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Marigold123

Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 224

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 05 9:30 pm Post subject:
I read somwhere that if you are going to keep ducks for eating, not just eggs, you should not allow them access to a pond. Is this because they may get parasites, or swim in other ducks' poop, or what? It seems a bit rough on the ducks.

Smallholder

Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 8
Location: Powys/Hereford Border

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 05 10:06 am Post subject:

I have about 20 ducks and I sunk an second hand bath into the ground and cemented a small area around it to contain the water which they splash out.
Dig a sump at the plughole end and fill with rubble as a soakaway..Don't skimp on this, as the bigger the soakaway the faster the water drains out.
Where the overflow is, plug by removing the grill and bolt in a bit of rubber to stop it leaking.
I hung abit of old carpet at the one end so they could get a grip coming out.
It works well and it's easy to keep clean.
Forget plants..they will rip them to bits.
All ducks need water.You can get away with a washing up bowl..but would you like it?

percypony

Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 146
Location: Hants

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 05 3:40 pm Post subject:
Smallholder, that sounds like a good idea as I could then drain the water. Does the plug hole not get all bunged up though!? LOL! How often do you find you have to empty it? Thanks! Sarah

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 05 7:35 am Post subject:
if you only have space for a small pond dont bother, it will foul in a few hours, ducks dont need water but its nice if they can have it

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 05 7:40 am Post subject:
Whatever you do they should be given fresh drinking water and keep an eye on it, especially in the summer, as they tend to know it over unless it's one of the suspended drinkers.

percypony

Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 146
Location: Hants

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 05 8:23 am Post subject:
Maybe it's not such a good idea then. I was so looking foward to seeing them both having a paddle about and not having to fill their 'box' with water every few days. They always have a filled drinker so do nothave to rely on the 'pond water' to drink.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 05 1:17 pm Post subject:
I thought ducks were happier if they had water to have a bit of a plodge around in? I have seen articles from animal welfare organisations who say that farmed ducks are miserable - because as well as their cramped conditions they are deprived of water to splash around in.

sofaloaf

Joined: 20 Feb 2005
Posts: 18
Location: Kent

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 05 5:38 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Dig a sump at the plughole end and fill with rubble as a soakaway..Don't skimp on this, as the bigger the soakaway the faster the water drains out.

Smallholder, does this mean that the pond is continually emptying itself, or do you leave the plug in apart from when you want to empty it?

Thing is, a bath wouldn't be big enough for my geese to swim in, especially not the fat one!

Aha! I could use on of those corner baths- yeah!!

Marigold123

Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 224

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 05 7:52 pm Post subject:
I read that ducks should have water deep enough to immerse their heads because they need to bathe their eyes. Don't know if that's true, or whether it's just an instinctive behaviour that they need to perform to be happy, like chickens being able to scratch for food.

JonO

Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Posts: 119
Location: South Birmingham

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 05 11:38 am Post subject:

We have 4 Indian Runners and I was considering building them a pond in the next few weeks. I notice someone mentioned that it's not worth building a small pond. What is a small pond ? I was going to build one which would cover an area of about 3.5m (Squared, though not a square pond !) is this classed as small ?

Also I was trying to figure out a way of draining/cleaning etc and notice the soak away idea, I had considered putting in some kind of filter but hadn't gotten much further into investigating this idea has anyone else got any ideas abour trying to keep the water clean ? I haven't really got a clue about filters (Or ponds in general) so any help is appreciated !

Jon.

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 05 12:01 pm Post subject:
Welcome JonO..hope you enjoy it here. We have a pond for our geese and when we had ducks they used it too. At it's deepest it's about .5metre I would say. We use a filter pump and long wide bore pipe thing to empty/clean at regular intervals. Hope this helps. D

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 05 12:20 pm Post subject:

mrsnesbitt wrote:

Welcome JonO..hope you enjoy it here.

We have a pond for our geese and when we had ducks they used it too. At it's deepest it's about .5metre I would say. We use a filter pump and long wide bore pipe thing to empty/clean at regular intervals.
Hope this helps.
D

And there is a picture here:
https://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Poultry_and_Livestock/Keeping_Geese%85..easy_as_pie!/

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 05 12:28 pm Post subject:

JonO

Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Posts: 119
Location: South Birmingham

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 05 9:36 am Post subject:
Is the filter able to handle all the waste OK then ? I was unsure if it would block up or fill up too fast ? Does the water look in anyway clean or is that asking too much ? And thankyou Mrs Nesbitt I'd love to take you up on the offer of doing your garden as well, but my chickens/ducks would know I've cheated on them if they could sense I was digging worms for other poultry !

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 05 9:39 am Post subject:
The filter manages will check the specification etc and get back to you JohnO...I am a blonde you know and will speak to hubs about the technical side of things ...you know which end goes in the pond type of thing and get back to you!

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