Self draining duck pen? Is it possible?

[TLWR]

Do you know the gender of your duck? Boys are quiet.
Two boys should be fine together.

 

[subhanalah]

Duck needs a friend. So you will be housing 2 ducks. Might want to consider 3 just in case.

Pea gravel.
My first trio of ducks used to stay in what was the dog yard. It is covered in pea gravel. I hosed it down daily.
Pond... good filtration. Do more than you think the pond would ever need. They will eat the plants unless you somehow protect the plants.

My pond has been at least 6 months and probably more like 9 months since I've drained and cleaned it. I do skim it, but it hasn't been drained and cleaned. Likely this month.
Water is green. But it doesn't smell and the ducks have no problem with it. I have a 70 gallon filter. It is also cleaned with the pond. Nasty job, but only done 1 or 2x a year. That's when it stinks, but I just wash stuff in. This year I WILL REMEMBER to do the filter first and then drain the pond so that will help with the smell.


Around my pond is some mossy like grass stuff. No idea what it is or how it got there, but it holds up well to ducks and dogs tromping on it.



If you want plantings to remain nice looking, consider raised beds that the ducks can't get into. Or planting boxes hung from the fence above snacking height.

green water indicates an algae bloom. With time, this should clear up on its own and start to give you nice mossy algae growing on the surfaces of the pond. Do not clean out the filter with chlorinated water, that will crash your biological system and you have to start the cycle from scratch use some of the dirty pond water to swish your filter medias. Leave the slime inside the filter, that's the good bacteria. If you use city water to fill your pond, invest in some pond prime to decontamination the water before starting your filter. You can probably also get away with not draining the pond all the way and just half or 3/4.

 

[subhanalah]

Thanks all for the help . I'm in south central Texas so the weather is usually just hot.

I was worried someone would say she needs a friend. It really is the noise level I'm most concerned about. I have a rooster and have had several at once but got rid of them when I realized they tend to crow more when together.

I was hoping to use pond plants for added filtration but had read that they devour everything. Is there no such thing as a duck resistant pond plant? Something they don't like to eat?

maybe water hyacinths? I can't remember if that was ducks love them or they are safe because the ducks won't eat them. They are nitrogen processing machines and use up a lot of the "waste" in the water. It may be illegal where you live to have them, would have to check your laws on that.

 

[TLWR]

green water indicates an algae bloom. With time, this should clear up on its own and start to give you nice mossy algae growing on the surfaces of the pond. Do not clean out the filter with chlorinated water, that will crash your biological system and you have to start the cycle from scratch use some of the dirty pond water to swish your filter medias. Leave the slime inside the filter, that's the good bacteria. If you use city water to fill your pond, invest in some pond prime to decontamination the water before starting your filter. You can probably also get away with not draining the pond all the way and just half or 3/4.

There is nothing living in our water (well, maybe a fish, we'll find out later this month when I drain and clean), so we aren't concerned about the biological system happening. My filter fills with poop in the bottom. If I had built in a drain like I intended, then I could probably drain it out and remove the poop that way, but we didn't and that means pulling everything out and removing the poop.
THe bloom never gives us mossy algae. Just green water. Has been that way for 9 months (and turns green after 2-3 days and stays green until we drain, clean, refill).
Everything has to be drained completely to remove all the poop on the bottom.

 

[subhanalah]

The biological system is to decompose and digest thebpoop in the water. The ducks are the living things in the ecosystem that feed and rely on the cycle in the water. The green stuff is algae, eating the nutrients/waste in the water. Have you thought about adding duckweed to your pond? If you cover the pond, the ducks wouldn't be able to eat it all before it reproduces

 

[JohnsonHomested]

So boys are quieter and females with a friend should be less loud? I was told I have a female. Is there a way to tell at this age?

 

[jcnpearce]

Thanks all for the help . I'm in south central Texas so the weather is usually just hot.

I was worried someone would say she needs a friend. It really is the noise level I'm most concerned about. I have a rooster and have had several at once but got rid of them when I realized they tend to crow more when together.

I was hoping to use pond plants for added filtration but had read that they devour everything. Is there no such thing as a duck resistant pond plant? Something they don't like to eat?

 

[jcnpearce]

I live in San Antonio and our ducks have a pond they use in our yard that has water cannas and Iris in it. They don't really pick at the folliage but go crazy digging at the roots. So far it hasn't done any damage to the plants at all. I think they are digging out bugs is all

 

[JohnsonHomested]

San Antonio seems to be an up and coming place to keep birds. Our neighbors insist the noise isn't bothering them so I just have to deal with the cleanliness of the coop. I'm going to try the water Cannas and Iris.

 

[JohnsonHomested]

I can't believe how fast this duck is growing.