Watermeal in my pond!!!!

[SundownWaterfowl]

Does anybody else here have watermeal in their pond? I have a bunch, the pond is just covered with it.
I also have duckweed, but the duckweed makes up about 20% of the weeds.


I scoop it out with a strainer, and the ducks and chickens love to eat it.

 

[chickmommar]

I don't know what watermeal is. Perhaps others don't either. Could you show us? Sounds like fun.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/images/plant_photos/floating_plants/index/watermeal_index.jpg&imgrefurl=http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/floating_plants/watermeal.htm&h=277&w=257&sz=19&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=iiH0pJ_PL7TP_M:&tbnh=114&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwatermeal%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ADBF_enUS244US244%26sa%3DN

If you go there. It will show you what watermeal is. It is very very tiny.

 

[chickmommar]

Thanks for the info/pic. I don't have it and looks like that's a good thing if it will take over and deplete the oxygen. Still, sounds like the ducks and chickens are enjoying yours.

 

[patandchickens]

I am glad to hear it can have a USE!

I know it well from back when I was a biologist working on pond critters. My knowledge of it can be summed up into two main items:

- once you get it growing somewhere, it is there FOREVER unless it's a manmade container that can be drained, scrubbed, bleached and sundried.

and

- if you fall into a pond infested with watermeal, you will be picking watermeal out of your hair, nose, ears, armpits, and much more personal places for DAYS. And scraping it off is not easy, because the individual plants are teeny little ball-bearing type dealies that have a remarkable affinity for skin and hair

Better you than me

Pat

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I hated it at first. But now I really dont care, because my ducks and chickens love it. lol

 

[silkiechicken]

Sounds like they have calm preferences so if you put in a good sized water pump at one end, might be able to make some of it unfavorable! Else it clogs the pump and you have a covered pond and are out the pump. LOL

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Well, the chickens and ducks are in a very large dog run. I cant let them out, because the hawks took almost all of my older ducks in the spring. So I take a strainer and fill up a large bowl for them each day.

They love it!