Hello everyone! I am a backyard chicken enthusiast, possibly looking to add one khaki campbell to my flock along with a few pekin or muscovys for meat (short term project). Unfortunately, I'm still not 100% sure I am ready to add a duck, and my poor husband is (passively) against it. We are hesitating wholly because of the mess and possible damage to our pond.
Here is the situation, we have 1/4 acre, half of which is fenced and where my 7 girls free range all day and where the duck would also be allowed free reign to do as she pleases. We built an enclosed run for the girls, but will probably upgrade their digs to a "poulet chalet" this summer so they will have more room to spread out at night, and so we can install a light and heating for the winter. I am assuming Ducky would want to sleep in the new hen house, and we are also planning to add three more pullets (shhh! Don't tell the neighbors!) So that would make a total of 10 chickens plus one duck on our property.
We have gardens, and a husband-made koi pond with waterfall, it's about 10' x 12' x 3' deep, and we have koi and comets in it; in total its about 900 gallons. This pond is situated right next to our garden, caddy corner to the chicken run and very accessible to any of the critters. Ducky would undoubtedly be wanting to play in it.
What we are worried about is this...if we add one laying duck, will she likely destroy the pond? We have lilies and potted stuff in there, but we also get that nasty string algae and toads and frogs like to hang out and lay their eggs in the pond as well. We like our little ecosystem (but for the string algae) and are worried that the extra "nutrients" in the water from duck poop will (a) produce unwanted algal blooms, (b) cloud it so we can't see the fish, and (c) eventually cause chemical imbalances which will kill our fish. Sorry but a 15" koi is worth a lot more than a duck.
Have any of you fellow pond and duck keepers had any experience with this? Does duck poop enhance a pond's natural ecosystem (i.e. do the fish eat it?) or is it likely to cause a fatal nitrate/nitrite/ammonia imbalance? What we have now is a biofilter type setup with beneficial bacteria and the mix is perfect. We backwash the sludge once every 4 months, our water is crystal clear and chemistry is right on target. If a duck will only muck it up (literally and figuratively) then we are not going for it.
Any advice or stories from experience would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!
Here is the situation, we have 1/4 acre, half of which is fenced and where my 7 girls free range all day and where the duck would also be allowed free reign to do as she pleases. We built an enclosed run for the girls, but will probably upgrade their digs to a "poulet chalet" this summer so they will have more room to spread out at night, and so we can install a light and heating for the winter. I am assuming Ducky would want to sleep in the new hen house, and we are also planning to add three more pullets (shhh! Don't tell the neighbors!) So that would make a total of 10 chickens plus one duck on our property.
We have gardens, and a husband-made koi pond with waterfall, it's about 10' x 12' x 3' deep, and we have koi and comets in it; in total its about 900 gallons. This pond is situated right next to our garden, caddy corner to the chicken run and very accessible to any of the critters. Ducky would undoubtedly be wanting to play in it.
What we are worried about is this...if we add one laying duck, will she likely destroy the pond? We have lilies and potted stuff in there, but we also get that nasty string algae and toads and frogs like to hang out and lay their eggs in the pond as well. We like our little ecosystem (but for the string algae) and are worried that the extra "nutrients" in the water from duck poop will (a) produce unwanted algal blooms, (b) cloud it so we can't see the fish, and (c) eventually cause chemical imbalances which will kill our fish. Sorry but a 15" koi is worth a lot more than a duck.
Have any of you fellow pond and duck keepers had any experience with this? Does duck poop enhance a pond's natural ecosystem (i.e. do the fish eat it?) or is it likely to cause a fatal nitrate/nitrite/ammonia imbalance? What we have now is a biofilter type setup with beneficial bacteria and the mix is perfect. We backwash the sludge once every 4 months, our water is crystal clear and chemistry is right on target. If a duck will only muck it up (literally and figuratively) then we are not going for it.
Any advice or stories from experience would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!
