Instant Pond

[NativeSon]

Brandi,

The Ducks look like they are settling in nicely and are right at home. They have got to be a lot of fun to watch.

Yesterday evening after Denise got home from Church we set out on the back deck and watched 2 cottontails play and chase each other all over the back yard. They live under the deck so I think they will be able to keep away from the varmints. "Chili" the only old dog we have left use to keep the bunnies in hiding and now only watches as she's gotten too slow to bother chasing anything.

I just hope they will come out and play the next time the Grandkids are here. They'll get a bang out of that.

Charlie

 

[EddieWalker]

Beautiful pic of the ducks in your pond. I've thought about the blue dye for my small pond, but then get cheap and figure brown is OK. We've been having trouble with eggs from our ducks. They lay them, sit on them, then all of a sudden, all the eggs are gone and the ducks are off the nest. We think it's raccoons from the tracks, and added a hot wire about six inches off the ground on the fence around the pond. So far we haven't seen any raccoon tracks inside the fence since doing this, but nobody is sitting on eggs right now either.

Eddie

 

[bindian]

Brandi,

The Ducks look like they are settling in nicely and are right at home. They have got to be a lot of fun to watch.

Yesterday evening after Denise got home from Church we set out on the back deck and watched 2 cottontails play and chase each other all over the back yard. They live under the deck so I think they will be able to keep away from the varmints. "Chili" the only old dog we have left use to keep the bunnies in hiding and now only watches as she's gotten too slow to bother chasing anything.

I just hope they will come out and play the next time the Grandkids are here. They'll get a bang out of that.

Charlie

That would be a hoot watching the Grandkids watching bunnies. I made a lazy day of it yesterday and took the time to take a chair out to the dam and watched them, just before dark. The little ones were all grouped up on the island and reluctant to get off of it..
Last night or this morning, they came off the island and I just herded them to their feeder. I feed the older ones a cup a day of hen scratch on the ground, but took the little one's feeder out to them.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Beautiful pic of the ducks in your pond. I've thought about the blue dye for my small pond, but then get cheap and figure brown is OK. We've been having trouble with eggs from our ducks. They lay them, sit on them, then all of a sudden, all the eggs are gone and the ducks are off the nest. We think it's raccoons from the tracks, and added a hot wire about six inches off the ground on the fence around the pond. So far we haven't seen any raccoon tracks inside the fence since doing this, but nobody is sitting on eggs right now either.

Eddie

Eddie,
Thanks. At the rate I add the dye, it really isn't much. I buy a gallon every 2-3 years. One gallon lasted me almost 4 years, but I added the second pond after using the dye for 3 years. I only use it during algae growing season. None at all in the winter.

The coons will soon learn how to get over that hot wire. First weekend in May here, we have a trade day at the fairgrounds. Just for animals and birds. I am going to find two geese to put in with the ducks. I have heard the geese will police against possums and coons, and will eat snakes.
hugs, Brandi

 

[NativeSon]

Brandi-
A goose would seem to be a good idea. The domestic ones that I've run into were always mean as a snake.

Charlie

 

[mark02tj]

I have heard the geese will police against possums and coons, and will eat snakes.

A goose would seem to be a good idea. The domestic ones that I've run into were always mean as a snake.

If they eat the snakes, apparently the geese are meaner! :laughing:



When I was a kid and had my paper route, one of my customers was on what was left of their family farm. He kept geese there. I always dreaded delivering that newspaper!!

 

[bindian]

Charlie and Mark,
I was chased by one when I was little. So I am hesitant, but willing to go above and beyond for my duckies and their eggs.
hugs, Brandi

 

[newbury]

Charlie and Mark,
I was chased by one when I was little. So I am hesitant, but willing to go above and beyond for my duckies and their eggs.
hugs, Brandi

Guina fowl for snakes:

Just too funny, thought it would be appreciated here:

I don't know why the snake called the meeting.

 

[bindian]

newbury,
I know guinea are loud at times, but will they take out coons and possum?
The only poultry I like walking around are water fowl..........thus geese.
hugs, Brandi

 

[cat fever]

Bindian,

Read the whole thread last night. (not to busy at work) All I can say is WOW!! :thumbsup:
When I see pictures on TBN it sure makes me want to move to a wetter region. I would kill for a pond. If I dug a hole, it would still be a hole next year and the next.:smiley_aafz:
You have done an awesome job...congrats

 

[bindian]

Bindian,

Read the whole thread last night. (not to busy at work) All I can say is WOW!! :thumbsup:
When I see pictures on TBN it sure makes me want to move to a wetter region. I would kill for a pond. If I dug a hole, it would still be a hole next year and the next.:smiley_aafz:
You have done an awesome job...congrats

Cat Fever,
Thanks so much. Glad to hear from another pond fan! Sorry to hear you can only have a dry hole. When rain gets slack here, my ponds tend to imitate what your pond would do. That's why I dug the island pond down to 11 feet or so.
We have room in Tejas for you.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Here is an overhead photo of the island.
I rented a 50 foot boom lift to trim dead tree tops from the recent drought. With the Memorial weekend floods, both my ponds got major fertilizer washed into them. This fertilizer keeps blooming the algae. Right now I am pumping water from the pond and shooting it back into the pond. This really helped the smaller pond. The darker water is open water, while the lighter green is algae.

Looking at the island's right end, the tallest growth is the cypress tree. In the middle part of the island, the tallest growth is the oak tree. The left end's tallest growth is weeds. I'm not cutting it so the ducks will have more cover.
hugs, Brandi

 

[rutwad]

Disappointed! For "instant pond" I was hoping to see a large dynamite explosion.

 

[bindian]

I tried making one "all project" thread here....... My Place: a CAT, Mahindra, and Ducks, but I didn't like putting everything together. So I'll update the pond here. Here is the pond in April and June. View attachment 482410View attachment 482411

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

My first load of spoils for the dump truck came from digging out and capping the water line from the small pond. The line runs under the driveway. I never have used it, so it is capped at both ends now.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Next step was taking out the huge Sweetgum tree and 3 Pine trees.
I dropped them all in the pond.
Luke and Brady brought the popcorn.

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Then I removed the 28 inch digging bucket and installed the 48 inch cleanout bucket. I love the bucket, as it has numerous 1.5 inch diameter holes on each side. I can drain without dumping the bucket! I found one bucket in Oregon and one in Mich. Each one cost just over a $1000 including shipping.

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

I drained the pond half way down. But decided to drain it completely when I found hundreds of bullfrog tadpoles had whiskers. Yep, hundreds of mud catfish babies in both ponds. I will have to drain the small pond after I get this pond back full!

I starting digging and enlarging back in the upper corner. This was so I could get the dump truck in and load and not box myself into a corner.

The ducks had to come check out my work.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Here is a photo of the roughed out corner.

............and here is a photo of Luke and the Mahindra helping me get out of the silt. I was halfway down the bank, digging the silt at the base of the island and slide down into two foot of silt. I am so glad I pumped the pond down to silt. Anyway, when I stopped sliding, the bucket was over the end of the island. You can see the marks the bucket made. I didn't grab the camera until I was half way up the bank. I was so shaken, Luke had me sit down while he grabbed the camera and a Gatorade for me.

I stepped out of the cab and onto the island. When the slide had stopped, silt was coming in the corner of the door frame.

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

So instead of going down a slippy slope again, I added dirt and made a perch for the CAT............all the way down the bank!

Here is the bank almost finished.

Here is a photo of the bank completed.
hugs, Brandi