Pound/pool building - deep or wide?

[LT71689]

I have the opportunity to build completely from scratch in a few years (just purchasing a property) and I'm thinking about the design I'd want for a swimming water source. I fostered a pair of ducks a few years back that really enjoyed doing big sweeping underwater circles around their swimming pool (one of the self-uprighting kid's pools, about 6ft diameter and 2 ft high). The place they moved to had a much smaller pond, but was very deep where their existing ducks liked to dive. It definitely didnt have the space my ducks were used to for long swims, just straight-down and back up dives.

Since I didnt have both kinds of water features side-by-side its hard to know what they would have preferred if given the option of both - deep diving or long swims/zoomies. Would the other ducks have liked more space but never had it, would my ducks have preferred dives but we never had the right depth so they compromised on doing laps?

Those of you who have larger ponds, do you find your ducks enjoy one more than the other? I know some just prefer to sit in their water dish so there may not be any real consensus

 

[Callender Girl]

I've been using kiddie pools for years. But, I am converting an old clawfoot bath tub into a new "pool" by adding a ramp, platform and step for my runners and two geese.

I think they will really enjoy being able to dive. I will enjoy being able to drain it by just pulling a plug and not having to tip up and clean out the kiddie pools. However, when I have filled a very small -- maybe 10-gallon plastic stock tank -- they seem to want to submerge. But, yes, mine also love to do laps in the shallow pools.

So, can you construct something like a human swimming pool that has a shallow end and a deep end. After all, we can't do too much to keep our critters happy, can we?

BTW, congrats on buying the property!

 

[LT71689]

I've been using kiddie pools for years. But, I am converting an old clawfoot bath tub into a new "pool" by adding a ramp, platform and step for my runners and two geese.

I think they will really enjoy being able to dive. I will enjoy being able to drain it by just pulling a plug and not having to tip up and clean out the kiddie pools. However, when I have filled a very small -- maybe 10-gallon plastic stock tank -- they seem to want to submerge. But, yes, mine also love to do laps in the shallow pools.

So, can you construct something like a human swimming pool that has a shallow end and a deep end. After all, we can't do too much to keep our critters happy, can we?

BTW, congrats on buying the property!

Thanks!

I do kind of have the (theoretical) ability to build it however I want. I REALLY loved the clear-sided kiddie pool I had because I got to watch them swim and dive and could see them really clearly and that was a lot of fun to watch, whereas a typical black-lined pond I wouldn't, it kind of got me thinking that maybe I'd want to build something more like a mini in-ground pool or backyard fountain type of thing than dig a traditional pond. (if money were unlimited they'd have a full plexiglass seaworld-esque tank that I could watch them from, but alas that might be pushing it ) It would require better filtering probably as the lighter floor might cause a bigger algae problem. A mini-in-ground with a shallow and deep end does also solve the problem of ramps for entry/exit.

There's a little stream on the property as well though that I might be able to divert from if I wanted just a traditional pond so whether or not I can do that also plays a factor in which direction I go. Diverting in and out of a pool would be tricky, and filtering stream water may be impossible to keep up with if it wasn't circulating in and out quickly enough on its own.