New duck pond - suggestions and feedback welcome

Hi all,

We've been busy and I haven't had much time for Permies recently.

One of the projects that has kept me away has been the construction of a duck pond. It's around 1m deep, although this varies, so fairly shallow. Luckily we don't often get freezing temperatures so I think it will be sufficient. It seeps and overflows (via a small diameter pipe) into an area of damp meadow that is very biodiverse so I am glad to be keeping it wet. I may toy with the height of the overflow to add a little more depth in the future.

The pond is spring fed - we suspected there was a spring in roughly the location of the pond but weren't certain of its whereabouts. As we were digging it suddenly appeared and so the pond surrounds it and is fed from beneath the surface. The whole pond filled up in about 3 days.

I have yet to accurately measure the pond. It was done mostly by eye and by water level. I suspect it's around 10m in diameter, with a small island in the center (~3m in diameter; for a future duck house). That would give me a volume of around 21000 litres (~5000 US gallons). This could be out by quite a bit though - it's an estimate only!

The island is for a bit of predator discouragement. I am under no illusions that a hungry fox wouldn't swim across but it will, at least, provide an inconvenience. The distance between the island and the bank is designed to be larger than I believe a fox can jump. Of course, it might also be a pain for us to clean out. We are variously planning a small, swung, slid or drawn-up bridge; a little boat; or a pair of waders.

I've seeded the pond with some native plants: marginals (Typha, watercress), oxygenators (starwort), floating (frogbit) and deep water (white water lily). I'm hoping this will provide some cover for amphibians and others to breed in. The Typha (bullrush/reedmace) in particular should also help clean the water when the ducks inevitably fill it with their poop. The plants should also help soften the pond into the surrounding landscape.

All thoughts and suggestions welcome!

That is awesome! Clay lined and naturally spring fed - how fortuitous!
How many ducks do you think you will have? I'd really like just a few Indian runners (don't need a pond?) or khaki campbell as I gather both of those are more gentle in the garden and go for the slugs more. Livestock are not on my husband's want list though, so the issue is car parked for now.
Do you have otter near you at all? They have been known to take ducks here.
Congratulations on a lovely job done there.

Wow you have done a great job already! Ducks are surely going to love this pond, and all of the plant life. I would suggest adding some small minnows in the pond too. I´m sure other little critters will show up naturally too. Ducks will love to snack on the plants as well as the minnows and other critters that they can catch.

Nancy Reading wrote:That is awesome! Clay lined and naturally spring fed - how fortuitous!

We're pretty lucky. We did take a look at the old maps of our site and there was a spring mentioned. It was one of our requirements when we were looking for land. The ground water has always been very high in this spot so I feel that it would have stayed wet regardless of the clay content; that's just a bonus as we could bring it a little above grade on the downhill side.

Nancy Reading wrote:How many ducks do you think you will have?

Honestly that's an open question! Like you I have considered runners of Khaki Campbells (which, I think, are a breed of runner?). I have also heard of a more recent Welsh Harlequin breed which is also mostly runner and are rather pretty. We would love them to help with our slug population! As for the number, I guess we would start off with 6 or so and see how they fare.

Nancy Reading wrote:Do you have otter near you at all? They have been known to take ducks here.

Yikes! I believe we might have an otter in one of the boundary streams. Our ecologist friend found what he thought was an otter slide there and so we have left the area untouched. Hopefully they have enough other food (mice and voles in abundance!) to keep their minds off ducks.

Kristine Ellis wrote:I would suggest adding some small minnows in the pond too. I'm sure other little critters will show up naturally too.

I would love some fish in the pond. I am hoping some arrive "magically" on birds feet. I am certainly not against introducing a few small, native fish though. As you say, I imagine all sorts of things will turn up of their own accord.

Glad to know I'm on the right track.

Luke Mitchell wrote:We're pretty lucky. We did take a look at the old maps of our site and there was a spring mentioned. It was one of our requirements when we were looking for land.

Sometimes you make you own luck! I'm looking forwards to seeing how the pond (and livestock) develop!