Chicken Yard Pond - 2 - Liner in and Filled!

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…
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[CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

I have a bunch of comments for you Sean, born out of best wishes and a lot of experience in this area. Take any of this as you wish - and I hope some of this benefits other viewers.

A really good way to prevent wildlife dying in your ponds is to terrace them. It's much better to have steps than slopes, for several reasons (one big reason is the creation of a thermal layer called a phototropic layer - and it's important that this is a distinct section of the pond, and not a linear gradient), but one major one is that if something with claws falls into the pond, if you have steps they can get out without ripping your liner, but if you have slopes, then they are extremely likely to rip the liner. Layers also allow for the placement of larger keystones, which can be used as stepping stones (for humans and wildlife) even underwater. They also allow for the creation of underground crevices and caves, which allow fish to escape/hide from predators. I would also recommend putting in some smaller sized stones (pea gravel) inside the pond (and ideally in aeration zone - see my next comment), as this is habitat for beneficial bacteria. It's important to also have these smaller stones in the deepest portion of the pond, where the water will be the coolest, as the most beneficial bacteria is cold water bacteria.


I would also try to add some kind of splashing zone to get good aeration. This will help keep mosquitoes away, help keep decomposition aerobic, which can prevent Giardia, helps with other chemistry issues that can arise, and helps fish quality of life. For example, designing in even the smallest waterfall/pooling zone will do wonders for a pond, and could be run with a solar pump. Not only that, but bees really like flowing water, with pooling zones, and would also allow for dragonflies, which can solve many problems in a food forest.

For anyone who knows my content, they will know I have gained a lot of experience with ponds and pond design and several deep dive videos to help out. I'm also a big proponent of having an underground reservoir, so that it simulates underground aquifers. This allows better pond water turnover, and allows water to get out of sun UV, which also helps break the algae cycle. My pond water is crystal clear, we get the water tested frequently, and have tons of frogs and dragonflies (an indicator of healthy ecosystem) in our 50, 000 gallon pond.

[kcmgfarm]

Love the no cost build, Juan keep doing what you're doing, looking great!

[claytonleal]

those are some lucky chickens. love your process and how you share it with us. not just with this pond but it would be cool to see what wildlife visits your properties with the multitudes of ponds and food sources about, loved your masonry bee houses and how well they thrive there

[joseegagnon]

Good morning from a small acreage in PEI Canada. You've inspired me to start my own chicken yard and composting system. Best wishes and hope you have a wonderful day.

[nathanc]

Hey Sean, nice pond! Looks great. Sealing at the end with just a bit of bentonite clay was a nice touch.
As far as what species to add, I would lean towards trying to build havitat for dragonfly and damselfly larvae, which means NO FISH.
"Plant Butomus umbellatus, Cyperus, Iris, Lythrum salicaria, Pontederia species on the shallow pond shelves. The larvae will secure itself onto the stem."
As always, I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see what you come up with next!

[brianpalmer]

Hi Sean, I built a pond similar to this in my chicken run. We did have some losses because our sides were too steep.

I'm not sure what is too steep for safety, but I wanted to toss that out there as a (very important) design consideration.

[Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

Nice! I've started making a pond in our garden, but it's been raining so much this year, I haven't managed to finish it. The grass grew back. I'm trying to do it without a liner and see if the water holds, but if that doesn't work, I will have to use a liner, when I get back to it. At the moment, we still have rain in buckets. Lovely seeing Sacha and Zelda!

[AlmostOffGridGrandma]

I don't have chickens anymore but would love to add a pond for water catchment to my property. Thanks for sharing the process. It looks fantastic and really practical 🙂

[onceuponatinyfarm]

What an amazing idea it looks great and a fantastic use for old greenhouse plastic

[davidakerlund]

ive had success with cattails in tubs, with the goal of trying them out as a food crop.
my next goal is to try using my tubs as crawfish grow out

[justinwade]

Love it. I was looking forward to seeing how this turned out.

[rickthelian]

Looks nice and free makes it even better😊

[rickneilsen]

I recommend you purchase a length of Soaker Hose in a coil connected to a Fish Tank Air Pump, and place in the bottom of your Pond, to keep the water Aerated 💯

[gunrelatedvids]

you might be able to use totes, those plastic squash crates, and filter floss to make an addhoc cannister filter

[OfftoShambala]

Aquatic plant life number 1, but I heard someone say they tried it with just plants and a small fountain pump, for a smaller pond, but she added guppies and said it still made a difference… I’d probably try the mosquito fish … but another person I saw, put algae eating snails, 3 varieties of plants and the mosquito fish with no fountain pump.

[MerwinARTist]

I use goldfish in my ponds .. they will keep the mosquitos larva cleaned up .. but they are mostly a vegetarian fish .. so I grow duckweed in a separate tank as a source of food .. but I also feed some fish flakes .. big container at pet supply in a Walmart. No need to aerate .. the goldfish are tuff .. they can handle pretty cold temperatures too .. but keeping some in a tank in a greenhouse will give you more options.

[michellebarbour]

Lovely pond. Great idea. I wouldn't get goldfish though - they will raise nutient levels with their poo and will eat all the possible frogspawn and tadpoles and lots of other healthy life in there. If you are longing to watch goldfish (they are relaxing ) put them somewhere where you sit and don't mind them eating all the goodness and doing lots of poo!

[beatcat]

Put in a copper ionizer or any copper.
I put in a tiny tiny bit of copper sulfate in my duck pool. It keeps algae away for a long time! It doesn't take much at all but if it worries you you can put any type of solid copper in it instead.

[robertmcauslan]

Instead of goldfish I would use feeder tuffies. They are actually a native fish, most pet stores have them. They’ll breed but not crazy. Their smaller size means they won’t put too much bioload pressure on the pond.

[karabroadbent]

Really great idea, and I've been thinking of doing the same. Those sides are way too steep and the water deep enough to have some chickens get drowned soon enough. Need to make it safer and be mindful people will copy you without thinking.