How to build and maintain a duck pond.

[onalove]

Hi, I live on about an acre. I'm considering building a duck pond, within my small orchard, which is where my chooks, geese and ducks forage during the day.

The pond would be about 3 metres in diameter.

I thought to use pond liner, unless someone can recommend something more environmentallly sound. My son's a concretor, so I could make a concrete lining.

Is there any way to make a duck pond self-sustaining, or is it necessary to constantly empty it out and add clean water?

Is it necessary to have a filtration or circulation system, run with electricity?

Any advice on making and maintaining a pond would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Ona

[permup]

Ducks will make a pond that size a mess in no time. They need to be cleaned out regularly, so personally I prefer a bathtub, where you can empty it out and give it a good clean. You can then use the old water on your garden and it can be direct and not diluted. If you have a terraced situation, you can put the bath up on bricks or other stand, enabling you to catch the water underneath or plumb in a hose for the waste. The ducks can enter the water at the upper level where the bath should be level with the ground to allow them good access and exit.

If you went with a concrete pond, you definitely need a large outlet valve to empty the water regularly and clean the pond.

[Terra]

My father and i built a fantastic in ground pond for geese and ducks lined it with cement and bricks , it was an absolute pain to clean , so dont go there , even if you have enough fall to put a bottom drain system big enough to handle the mess in the bottom then you will need a system to handle the large volumes required to clean out fully , im with permup , bathtub or smaller if you dont have fall to run pond water maybe a "pond on wheels " could work then you could put a lid on and dump in a new spot each time .