nothing but a"bio filter" and the filter cartridges from walmart.


This third layer reduced the amount of water in the second pond but was a challenge to build. The structure had to be sturdy enough to hold 100 gallons or so without any bending or flexing of the wood. I ended up using the corner 4x4 and four more landscaping timbers cut to 4' w/ more timbers laying horizontally across the original 2x6's. So here is where i'm at now....the water is green because i just have the pump going and no filter right at the moment. I am going to try and eliminate the skimmer box that is in the whole (seen in first pick, lower left hand corner) and i'm going to try a skimmer box that sets inside the pond itself to eliminate over flow and back flow problems. I still need more sandstone to finish the waterfalls but hey...still looks good.....and yeah i have a lot invested in pond liners. I ended screwing old torn ones to the boards to make a template then laying the new ones inside of those. Works pretty good and helps with possible penetrations from the ground.

 

[KansasKid]

A little update on my aviary. I brought in a lot more sandstone, lined the bottom pond with large heavy stones and finished up the top waterfowl with stone.
I planted that tall cane like grass that on the corner. added more sandstone, and hung some planters.