Making and filtering pond for 8 ducks

Hello! I have 8 ducks (2 full grown drakes and 6 3 week old females), I am struggling with making a pond that's big enough for them but not too expensive. I was thinking of making a 5ft×5ft pond for them by digging and putting liner, but am finding problems with how to make or find a pump/filter system that work be able to sustain 8 ducks' poop? Right now the drake's just have a kiddie pool that has been having problems with algae which I would also need some temporary help with dealing with that?

Thank you if you have any suggestions or advice!!

I’d use your duck pond water on the garden, which will filter out the nutrients (ie muck). In a similar situation I changed their water every day or two, and had a sump pump to run it to woodchip covered hugel beds. If nothing needed water, to the woodchip pile or compost. Overflow ran off into woodchip and woody debris filled swales and trenches in between hugel beds. We are in the last part of California with abundant good water, so this may not work everywhere, but that garden grew very well. For more pictures, video,  and info, check out my post on hugel-chinampas with duckoponic swales.

In my experience nothing will be budget priced.
A sludge pump is built to handle that sort of material, but have you thought about where it will be pumped to?

I have been planning something similar for a while and this is what I will do when the time comes.
Use a plastic stock tank for the pond, dig a hole and burry it so the top is just a few inches above ground, and the ground will help keep it cooler in the summer and maybe a bit warmer in the winter.  You can either cut a hole in the center for a bottom drain or use the existing drain bung on the side to connect a filter system.  If you use the side drain make sure your return water is on the opposite side so it will push the dirt towards the drain.  Put a strainer over the drain to catch the large stuff like rocks or wood chips or branches, which our ducks love bringing into the pool.  If you use a large enough pump you wont have to worry about the poop, it will be soft and will easily go through the pump impeller, it is the rocks and wood chips that will be a problem.  For filtering the water you can consider an actual sand filter that can be regularly back flushed with the dirty water going towards trees or garden areas, or you can build a filtering waterfall that will catch the dirt and debris and use it for fertilizing plants that are growing in the waterfall area.  The plants will look good if properly placed and the waterfall will return the filtered water into the pond.  Occasionally drain some of the water out (back flushing a filter) and replace with fresh water.
These come in various sizes.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/round-plastic-stock-tank-8-ft-x-2-ft

This is just an idea of what I mean for a water fall filter.  Ideas and styles can vary greatly and internet searches will help you decide what plants will do best in your area.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/39/d6/f1/39d6f10e274e0d10a4f77dc1e8354185.jpg

This is an example of the type of water pump you could use.  You could get a regular pump but pool pumps will already have a strainer, but still use a screen over the inlet at the pond.
https://lesliespool.com/hayward-power-flo-lx-series-1hp-vertical-above-ground-pool-pump-with-6-cord/338574.html

If you want a sand filter instead of a water fall it would be similar to this, you can go larger if you want but if you backwash the filter regularly (every day or two) a smaller one should work fine.  Remember, the backwash water will go towards trees or a garden so you are not wasting the water you are sending the nutrient rich water to fertilize trees or plants and topping off the pond with fresh water.
https://lesliespool.com/protege-top-mount-sand-filter-14-inch/386353.html

Search the internet for backyard duck ponds and you will find plenty of ideas and a few videos.

I'm thinking of doing something like Michael but fortunately my property is all on a slope so no pump needed. There are lots of good ideas on pinterest as well.

Älska Ljus wrote:Hello! I have 8 ducks (2 full grown drakes and 6 3 week old females), I am struggling with making a pond that's big enough for them but not too expensive. I was thinking of making a 5ft×5ft pond for them by digging and putting liner, but am finding problems with how to make or find a pump/filter system that work be able to sustain 8 ducks' poop? Right now the drake's just have a kiddie pool that has been having problems with algae which I would also need some temporary help with dealing with that?

Thank you if you have any suggestions or advice!!

Ahhhh, your idea of a 5ftx5ft pond sounds almost exactly like the pond we started out with for our first 8 ducks. It was 5x5 and 3 feet deep. My husband (who's managed aquariums successfully for years), hooked up a big filter.......and it clogged. It clogged over and over. So we'd drain that stinking pond, and fill it up again. And it took a lot of water, and got yucky fast.

We gave up. If there was a good way to deal with it, I don't know!

What we do instead is give the ducks shallow (2-4 inch deep) pans of water to bathe in. The pans are maybe 1.5 x 2 feet in size. That's big enough for a duck to splash in and clean their feathers. Every day, I dump it and fill it again. I move it from place to place (preferably under fruit trees) to spread the nourishment around. Its an amount of water that doesn't take long to fill, isn't too hard to tip over and dump, and doesn't destroy the grass when I dump it. And, because I change the water every day, the ducks always have clean water. Since I started doing this, and gave up on the idea of big ponds, my ducks have ceased to get wet feather.

Sure, the pans aren't as fun for ducks as a pond that they can swim around in. Maybe a compromise would be to dump the kiddy pool and refill it every three days, and rotate the kiddy pool around so the water and nourishment is spread over a large area of the garden/property?

Nicole, what a great idea!!!

I'm torn on this. Our ducks have a good sized pond they've never noticed, because it's poorly designed & placed (but came with the house, lol). We tried the larger version of the hard plastic kiddie pool. Nope. To hard to empty & clean, and frankly, the more water they have, the bigger the mess they make. So, when the pool eventually stopped holding water(it actually survived the whole first summer), we didn't replace it. They've been molesting my rain collection tubs, instead. That's mostly fine, because they're not getting in, so no poop. But, they still make a mess with their food in it. And, honestly, they are looking a little rough - they need a bath! Their faces are clean, but...

I'm thinking to get them that tiny kiddie pool, but I'm also thinking of building them a very small pond, with a shallow 50gal, bunged stock tank (we bought it for $10 from a friend who is downsizing his mini horse ranch), building a  hugel all the way around it, with an access to the bung, and a low-angle ramp for them to get in and out. It would be a bit more work than using a pump, but, the bung could be opened to a flex hose, that would simultaneously irrigate and fertilize the hugel, that would be planted with a garden the ducks could forage in. Sort of a... modified oval keyhole garden-shaped, duckuaponic hugel... thing.

Ducks make a muddy mess. I personally, wouldn't use anything that I can't tip up to scrub and rinse, but then, I'm a fan of moving infrastructure around, and if I half bury something, I can no longer move it. Also, if I have to scrub something, I'd much prefer it to be something raised up a little so it's convenient to lean over.

So for daily use summer and winter, I use rubber animal feeders which come in all different shapes/sizes and depths. The smallest ones are referred to as "duckling bathtubs" and I find it quite hilarious when our adult geese decide to use them! They pretty much displace all the water! They move every day so they don't kill the grass and even the largest one is just light enough for me to tip.


However, when a friend left town, she gave me two stock tanks that are about the same depth as our largest rubber pan. For the first one I adapted a sturdy pallet with wheels so I could move it when it was empty. However, that never worked as well as I would have liked, so when the pallet succumbed to rot and someone gave me a plastic pallet, I started using it instead. I takes at least 3 - maybe 4 - times as much water as our largest rubber version. At the moment, our well has a pump issue, so I haven't got the water to use it, but normally, I set it up, let them use it for 3 days, then open the valve to a "T" with holey pipes that distribute the water on the grass gently over the width of the tank. However, this does *not* empty the tank. However, the tank is now light enough that I can easily tip the rest of the water out, rinse the tank with the hose, close the valve, move the tank and it's platform to a new spot of grass, and refill it. I found that even one day flat on the grass, tended to be hard on the turf. Having it raised up seems to really help.


So now the problem is that you've got a tank that's about 18" off the ground (about 1/2 a meter). So I needed a light weight ramp for our Khaki Campbell ducks and our Geese. The Muscovy are agile enough that the ramp is more for preening than getting in the tank.  It's made from a scrap aluminium ladder I salvaged, cut in half with a metal blade at an angle, so one ladder gave me two ramps with a nice slope at the "grass" end. The other end, I adapted with a hook on each side to hold onto the edge of the tank. I then covered them with hardware cloth held on with #8 stainless nuts and bolts.


However, the Khakis are simply not safe enough from aerial predators to be allowed out with the other ducks and geese. For a while, they were in an enclosed run, and just dumping the water always in the same spot is a major problem. So we bought an adaptor which allows us to easily disconnect a long pipe from the tank. The pipe is ABS and is flexible enough that I could now move the output ~5 ft each time I wanted to empty the tank.  I needed to disconnect it so I could dump that last inch of punky water and rinse the tank. This worked fine until some coons moved in that defeated that enclosed run and eventually the shelter associated with it. So the ducks are back to only having one of the medium sized rubber buckets like in the first picture which they can get into without a ramp for "bath time". However, while it lasted, the bamboo was *really* happy to have duck-shit water!

In my dreams I want a safe exterior fenced area with multiple paddocks for the Khakis. Then I could actually plant fruit trees that would benefit from the tank water the way the bamboo did. Currently, we're using dog x-pen fencing with deer fencing supported on a bamboo tripod and they move every 3 days. It is seriously time-consuming, but it is protecting them from the Ravens (we've lost every baby duck hatched this year to Ravens, even long after they should have been safe out, but it's a group of 4 working as a team. Our current little ones simply aren't being let out until I have a solution). The problem is that it isn't coon proof. So far the coons haven't been coming around during the 10 am to 5 pm I've been risking them in the run. That could change at any time, so I've got to get working on improvements to the system. I know what I want, but just have not time to spend on it as it will be a major job and so far we've got other priorities and can at least trap coons that give our farm animals grief. Coons are good rat catchers, so my hope is always that they'll stay wild and not bother out domestic fowl.

I used to interior canoe trip every summer when I was younger. When I think of the duck density on any body of water we went through, it was seriously lower than anything that would be practical on my farm. I did some research on Aquaponics also, and was constantly amazed at how many plants were required to clean the water for a relatively small number of fish. Ducks would be worse as they're constantly digging in the muck and moving it around. So despite my genuine desire to conserve water, I am going to stick to systems shown in my photos, but just try to improve on the value of the poopy water by developing a system to feed it to trees and shrubs instead of grass. However, in the short term, the grass does use it, and geese and Muscovy are both grass eaters.

I'm really enjoying this thread.

We have an existing pond on the property but ducks would not be safe from predators there. It's where they all go for water. And it's a regular stopping off point for migratory birds, ducks, geese etc. so not good biosecurity.

Given the slope of my property I think that my small duck/goose pond will have to be stationary. We don't have grass, it's too dry and hot here, so I don't have to worry about the tank killing that. I was thinking that I would have the tank on a slight slope so it will drain better. Hopefully watering some new trees. The poultry yard will be maybe 1/4 acre. I'm hoping that will be sufficient. We currently have 11 chickens and would like to get 10 ducks and 2 geese next year.

Have you looked into “duckponics”?

Ooo, cool ideas here.
Put me in the kiddie pool column, though. Much as I would love a beautiful landscaped water feature with ducks merrily adorning the surface, oh, the muck.
So the kiddie pool is in the dedicated bird area of the yard that has been thoroughly stripped of any plants less hardy than oak trees. I tip the pool to change it out and currently the water runs down a rather grassy slope and may or may not reach the hugel at the bottom depending on how enthusiastic the ducks have been in the water. Since killing non-existent grass isn’t a concern, the kiddie pool stays in pretty much the same area constantly.  I’ve been thinking about various ways to channel the water to plants that could use it, but I’m still in the info gathering process. I’m thinking a gutter or a large diameter hose for catching and channeling and smaller diameter offshoots as I decide what needs to be watered where.

You can get small flat tubs from your local ranch supply store to tide you over until your pond is built - 1 for every 2 ducks will keep them happy, and you can change the water out every other day - I transfer the contents to 5-gallon buckets and carry it out to wherever I feel needs some fertigation, and pour it on.  That's about ten gallons of water per day that you will need to move, if you empty half of the tubs each day.  We are ALSO in the process of building a dedicated duck pond, just waiting on the temperatures to come down to survivable levels before resuming excavation!

Have been exploring "bog filters". This might work for your duck pond?

We started out with the kiddie pool idea.   But since it didn't have a hole to drain the water, I had to lift up one edge slightly to get the water flowing out, then lifting more until it was empty enough that I could life it all the way.     The water got really gross quickly, due to the low volume of water, so I had to empty it frequently.  It was difficult.  In addition, the material the kiddie pools are made from is weak.  Lifting it up over and over again 'creases' the edges, until it finally cracks.

Our next solution was to use some containers sort of like those concrete mixing containers.. but they are bigger.   Don't know where we got them originally, but they were used to catch any spillage from our solar batteries (a million years ago).  They're about 2.5' x 5', with 4" edges.    They are made from super thick material, so they are much, much sturdier than a kiddie pool.   But the same issue of having to empty and fill.  Plus they aren't really deep enough for the duck to swim in.   Much better solution than the kiddie pool, but still problematic.

Our current solution is a 300 gallon stock tank.  We dug a huge hole with the backhoe, then shaped and smoothed it to size with shovels.  It has a drain hold in the side near the bottom, so we added  2" pvc that drains into the garden.   To facilitate opening and closing the drain, we added a PVC 'T', put a vertical PVC over the thing that opens and closes the valve, then a 'cross-bar' at the top.   We can just turn the cross bar, and that opens or closes the valve.  We covered the first 3 feet of the pipe with dirt.   Then dug a ditch for the water to flow out at the end of the drain pipe.   Cons to this approach:  1)  The ducks think the ditch is their personal playground, so it gets filled up and blocks the drain pipe opening.  We have to dig it out each time.  2)  The pond is under a conifer, so we get all kinds of pine cones and branches in it.  Those block the interior opening of the drain.  3)  The drain hole is about 3-4 inches from the actual bottom of the pond, so it's impossible to get the last part of the water and 'goo' out of the pond.  4)  No matter what we do, we have to shovel that last 3-4" of 'goo' (dirt, leaves, pinecones, duck poop) out.  Our current solution is to just go barefoot, step into the empty pond with a 5-gallon bucket and a shovel.   Of course, once that 5-gallon bucket is full, it's really heavy to bring up to the surface.

We recently purchased a pond pump and filter, but after reading the comments above, it sounds like that solution won't work either.  

Would like to hear more from the folks that used a sludge pump or sump pump.

Älska Ljus wrote:Hello! I have 8 ducks (2 full grown drakes and 6 3 week old females), I am struggling with making a pond that's big enough for them but not too expensive. I was thinking of making a 5ft×5ft pond for them by digging and putting liner, but am finding problems with how to make or find a pump/filter system that work be able to sustain 8 ducks' poop? Right now the drake's just have a kiddie pool that has been having problems with algae which I would also need some temporary help with dealing with that?
Thank you if you have any suggestions or advice!!

I am a bit confused by the 5ft X 5ft pond. When you say a 5ft X 5ft pond, do you mean that the pond is 5ft DEEP"? Why would you make it so deep if it is only 5ft [ in diameter or in radius? [It represents a lot of water yet not much surface.
No matter what you do, ducks will poop in water. 8 ducks in a 5 ft. kiddie pool will make a mess of that water in one day and will need to be changed. No ifs or buts about that.
I had 15 ducks and made them a shallow pond, precisely because I knew that the water would have to be changed often. I took (4) - 10ft boards and fastened them with screws at the 4 corners. Then I laid one of those blue tarps over the whole thing, carefully pinching the edges alongside of the boards, on the inside and outside with pavers.
So they had a 10ft X 10ft pond to play in. I realized later that I could have made it bigger but I didn't want the pressure of the water shoving those boards asunder.
At the low corner of the pool, I arranged to have  pavers that I could remove just by lifting the wood frame in the corner. There was less of an overlap there].
The dirty water would then drain, gushing out quite quickly. I would then re-fill the pond. It worked quite well. I also had a 55 gallon rain barrel with a garden hose ending open ended in the pond.  Every time it rained, the pond would get more than it needed for a complete change of water.
This is a great set up during the warm season and I'm not sure if you are considering keeping your ducks over winter. If you are, then the pond has to extend below the frost line, and a filtering device, and an agitating/ recirculating pump installed. But that gets a bit pricey for 8 ducks.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the shallower the pond, the more it will heat up in the Summer so it may need to be changed daily as the algae will thrive in this environment.
Good luck on your project!

Älska Ljus wrote:Hello! I have 8 ducks (2 full grown drakes and 6 3 week old females), I am struggling with making a pond that's big enough for them but not too expensive. I was thinking of making a 5ft×5ft pond for them by digging and putting liner, but am finding problems with how to make or find a pump/filter system that work be able to sustain 8 ducks' poop? Right now the drake's just have a kiddie pool that has been having problems with algae which I would also need some temporary help with dealing with that?

Thank you if you have any suggestions or advice!!

Ponds are expensive in either $$ or in energy, no matter what you do - liners make them even more expensive. Pumping a pond is another energy intensive and costly idea. If you can set up a pond that naturally fills from a spring (or from ample rainfall) AND you have enough elevation to drain the pond via gravity, this might be a more feasible idea, but a pond as small as you've been thinking about is going to need daily draining and refilling (ducks are very dirty).

The solution, as always, is a big "it depends". Where are you located climate-wise? How much rainfall do you normally receive? How bad is your predator pressure? Do you let the ducks free-range, do you paddock shift them or are they in a permanent run? Do you have large gardens and orchards where you could use all that "fertigation" water (duck water is excellent fertilizer!).

Just two examples on either end of the spectrum to illustrate:
1) The "Jack Spirko" (survival podcast) experience in Texas showed small children's pools placed strategically around the property, emptied and refilled on a regular basis with his well water, did wonders for his soil fertility and plant production.
2) Geoff Lawton used ducks living practically undisturbed (unprotected and with minimal human interaction) in his large ponds and dams to help seal the bottoms while also getting added fertility, pest and weed control, meat and eggs, etc.

My current setup for ducks (17 ducks and 1 goose as of writing) includes a larger pond with drain that gravity feeds to a smaller pond that's fenced and netted for the ducks. The smaller pond is some 40 feet long by 15 feet wide. I "flush" this smaller pond occasionally with water from the larger pond - the overflow from the ducks gravity feeds to a lower pasture area that's currently planted to a dense 3-sisters planting. The fertility from the ducks is used by those hungry plants and thoroughly filtered by grasses, etc, before leaving the property.

...this would not work if I had to refill a pond from a well, but in new england, 4 inches of rainfall a month is average almost year-round, with 7 to 9 inches in a single month a fairly regular occurrence. I'm also dealing with a gentle slope on heavy clay soil that seals easily without need for liners AND had access to heavy machinery to build the ponds.

I notice that nobody has suggested setting up an organic hydroponics system as a filtration method.  I think this has potential.

My own system is only theoretical at this point, but here is what I have planned...

I am currently building two smallish (10x15' sorta...) in-ground ponds with liners.  In the future, I plan to free-range Muscovies, who will have access to at least the first pond.  Stocking rates as yet undetermined.  Muscovies are forest ducks, fundamentally different from the various breeds of Eurasian origin domestic ducks.  Still, I understand that they will take to open water if it is provided.  I'm not sure if they will spend as much time befouling it as will other ducks, but I guess I will find out.

The first pond will be topped off as needed by nearby rainwater collection.  The first pond will overflow into the second.  The second pond I might consider fencing off, so that wildlife and aquatic plants can exist there without facing annihilation by ducks.  Overflow from the second pond, hopefully somewhat less over-fertilized at this point, will drain into a rain garden, and from there through a small patch of wild woodland before exiting my property.

So, my intention is to concentrate the duck filth in the first pond, which is where I will also direct greywater (including urine) from the nearby house.  I am giving up on anything living permanently in the first pond, as it will likely become too "polluted" too quickly.  Rather, the first pond will be a collection volume, and perhaps the second pond can host more of an actual pond ecosystem.

Rather than regularly emptying-and-refilling the first pond, I hope instead to filter it by running its water constantly through a bank of hydroponics bins, that will completely line one edge of the pond.  I should be able to get maybe 15' of pond edge lined with these bins, sucking up water and dripping it back down into the pond.  I imagine watercress would be a good crop to attempt.  If this is successful, and yet still proves inadequate to filter out the excess nutrients in the first pond, I have several additional options.

First, I can potentially expand the number of hydroponics bins, although this is somewhat limited by geography.  Second, I can occasionally pump extra water into the first pond when the water level is already high, forcing overflow into the second pond.  Third, I can occasionally attach a hose to whatever pump normally feeds the hydroponics bins and divert a bunch of dirty water out of the first pond into my surrounding food forest, refilling with clean water from my rain barrels.

I have no experience in hydroponics or aquaponics, so I cannot even estimate at this point how effective this setup might be.  Nor would it be easy to estimate, even with adequate studying, because there are so many unknown factors: I don't yet know how many ducks I will have, nor how many people producing greywater from the house, nor whether I can effectively attempt to fence off the second pond, etc., etc.  I also wonder what will happen during the winter, when my hydroponics are no longer growing. and thus my pond is completely without filtration?  I can divert house greywater back into the standard plumbing system (septic tank).  I intend that the overwintering population of ducks will be reduced to a core of just a few breeders.  How much muck will they accumulate in the pond over the winter months?

Allska,
I don't profess to have vast knowledge about ducks and what to do with their manure but, I think it's a conservative guesstimate that a duck, (chicken, or goose) can input a pound of food and output 27 lbs of manure...Just my one-eyed math from raising a few. (foul, that is)
I suspect that a 5x5 pool is not going to be close to big enough for what you'd like to do. Nonetheless, best of luck with it and keep us posted...I for one would love to have 20 gallons of poopy duck water for my flower beds!

So I saw mention of 2" pvc for drainage, is that sufficient? I would prefer for almost everything to drain through, obviously I can fish out large sticks or rocks. I was thinking of a split line to 3-5 drainage spots or would that create too many problem spots.

Stacy Witscher wrote:So I saw mention of 2" pvc for drainage, is that sufficient? I would prefer for almost everything to drain through, obviously I can fish out large sticks or rocks. I was thinking of a split line to 3-5 drainage spots or would that create too many problem spots.

The feathers are a problem. When birds are molting, they can leave a *lot* of feathers in the water. The simple manifold on the stock tank I posted above, have removable plugs at each end. If it seems like too many of the holes aren't draining well, I pull both plugs and spray water through while rubbing along the line of holes to free the feathers up.

Feathers will biodegrade - they just take longer than poop to do so.

I have 11 indian runners that have access to my 60,000L (13,000 gallon) pond and have experimented with numerous different designs for filtration but I have not yet found a solution that works without a good amount of manual maintenance. The most efficient I have come up with and using currently is a 3000L radial flow filter (aquaponic style settling tank) which then feeds into numerous 200L reed beds that have overflow catchment automatically overflowing into the next bed when they get blocked up. Once they block up (which is quite regularly) I have to pull the reeds out and wash them and the media. The muck goes on the garden which is fantastic for worms and soil health but it is quite a physical and heavy job to clean them out. You could use smaller reed beds to make it easier and lighter but they would just block up even quicker.  I do need to change the design so the first reed bed being fed is always the oldest as at the moment they are all fed in a line so the first bed is clogged up much more often than the subsequent beds.

 When Grandpa Conrad built his main irrigation pond, back in '36, he had the outflow pipes radiating out to the fields from about 5 foot above surface level .. but the wet end of those pipes were all the way down at the bottom, to be able to pick up all of the free fish fertilizer that he was making.  I'm not entirely sure just how deep that was, but it was DEEP - the earth that was removed from the pond went to build a berm around it, and it was easily 30 feet from surface level.  When he opened up those 8 inch pipes to let the water out, whatever pressure of water there was ABOVE the outflow pipe was sufficient to evacuate the muck from the bottom:  Irrigation + Fertilization, all at once, hence "fertigation".  He didn't call it that.
 
 What I'm getting at here is, you don't need to have a naturally occurring slope to be able to get gravity to do the work for you .. you just need to be able to hold water above your outflow point to make pressure.  If you would like to see it work before committing to a build, grab some modeling clay and a bit of air line tubing, and make a bowl with the clay.  Half  way up from the bottom of the bowl, pass one end of that tubing through, and leave the other end on the bottom of the bowl.  Seal the point where the tube goes through so that it won't leak and .. pour water in!  When the water level rises above the halfway point, it will begin to flow through the tube, out of the bowl.

 Et voila!  As long as you can build a water tight berm 2-3' above grade, you can use gravity to flush the sediment from the bottom of your pond .. You'll still need to incorporate plenty of aquatic plants to help clear up the rest of the green water, and some critters for skeeter and algae management.  The ducks will enjoy munching on those little fish, too.

Here’s the link to the thread on my old place’s roof-catchment pond-swale-hugel-chinampa setup, which is now enveloping the current owner with unbelievably lush growth, and the water runs off cleaner that what flows onto it:

https://permies.com/t/75626/Hugel-Chinampas-duckoponic-swales#749713

I used a kiddie pool for quite a while, and just dumped it and filled it every day. Every week I'd move it to another part of the swale. But it was precarious. I had 15 runners + 4 randoms.
Life became much easier when I got a low-profile 300 gallon hard rubbermade-type tub from Norby's. (Easier to dump, ducks liked it better, could last for a few days between dumps)
Also, it allowed me to use a de-icer in the winter without worry.

I dumped right into the swale, with the idea that the nutrient and contents would help seal the bottom of the swale some day.  I also used the slope of the swale to naturally allow them access (no ramp needed)

I'm taking a break from ducks, they are quite the hassle. They make our chickens look like angels.

Terry Bytes wrote: I'm taking a break from ducks, they are quite the hassle. They make our chickens look like angels.

I hear you Terry! The only advantage is that mine tend to be groupies to the point that herding them with hockey sticks (the Canadian way!) is quite workable with a little practice on the part of the ducks and the herders!
The Rubbermaid tank you bought is exactly what I was using last year, but until our well is fixed, I'm using smaller bins to make it easier on the pump and myself. I really like your idea of dumping into a swale although with our heavy clay it might not make any difference on my farm.

Jay Angler wrote:

Terry Bytes wrote: I'm taking a break from ducks, they are quite the hassle. They make our chickens look like angels.

I hear you Terry! The only advantage is that mine tend to be groupies to the point that herding them with hockey sticks (the Canadian way!) is quite workable with a little practice on the part of the ducks and the herders!
The Rubbermaid tank you bought is exactly what I was using last year, but until our well is fixed, I'm using smaller bins to make it easier on the pump and myself. I really like your idea of dumping into a swale although with our heavy clay it might not make any difference on my farm.

HA! I totally agree. I put my left arm out to make them move right. Then my right arm out to make them go left.
Just like the Stygian Witches that shared one eye, I used to joke that my ducks all shared one brain.

I guess my concern was they were unfriendly/scared. Dumb. Messy. Poopy. Flattened everything down, if they weren't uprooting it. Couldn't leave them for a few days like the chickens. And their eggs were barely bigger/different than our chickens.
However, I do realize that if I had a REAL pond for them to be REAL ducks in, they probably would have been awesome. So I lay the blame on me more.
They did give me many chuckles, and they looked cool while using the water. Imagine a big pond. Some day...

Terry Bytes wrote:I used a kiddie pool for quite a while, and just dumped it and filled it every day. Every week I'd move it to another part of the swale. But it was precarious. I had 15 runners + 4 randoms.
Life became much easier when I got a low-profile 300 gallon hard rubbermade-type tub from Norby's. (Easier to dump, ducks liked it better, could last for a few days between dumps)
Also, it allowed me to use a de-icer in the winter without worry.

I dumped right into the swale, with the idea that the nutrient and contents would help seal the bottom of the swale some day.  I also used the slope of the swale to naturally allow them access (no ramp needed)

I'm taking a break from ducks, they are quite the hassle. They make our chickens look like angels.

I live well North of you in Zone 4b Wisconsin, Terry. I've had chickens and ducks, and I much prefer ducks: they are smarter, and their groupie tendency makes it a breeze to lock them up at night. [They were white Pekins, so meat birds that do not fly.]
I totally agree with you that the biggest drawback to ducks is the mess they can make! In a lower area of my orchard, I placed 4 sticks of wood together [2"X4" X 8'] for their "pond".
Over this, I draped a large tarp, [one of these blue things]. It was over grass, so no risk of punctures, and I ran water from a rain barrel, augmented by well water. The tarp was kept in place by pavers on both sides of the 2"X4"s.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pavestone-12-in-x-12-in-x-1-5-in-River-Red-Square-Concrete-Step-Stone-71251/100333084?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28O-028_028_HARDSCAPES-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SMART_SHP&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28O-028_028_HARDSCAPES-NA-NA-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-SMART_SHP-71700000064087774-58700005697678251-92700051965058752&gclid=CjwKCAjwwo-WBhAMEiwAV4dybay3qrZ1yIZxNFdQsxxkcpLdfJWw3WLz7izGHLAsVzB4MeaR40-7LhoCRlwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
They would belly up over the pavers, so easy in and out for them. When it came to clean up, I'd remove the pavers on the low side of this little pond, lift the wood frame and all the water would gush out in a few seconds. Emptying the little pond was a breeze, but I felt it wasn't quite deep enough for grown up ducks: They would sit in the water and run their heads under, but they did not "swim" exactly. I wanted them to swim. and in the hot summer, the water became quite warm.
I was able to give them access quite early because it wasn't deep enough for the ducklings to drown: The pavers on the higher side made their entry/ exit easy.
I will get more ducks, maybe this year. If and when I do, I plan to make a couple of changes: I will make the pond deeper with the use of some 2"X8" or 2"X10" instead. The surface of the pond was such that all the ducks could go in there and all have fun at the same time, so I won't change that part. As far as changing the water, I think I will use a transfer pump: It will allow me to take the water further, where I really want it. Because there will be a bigger volume of water for them to get dirty, it should take them more time to need a water change. [with the 2X4s, it was every other day, so it was a chore].
Alternately, I also have some old phone poles that I've cut in 10 ft. lengths. I think I will build the pond about 24" high or so [2 thicknesses of phone poles, with rebars going through and the ends carved to fit each other, Lincoln logs like]. With that set up, I will definitely use the transfer pump, and a plank/ladder in and out, but I expect that I could keep the water 6-7 days.
As far as the mess *inside* the building, I'm scouting for one of these pans they used to place under a wash machine: The splashing they will invariably do should contain the mess inside the pan. Place their water and food dish in the basin. [These basins are 2" high or less, so they can get in and out easily enough but the splash water stays in mostly. In the morning, the food and water is taken out and the basin could get emptied too. That should keep the litter cleaner longer as well.
To herd them back in their shelter, I got in the habit of placing their food and their drinking water inside. Whenever they were inside, I would never attempt to grab at them, so I think that they may have associated that shelter with a place where they were safe [?]. Come time to move them in, I'd talk to them softly and point to the door, telling them it was time to go in. With my hands, I would advance on them gently, just enough to get them moving, but not rushing them. I would move toward their escape route so they could rectify and would start going in. As soon as one or two of them was on the plank to go in, they'd all go in. Later, I'd just wait for darkness: They were already inside by the time I got to them. It was a breeze.
Try that with chickens! They run, panic, get in each other's way.  With them, I had to wait until it became dark, which for them is at sundown [as soon as the sun disappear behind the horizon]. But they were too stupid to find the entry door, so I had to pick them up in the dark and bring them inside one by one. I had to do that 2-3 times before they learned to get in by themselves.

Terry Bytes wrote: I'm taking a break from ducks, they are quite the hassle. They make our chickens look like angels.

Have you considered trying Muscovies?  I can't say from personal experience - though I plan to find out some day - but the generally agreed opinion is that they are far more self-sufficient and hands-off than any other domesticated fowl.  And yes, I have heard the same from individuals who raise them, as well as from what I read.

Matthew Nistico wrote:

Terry Bytes wrote: I'm taking a break from ducks, they are quite the hassle. They make our chickens look like angels.

Have you considered trying Muscovies?  I can't say from personal experience - though I plan to find out some day - but the generally agreed opinion is that they are far more self-sufficient and hands-off than any other domesticated fowl.  And yes, I have heard the same from individuals who raise them, as well as from what I read.

Our muskovy are very independent, quiet, friendly, sweet, great foragers, and... very tasty. We've not had their eggs, but their lean breast meat is very much like eating a truly good sirloin steak. The only downsides are that in their awesome foraging they wander our neighborhood, making friends (though they're so domesticated and easy going, they come when called better than our dogs!), and like all our other farm fowl, their favorite place for hanging out, getting out of inclement weather, toileting, etc, is our front porch. They're HUGE and clumsy, so they're comical to watch,  they have great personalities, eat lots of insects, and we like them better than our Rouens, or the Pekins we used to have, that we've vowed never to get, again.

I think we'd be very happy with just the chickens & muskovy.

Carla Burke wrote:Our muskovy are very independent, quiet, friendly, sweet, great foragers, and... very tasty. We've not had their eggs, but their lean breast meat is very much like eating a truly good sirloin steak. The only downsides are that in their awesome foraging they wander our neighborhood, making friends (though they're so domesticated and easy going, they come when called better than our dogs!), and like all our other farm fowl, their favorite place for hanging out, getting out of inclement weather, toileting, etc, is our front porch. They're HUGE and clumsy, so they're comical to watch,  they have great personalities, eat lots of insects, and we like them better than our Rouens, or the Pekins we used to have, that we've vowed never to get, again.

Thanks for the feedback!  Good to hear positive experiences.  It encourages me in my future plans.

Yes, I won't get my ducks until I can install a fence around my little property, as it would NOT do in my case to let them go visit the neighbors.  Unfortunately, this will also necessitate keeping their wings clipped.  A chore I would love to avoid, but I don't see an alternative.

Very good to hear, though, that they can be trained to come when you call.  This should greatly facilitate harvesting and care, including the afore-mentioned wing clipping.

BTW, is it indeed a mass noun... one muscovy, two muscovy... like deer?  I didn't know.

You won't likely need to clip the wings, if you go with the muskovy, because they're so heavy, they don't really fly, so much as catch a lift on a steep hill and glide down it. That's about all the flying ours can manage.

Matthew Nistico wrote:

BTW, is it indeed a mass noun... one muscovy, two muscovy... like deer?  I didn't know.

I just looked it up (Iwas curious, too), and wictionary says Muscovy Ducks or Muscovies are both correct. So, I was cheating, lol.

Matthew Nistico wrote:

Terry Bytes wrote: I'm taking a break from ducks, they are quite the hassle. They make our chickens look like angels.

Have you considered trying Muscovies?  I can't say from personal experience - though I plan to find out some day - but the generally agreed opinion is that they are far more self-sufficient and hands-off than any other domesticated fowl.  And yes, I have heard the same from individuals who raise them, as well as from what I read.

My understanding is that they are somewhere between a duck and a goose for size, independence, genetics ...and ability to fly.
Another thing I didn't know: they perch and have a sharp back claw to help them hang on.. In your garden, they may behave like Attila the Hun. this article lists 5 reasons why Muscovies may not be right for you. The article also has a link preaching the opposite: Why you [u]should raise them:[/u]
https://www.growingwildroots.com/5-reasons-muscovy-ducks-may-not-right/#:~:text=1.,routine%2C%20and%20happy%20ducks). I've been very happy with my Pekins as it was my first time raising ducks. The Pekins grow much faster and when they see geese flying, they don't try to follow after them.
Just like folks have different personalities, breed of ducks have different behaviors. We need to find the breed that best suits us. I'm intrigued by them but I probably won't try. That independent streak and the flying means that they do not have the "gratitude of the belly: After they are nice and plump... They may fly in your neighbor's yard, who may appreciate not having to fed them to get a great meal!

I do have to say, we've not seen a single egg, and they are slow growing - but worth the wait, if you're not in a hurry to sell them. Ours have never perched, or managed to get themselves more than about 3ft above the ground (& then, only with a lot of help from those huge wings catching the air current, going downhill), in their clumsy, flapping 'glides', and they've not messed with my raised beds, at all (I only have a few in ground beds & they've shown no interest). Picking them up is best done (in my experience) wearing leather gloves, heavy jeans, and using a football hold. As far as eating a ton, frankly, they've been easy on our budget, because ours forage so well. Hubs puts out enough every day to make sure all the birds know where home is, but then, they're on their own. So, how their feed is managed pays a huge role in whether they're costly to feed, or find most of their own food. Even in winter, they forage well, though we do give all the critters more, when the snow gets deeper.

Stacy Witscher wrote:So I saw mention of 2" pvc for drainage, is that sufficient? I would prefer for almost everything to drain through, obviously I can fish out large sticks or rocks. I was thinking of a split line to 3-5 drainage spots or would that create too many problem spots.

That was my post that you saw that in.   We have 2" pvc because that's the size of the drain opening that is already in the 'liner'.   I do wish it were bigger... much bigger, as it would drain faster.   If the pond doesn't have pinecones, rocks, feathers, etc., etc., it actually drains in a reasonable amount of time.   But those things always clog it up.  We even have a 1" pvc pole that is 20 feet long to push through from the outside to unclog it.  I thought about building an actual 'cage' in front of the drain, but even that would clog up, so it's only postponing the problem.

Loretta Liefveld wrote:

Stacy Witscher wrote:So I saw mention of 2" pvc for drainage, is that sufficient? I would prefer for almost everything to drain through, obviously I can fish out large sticks or rocks. I was thinking of a split line to 3-5 drainage spots or would that create too many problem spots.

That was my post that you saw that in.   We have 2" pvc because that's the size of the drain opening that is already in the 'liner'.   I do wish it were bigger... much bigger, as it would drain faster.   If the pond doesn't have pinecones, rocks, feathers, etc., etc., it actually drains in a reasonable amount of time.   But those things always clog it up.  We even have a 1" pvc pole that is 20 feet long to push through from the outside to unclog it.  I thought about building an actual 'cage' in front of the drain, but even that would clog up, so it's only postponing the problem.

Clogs are definitely a problem when draining duck ponds - we have a 4" drain and even that clogs with the dislodged sticks and debris combined with feathers.

Tristan Vitali wrote:

Clogs are definitely a problem when draining duck ponds - we have a 4" drain and even that clogs with the dislodged sticks and debris combined with feathers.

haha!   good to know that going bigger isn't necessarily better.

I have 7 ducks and a farm pond. My Dad always told me to leave the land alone, it will take care of itself. Apparently, my pond, weeds or ducks never listened to my Dad. Sidenote.. he had zero ducks. No amount of draining, pumping or algae detonator will help. We have muskrats and we have 100+ year old snapping turtles. Our ducks have pools, one encased in rocks because they won't stop standing on the side and draining it faster than we can fill it. The other is in their run where my drake spends a large amount of his time because he thinks he is a caveman. Doesn't work but there's nothing else we can do. Tractor Supply should take them back and stop selling them in the store. I went over to a mother that was starting to waiver with her son who was begging her for a duck. I saddled up beside her to give her some support and asked if she's ever had ducks before... she hadn't. I told her she needs to do a little researching on their mating process just in case she gets a male/female combo. I overrode the sales clerk trying to sell her Ducks 101, All You Ever Need to Know about Ducks. I told her that book is an introduction, she needed to read ALL about ducks before she buys any because they're so cute.

I still have algae growth on my pond and am getting pretty tired of these $49.99 cured that do nothing. Somebody didn't tell the pond you don't want to fool with Mother Nature. The pond has whooped everybody's butt.  I need to raise pigs in it

I don't have an answer, but do have an idea/question.

Has anyone tried a pond of this size with a liner or tub and then used a hand pump to suck up the poop and muck from the bottom? I imagine it wouldn't get the pond 100% clean but maybe it would extend the longevity of the water if done regularly? A deepish pond might work better so that there is space for the sediment to settle.

I don't have ducks yet but was considering this. Then, I'd take the muck I pump out and use it on fruit trees.

Thoughts? I'd love to hear criticism or ideas before I try this.