Will a regular chlorine swimming pool hurt ducks

[DallasLoneStar]

I had a mallard pair that visited my pool the past three springs. Even with them showing up occasionally it was making my pool disgusting and fighting back cost literally hundreds of dollars in chemicals. So, just the poop from two ducks going in a pool here and there was screwing it up big time. My pool is 22,000 gallons, chlorine. This year I kept shooting them in the butt with a red ryder BB gun. it would just bounce off but finally annoyed them enough that they stayed away. They didn't come back after a few shots!

 

[Steven Bussell]

Can you give me your advantage pool readings.
Let me guess.
Your ph is probably around 7.2 -7.4..
I'm guessing your tap water is a round 7-8 unless your on a well than it probably a little higher.
Your alkalinity is around 90-120. Guessing your tap alkalinity is 70-90.
Choline level is somewhere between 3 -5.
For those who aren't familiar. Those reading are measured in PPM. Parts per million...
Are you using acid to control your ph ?
I would prefer to swim in a lake with ducks,fish and turtle poop them a public swimming pool!!!!!
People are nastier than ducks!!!!

 

[SuperDuck]

DaddyDuck swims in the lake every morning! Believe it or not, he's a lot healthier since he started. He's no where near as sick as much as he used to be before he started this training.

Duck poop, fish poop, his own pee and all!

 

[Nathalie]

Well, I used to drop in powder that chlorinates the water AND that was 100% safe for even the smallest children (you know, they sometimes drink from it, whether you like it or not). But it couldn't help against the water turning green and smelly in no time when the (3 Muscovy) ducks arrived and started pooping in it. When they were small there was no problem, the water stayed pretty clear (most of their poo dropped straight to the bottom), until they grew a few weeks older. OH BOY! Talk about stinky stuff! Adding more of that powder was a no go and even heavy filtration couldn't get the job done. Now see, it's not the green algae that you should be worried about, though it's nasty, full of bacteria and I wouldn't recommend swimming in it , it's the blue algae that can kill people AND animal life. This blue algae can bloom overnight, and if you haven't noticed it and take a dive in it, or you let your ducks swim in it... yeah, you'll find yourself in deep sh*t (no pun intended).

Anyway, with that being said, if you have a large pool and only a duck or two, by all means: go for it. But keep in mind that it WILL turn green, no matter what you do. If it's a very large pool, it might take some time, but eventually it will happen. Only doing regular full waterchanges and having a super large filtration system will keep you somewhat on top of it. And if you don't have a well or any other natural source of water at your disposal: it can become very pricey, trust me!

We got rid of our pool in total and gave our 3 ducks large kiddy pools to bath in. And they are happy with it. I myself have the luxury to live near the beach, and in winter time - when the sea is too cold obviously to even dip your little toe in - the local public swimming pool is around the corner.

 

[SuperDuck]

Well, I used to drop in powder that chlorinates the water AND that was 100% safe for even the smallest children (you know, they sometimes drink from it, whether you like it or not). But it couldn't help against the water turning green and smelly in no time when the (3 Muscovy) ducks arrived and started pooping in it. When they were small there was no problem, the water stayed pretty clear (most of their poo dropped straight to the bottom), until they grew a few weeks older. OH BOY! Talk about stinky stuff! Adding more of that powder was a no go and even heavy filtration couldn't get the job done. Now see, it's not the green algae that you should be worried about, though it's nasty, full of bacteria and I wouldn't recommend swimming in it , it's the blue algae that can kill people AND animal life. This blue algae can bloom overnight, and if you haven't noticed it and take a dive in it, or you let your ducks swim in it... yeah, you'll find yourself in deep sh*t (no pun intended).

Anyway, with that being said, if you have a large pool and only a duck or two, by all means: go for it. But keep in mind that it WILL turn green, no matter what you do. If it's a very large pool, it might take some time, but eventually it will happen. Only doing regular full waterchanges and having a super large filtration system will keep you somewhat on top of it. And if you don't have a well or any other natural source of water at your disposal: it can become very pricey, trust me!

We got rid of our pool in total and gave our 3 ducks large kiddy pools to bath in. And they are happy with it. I myself have the luxury to live near the beach, and in winter time - when the sea is too cold obviously to even dip your little toe in - the local public swimming pool is around the corner.

Cold swims are the best! So refreshing! Lol

 

[Nathalie]

Cold swims are the best! So refreshing! Lol

Yeah, thanks, but no thank you.

 

[SuperDuck]

Yeah, thanks, but no thank you.

I hear you! The coldest I get in is when it's 84 (water temp). That picture was from about 3 weeks ago and it was

 

[DuckDuckGooseMum]

It certainly wouldn’t be good for them and it would be beyond messy for you. They would spend all there time in it. I also have an in-ground pool, although mine is salt water. I used to only allow mine to free range when I was home and still it was a battle to keep them out of the pool. For a while I had them scared of beach balls and floated a few in the pool. They overcame their fear. I would run out and yell at them if I saw them heading near the pool. They learned to peek in the window to see if I was watching and then make a break for the pool. I ended up enlarging my garden and they are only allowed to free range there (but all day).
This is them in January, on top of the floating pool cover. They even posted a lookout.
View attachment 1844654

Omg that's too funny! How adorable they are!!