Show me your pools

[igorsMistress]

That is a 50 gallon tank. I found a metal 134 gallon online that is 5' diameter. It has a drain plug and it would be a nice size. Finding it may be a challenge but I plan to look for one come spring.
The 50 gallon is about 2'x4'x1'.

https://nrsworld.com/products/hastings-134-gallon-round-tank?variant=34247556563083&msclkid=265b78b5a96c1770b1502714fa4325d0&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=BPA - Brands - Tack & Supplies&utm_term=4584963491441164&utm_content=BPA Brand - Tack & Supplies|Hastings|C:70

I’m really hoping to keep only three or four ducks with two pools in different locations in order to use the water for shrubs and plants. I’m reluctant to use metal because it gets so hot here, but the sun kills plastic in a couple of years if it lasts even that long. I live in Phoenix so I’m going to do a little more research before I decide on plastic or metal. I would prefer the metal.

 

[CoriM]

I use a small pond liner that we sunk in the ground in the duck run. We put a drain in it and the water runs into a small ditch we dug. We found this used and it didn't cost much. It doesn't fit all my ducks (I have 5) but they don't all love it, so for the first year I also kept a blue kiddie pool on my patio that they all swam in everyday. We put a ramp up to it and cinder block inside so they could easily get in and out. Kale did a good job covering the troubles with the wading pools. I used a bucket to pull water out of it before dumping it, but it's still a lot of work to do this and keep the pool clean. This summer we bought a bigger pond liner and sunk it into the ground in our yard. Ducks love this and have plenty of space. I don't know if it's just my pekins, but they really like to stand on something in the water while they do their bathing, and this liner has a ledge all the way around it that they love standing on. My little welshies could care less about that. We put a drain in it and dug a ditch so the water empties on the other side of the yard. In the summer I needed to change this maybe every 4 days, and I used a scrub brush to scrub the walls so had to get down into it. Now we're having cooler wet weather and I can easily let it go a week and maybe more before changing the water and giving it a scrub. It's still work, but easier than the daily kiddie pool changes, and prettier, and worth it to see how much they enjoy it.

 

[igorsMistress]

I use a small pond liner that we sunk in the ground in the duck run. We put a drain in it and the water runs into a small ditch we dug. We found this used and it didn't cost much. It doesn't fit all my ducks (I have 5) but they don't all love it, so for the first year I also kept a blue kiddie pool on my patio that they all swam in everyday. We put a ramp up to it and cinder block inside so they could easily get in and out. Kale did a good job covering the troubles with the wading pools. I used a bucket to pull water out of it before dumping it, but it's still a lot of work to do this and keep the pool clean. This summer we bought a bigger pond liner and sunk it into the ground in our yard. Ducks love this and have plenty of space. I don't know if it's just my pekins, but they really like to stand on something in the water while they do their bathing, and this liner has a ledge all the way around it that they love standing on. My little welshies could care less about that. We put a drain in it and dug a ditch so the water empties on the other side of the yard. In the summer I needed to change this maybe every 4 days, and I used a scrub brush to scrub the walls so had to get down into it. Now we're having cooler wet weather and I can easily let it go a week and maybe more before changing the water and giving it a scrub. It's still work, but easier than the daily kiddie pool changes, and prettier, and worth it to see how much they enjoy it. View attachment 2397595View attachment 2397596

That’s beautiful! I was looking at pond liners and saw those that have the little ledges, seems like a great way to help them up and out of the water also. I don’t think we’d be able to sink it here, we can only go about 8 inches down before we hit caliche, but I could definitely build up around it. Thanks for sharing!

 

[CoriM]

For sure, you could build a ramp up to it! I still have to put a block on the ledge to help them get out - it's just harder for the bigger birds - but it works alright.

 

[KaleIAm]

I use a small pond liner that we sunk in the ground in the duck run. We put a drain in it and the water runs into a small ditch we dug. We found this used and it didn't cost much. It doesn't fit all my ducks (I have 5) but they don't all love it, so for the first year I also kept a blue kiddie pool on my patio that they all swam in everyday. We put a ramp up to it and cinder block inside so they could easily get in and out. Kale did a good job covering the troubles with the wading pools. I used a bucket to pull water out of it before dumping it, but it's still a lot of work to do this and keep the pool clean. This summer we bought a bigger pond liner and sunk it into the ground in our yard. Ducks love this and have plenty of space. I don't know if it's just my pekins, but they really like to stand on something in the water while they do their bathing, and this liner has a ledge all the way around it that they love standing on. My little welshies could care less about that. We put a drain in it and dug a ditch so the water empties on the other side of the yard. In the summer I needed to change this maybe every 4 days, and I used a scrub brush to scrub the walls so had to get down into it. Now we're having cooler wet weather and I can easily let it go a week and maybe more before changing the water and giving it a scrub. It's still work, but easier than the daily kiddie pool changes, and prettier, and worth it to see how much they enjoy it. View attachment 2397595View attachment 2397596

Gorgeous!!

 

[KaleIAm]

Thanks so much for all the info! I’m not prepared to dump every day so a drain would be fantastic. I am absolutely with you on not putting that much plastic in the trash.I don’t have a lot of time to spend cleaning either so simple is always better.
I’m going to show this to hubs and see what we come up with.

Can you see that the original drain hole is in the side near the bottom? I tried to use that hole for months but it drove me nuts. The last few gallons of water wouldn't drain. That might be ok when it is drinking water, but I wasn't ok with it when it was poop water. We plugged the original drain hole and drilled a new one right in the bottom. Now I can completely empty the pool. That might be something to consider when purchasing a stock tank. I'm not sure how easy/possible it is to make a new drain in a metal one.

 

[igorsMistress]

Can you see that the original drain hole is in the side near the bottom? I tried to use that hole for months but it drove me nuts. The last few gallons of water wouldn't drain. That might be ok when it is drinking water, but I wasn't ok with it when it was poop water. We plugged the original drain hole and drilled a new one right in the bottom. Now I can completely empty the pool. That might be something to consider when purchasing a stock tank. I'm not sure how easy/possible it is to make a new drain in a metal one.

I’m sure that would be far more difficult. I did see the drain the bottom and that’s exactly what I want so it’ll completely drain.

 

[DuckinDonutsBensalem]

I don't have a good picture of it all. I have two plastic kiddie pools that my neighbor gave me, a 40 gallon horse trough, a round galvanized steel tub and a plastic bathtub for babies. I have one kiddie pool and the baby bathtub in their enclosed pen. The baby bathtub is close to where they get their duck pellets. I have the horse trough, the other kiddie pool and steel tub in my yard for water when they are foraging. I have them grouped together with bricks for steps. They love to jump from the trough to the other pools. I use an old sump pump to help me empty them when needed. I have 8 young Khaki Campbell duckies who love to dirty clean water.

 

[igorsMistress]

I don't have a good picture of it all. I have two plastic kiddie pools that my neighbor gave me, a 40 gallon horse trough, a round galvanized steel tub and a plastic bathtub for babies. I have one kiddie pool and the baby bathtub in their enclosed pen. The baby bathtub is close to where they get their duck pellets. I have the horse trough, the other kiddie pool and steel tub in my yard for water when they are foraging. I have them grouped together with bricks for steps. They love to jump from the trough to the other pools. I use an old sump pump to help me empty them when needed. I have 8 young Khaki Campbell duckies who love to dirty clean water.

I understand that’s what baby ducks like to do I love the sump pump idea!

 

[Toryhillc]

The

I live on a steep hill so the kiddy pools weren't working for us. I ended up stacking some cinderblocks we already had on hand and putting a tarp down to line the inside of it. The bricks are only stacked on the 3 downhill sides and the ducks just walk in. To change the water I pull out 2 bricks and then replace them to fill it back up. The nice thing about the bricks is you can always change the shape and configuration. We have tried deeper vs shallow but wide and ended up liking the shallow and wide shape better because they all fit at once without having to get more bricks. View attachment 2396445View attachment 2396446View attachment 2396448

They seem so chill. Love it