Duck Pond, Liner Advice?

Slightly Kwackers

I recently bought a heavy gauge PVC pond liner for the ducks.

The pond I have in mind is quite large and is a project for spring.

In the interim I dug out a hole of a couple of cubic metres and lined it with heavy gauge polythene. After a couple of days, the top is starting to become shredded, I thought it might be vermin at first, but looking at the ducks feet gives me the suspicion that it might be the ducks themselves.

Is this a known problem? If so, has anyone found a solution? The liner was fairly expensive, so I don't want to risk an immediate flop.

Base price

Slightly Kwackers wrote: »

I recently bought a heavy gauge PVC pond liner for the ducks.

The pond I have in mind is quite large and is a project for spring.

In the interim I dug out a hole of a couple of cubic metres and lined it with heavy gauge polythene. After a couple of days, the top is starting to become shredded, I thought it might be vermin at first, but looking at the ducks feet gives me the suspicion that it might be the ducks themselves.

Is this a known problem? If so, has anyone found a solution? The liner was fairly expensive, so I don't want to risk an immediate flop.

My eldest brother made a duck pond for domestic ducks years ago. We dug out the pond and he poured concrete into the base and troweled it smooth. He then made a sand and cement mix which was plastered on the sloping sides/over the edge and troweled smooth. That was 30 years ago and it's still intact although there are no ducks anymore. He also put in a sewerage pipe into the bottom so that we could drain it regularly.

gozunda

I have a fairly old pond. Afaik it was created sometime in the early 1990s with water from an existing spring. The floor / liner is rammed clay which forms an impenetrable layer.

A number of years ago - the pond developed a leak with water draining away. One small herd of pigs plus straw solved the issue. Pond is again holding water.

Slightly Kwackers

Base price wrote: »

My eldest brother made a duck pond for domestic ducks years ago. We dug out the pond and he poured concrete into the base and troweled it smooth. He then made a sand and cement mix which was plastered on the sloping sides/over the edge and troweled smooth. That was 30 years ago and it's still intact although there are no ducks anymore. He also put in a sewerage pipe into the bottom so that we could drain it regularly.

Thank you,

I would probably adopt this approach years back, but I am not too flexible now and should I need to remove it in a few years, I doubt that I would find it a pleasant pastime.

I have the liner, so I would like to use it. I'm thinking of maybe making a perimeter of windbreak about 1m wide surrounding the pond with a few cm on top and the rest descending into the water. Probably messy in practice and it may be difficult to keep it in place, but the ducks seem quite keen on "messy".

The liner might be o/k as is, but I'm hoping someone has the experience to advise before the ducks try to shred it.

I suppose a final possibility is thick woolly socks, it is nearly Christmas :-)