Preformed pond in duck coop?

[blondie34]

Hi all! I currently have a large kiddie pool for my ducks in the back of the run they share with a handful of chickens and peafowl.. it's one of those $10 blue ones you'd find at Walmart.. pic below





We're doing a lot of landscaping around our coop and I've been thinking about buying a preformed pond liner to dig into the ground .. something like this:



I want to give my ducks something bigger to swim in but I'm a little bit concerned about the chickens and/or peafowl accidentally falling in and drowning. The deepest point of this liner is 18"...

Has anyone ever used one of these with a mixed flock?

 

[TLWR]

Do you have a plan for draining/cleaning with it dug into the ground?

 

[Duck Drover]

You will either want a drain at the bottom or you will need to tip it to drain it and clean it.

 

[jconnon]

Look into the Rubbermaid stock tanks. They come in different sizes and have a built in drain plug on the bottom side for easy draining. I have a 300 gal that I use to overwinter some koi and I have 100 gal that I made into a pond filter that I have been using for few years now and they work well. I am still on the fence if I am going to get ducks or not but if I do I intend to use one of these in the coop so I can drain it easily.

 

[blondie34]

Do you have a plan for draining/cleaning with it dug into the ground?

I volunteer at a wildlife rehab center on the weekends and we have these pond liners in each of the waterfowl units .. what we do is sump pump the dirty water out with a pump and an old hose .. it works pretty well .. I like the idea of a drain better though

 

[blondie34]

Look into the Rubbermaid stock tanks. They come in different sizes and have a built in drain plug on the bottom side for easy draining. I have a 300 gal that I use to overwinter some koi and I have 100 gal that I made into a pond filter that I have been using for few years now and they work well. I am still on the fence if I am going to get ducks or not but if I do I intend to use one of these in the coop so I can drain it easily.

I do like the functionality of the rubbermaid stock tanks .. the 300 gal is $200+ at TSC though .. these pond inserts are only $59 at Menards.. I'm wondering if I can get a stock tank replacement drain/plug ..

 

[HennyPenny2]

I do like the functionality of the rubbermaid stock tanks .. the 300 gal is $200+ at TSC though .. these pond inserts are only $59 at Menards.. I'm wondering if I can get a stock tank replacement drain/plug ..

This is a 110 gal for $64 at TS with a drain.

 

[tmorgan46]

I put the drain on the external filter and let the pond pump do all the work. The pond is in the ground and the filter sits next to it, but raised a few feet which leaves the drain plug unobstructed.
There are lots of ways to deal with drainage.

Here's a shot prior to back filling around the pond.

 

[lomine]

I use a sump pump and hose to drain my pools. I like this method because I can move the hose and water different plants.

To answer your original question, the shallow part of the pond liner looks short enough for a peafowl to stand in so I don't thing you'll need to worry about them drowning. It might also be enough for a chicken to stand on and have the head above water. You can always rig up a ramp or put in rocks so they can climb out if they fall in.

 

[blondie34]

I put the drain on the external filter and let the pond pump do all the work. The pond is in the ground and the filter sits next to it, but raised a few feet which leaves the drain plug unobstructed.
There are lots of ways to deal with drainage.

Here's a shot prior to back filling around the pond.

Very interesting tmorgan46! How did you construct your filter and about how much did that cost? Is that just a garbage can??