Run with a homemade pond?

[UGAchick]

Now on to my next problem, building a permanent run. I am thinking about the corner of my back yard that joins my more "passive" neighbors. The others would kill me!

In that back corner I have two huge sinkholes where I think construction debris was buried. One is 3.5 feet deep, more than 8 ft across, and nearly 15ft long. The other is similar in size but more circular. They are only divided by about 18-24 inches. I could potentially and easily combine them by digging away the "bridge" that combines them. I know it is hard to tell from the picture, but I laid a tape measure in the bottom of one to help demonstrate.

Can and should I turn these sinkholes into a small pond for the ducks?
How do I do it?
Will it be dangerous for the chickens to have a pond in their run?
I have heard that ducks are extremely messy. Is this pond going to make it better or worse?

THANK YOU!!!!

 

[jeremy]

I think this sounds like a cool idea! I'd love to see the end result.

 

[cherylcohen]

Will chickens go in the water?

 

[Kittymomma]

Mine wade in the shallow creek, but don't go in the deeper areas. I'd worry about chicks though. The ducks will love the pond, but it will make things messier. Maybe you could to a 2-3' band of round gravel around the ponds to cut down on the mud/water transfer?

 

[UGAchick]

Should I line it with pond lining? Will I have to clean it out somehow?

Good idea about the rocks along the edge!

I could potentially just make a pond out of it and not include it in the chicken run. Then I could let the ducks free-range in that area. I need to think about this....

 

[Papadavid]

At my old house (in a subdivision) I had a bury pit from construction in my front yard. I turned it into an hour glass shaped koi pone. It was 18' long. The wide areas were 8" across and the narrow part was 4'. It was 2&1/2' deep at the deep end. I used a flekable pond liner and trimed it to fit. It turned out awesome! Go for it.

 

[Puma]

I lost a baby chick (10 weeks old last) year. She apparently decided to act like a duck and drowned.......

 

[Birdbrain99114]

I was going to do that when I had my ducks. I bought a child's plastic wading pool and filled it with water for them to see how they liked it prior to digging a hole and setting it in. The ducks poop as soon as they hit the water. In no time at all, the pool was filfy as can be. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[jeremy]

I fill like with a pond that large, cleanliness wouldn't be that much of an issue. Just introduce some water plants and fish to naturalize and keep the water healthy.