Author Topic: Pond for ducks (Read 3273 times)

Callia · « **on:** October 13, 2011, 09:38:13 am »

I am seriously considering digging a large pond for my ducks and need some advice please.
I have a paddock which I think would be the ideal position for it and I have a large digger available to use along with somewhere to place the mud taken out. Would I be better to use a really good quality liner or concrete ??
I thought about using the liner and then either placing a wooden or mesh lining around the top 2' of the pond to stop it being damaged by claws, etc. Would sealed concrete be a better option though ??
I've been told that if you can drive down deep enough the pond would fill naturally, is that true ??
How deep should it be ?? I'm thinking deeper is probably better and easier to keep clean ??

As you can probably tell I have no idea so any help would be great

robert waddell · « **Reply #1 on:** October 13, 2011, 10:12:13 am »

it all depends on where you are in the UK if you are in Scotland you will have no bother filling it naturally if you are down south it will be a dust bowl ducks make an awful mess and that is just the water crap and slime best to look at somebody Else's pond before you ho diving in there

Mel Rice · « **Reply #2 on:** October 13, 2011, 10:20:26 am »

Ducks do like to 'dig' in the wet mud around the pond making a readl mess. When mine were younger I had a large bowl sunk into the grass...it is now a good couple of inches proud of the surounding muddy puddle. You need to bear that in mind when making any pond with a solid liner. Are you in an area where you could use a natural 'puddled mud liner'?

Sylvia · « **Reply #3 on:** October 13, 2011, 12:26:50 pm »

I use two halves of a child's sand pit (sand pit and cover) and empty and re-fill daily. It does eight ducks very well

doganjo · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2011, 01:24:28 pm »

If you are building a pond in a field you'd be better with a small stream going through it - you need an inflow and an outflow for any large pond or it will become stagnant and filthy smelly. Depending on size and your local authorities views you may also need planning - and I am NOT going to go into that conversation again!

CameronS · « **Reply #5 on:** October 14, 2011, 02:35:09 pm »

I'm going to have (eventually) a 3foot ish deep 5 foot square scrape, with a shallower end pointing down hill, lined with a strong liner, so that i can sweep any "cr**) out and down the hill.
at the moment i'm using a kiddies paddling pool for 4 ducks. it seems to work but its a pain to clean out.

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2011, 08:45:08 am »

same here, I use an old sandpit I can just tip over for cleaning. When we got the ducks we decided against 100% freerange and for not letting them into the pond. Not just the mess but also that they eat all the wildlife there is. I just love toads, frogs and nutes...A pond can also make it more difficult to get them into bed at night!