Chicken Yard Pond! - 1 - Concept and Starting Sketch

This is just part one in a series on this experimenting... Please feel free and encouraged to share ideas and concerns, etc., in the comments so we can grow together!

Edible Acres is a full service permaculture nursery located in the Finger Lakes area of NY state. We grow all layers of perennial food forest systems and provide super hardy, edible, useful, medicinal, easy to propagate, perennial plants for sale locally or for shipping around the country…
Happy growing!

[Blueberryjoefarms]

Juan is a whole new man! Congrats on all the hard work Juan! Keep up the good work.

[trumpetingangel]

Always happy to see you, and Juan, but that Barred Rock hen was the star of this show, sticking her head out!

[BackyardBerry]

Chicken tv is always a pleasure. You’ve inspired the hand dug pocket ponds around the farm.

The last trip, I was able to see a beautifully colored box turtle swimming in it. The first I had ever seen on that land. Thank you.

[alison]

'...almost helpful' ☺ Your patience with the ladies is a wonder to behold! Looking forward to more tours and updates on the chicken garden - as interesting and helpful as all your videos certainly are, I can't help being delighted with the chicken set up x

[annwithaplan]

I can't wait to see how the new pond turns out. Btw, that haircut looks really good on you. Such a handsome young man. : )

[justinwade]

Your experiments with water have always been my favorite videos to watch. Looking forward to part two. How are all of your other ponds doing? Congratulations on your baby. Praise God.

[FastGardeningMichigan]

Stop giving me ideas! 😂 My chicken composting system has grown enough. Looks great!

[PRINCESSDREAMYLYN]

I think you have the most spoiled chickens, they have everything they need an now they get their own pond. I really have learned so much from the way you do things I'm hoping to put much of it into practice when i get moved to my own land. i have chickens now but it's not easy to practice things because I'm limited to where i can dig and the likes. my own land is raw with no buried utility lines. With my own ideas coupled with so many of yours I'm hoping my chickens will love sharing in the gardening experiences with me. I have apple an mulberry trees beside my chicken pen now and not seen any bugs or worms in my apple and the chickens love the fruit that drops. With their help I've not had to use any spray to keep bugs at bay. Thanks for sharing this chicken pond idea it's something I've been considering.. Like should i make a shallow pond or maybe a stream with the pond outside their pen so water can be circulated and kept cleaner using the bog filter method like in a natural pond. I'm looking forward to all updates and information as you create and experiences you encounter along the way. ♥

[growingbyfaithllc]

I need to start putting my girls to work. This is awesome. I'm adding a pond to my duck run and removing a pond that we built last year.

[gkiferonhs]

I've found discarded swimming-pool-liners to be a wonderful material for all kinds of things, but would certainly line a pond.

[jamep]

I have a hand dug pond (inspired by some of your older videos btw). I finished it over the winter and vegetated it this year. Duck potato (Sagittaria latifolia) is an all star so far. It can live totally submerged, but also is ok if the water level were to drop. Had a small plant in a submerged 2 gallon pot - nearly filled the pot with roots (and separable pup plants) in a little over 2 months. Tubers were apparently an important food source for some Native Americans.

[julie-annepineau]

Love your "helpful" hens. Looking forward to seeing your ideas, and the communities, for lining a pond. I really want to install one but live on sand subsoil layers.

[awakenacres]

The hens are certainly enjoying your project!❤🐓

[OurEcoLife]

Good idea to use ex-poly plastic to line the pond, if you can find a big enough piece without holes. second hand silage tarps are thicker and last longer, if you can get them. Looking at the trees around it, you definitely need a liner which you can find second hand. Alternatively you could use a kiddie pool which is about the size of your pond. Once it's buried and surrounded by rocks, it won't look too bad. The go to plant would be duckweed as it grows really fast and high in protein. Have a protected area in the middle of the pond where it can multiply and spread out to where the chickens can get to it. It will provide endless chicken feed all summer long and comes back on its own the following year.

[JohnBooker]

Thanks, you guys, your videos are ALWAYS inspiring.

[NorthernGoshawk]

Duckweed (lemna > spirodella due to increased shade tolerance) is very likely your best aquatic chicken feed candidate. Maybe eastern gamagrass or river oats on the edge. Crayfish might be worth considering if they're easily accessible. Our chickens have no issue hoarking down full sized 4 inch rusty crayfish, piece by piece.

[angelad.]

You can use greenhouse plastic there. Higher chance of punctures but it would do. There is the issue of contamination but that is with all plastics. The pool liner tip seems like a great idea and people are replacing them all the time. Chat with a pool business or two and see if they can help you out. Have you ever researched a clay lining? Seems doable for a smaller pond like this.

[handlethehandle]

Tonic for me soul, let alone inspiring action for my land❤

[arialblack]

If you can get it, maybe use some thick textile to line the pond before the plastic, to try stop the roots from poking it. Old thick blankets or rugs can work.
Also, consider adding poor soil (subsoil) on top of the plastic, Joel Ashton style, to protect the plastic from light and provide a medium for acuatic plants.
Looking forward to the video series. Love from Spain

[slaplapdog]

Hens will eat willow leaves, I had one who would go out of her way to reach them.

Concerning the pond, consider layers of cardboard between layers of plastic, to protect from piercing.
Another technique you might want to consider is Petrified Hessian/Burlapcrete/Latex Concrete/Nylon-cement.
All of these are similar to Ferrocement, but they use plastic or natural fibers instead of steel mesh.