It’s been quite sometime since I have given you Steemians an update about the Indian Runner Ducks we have. Along with how well the new pond is holding up. So come along with me and check out my Sunday morning routine and enjoy a good cup of Joe while we are at it
This new pond I built is...let’s just say...good size. All 6 of our Runner Ducks fit in it and have room to get wild and splash around. The one major difference was I didn’t have a way to drain the pond. The old one had a drain, when I turned the valve it drained out into the empty lot behind the house. It was small and had its problems with clogging. Then when it broke and the side of the old pond caved in, I made them a new bigger pond.
So once a week, their pond needs to be drained and cleaned out. The old one was every couple days which also got kind of annoying. That is where this little guy comes in handy. I picked it up at Harbor Freight for around $60
With a 2 inch outlet opening this should empty the pond pretty dang fast. 1600 gallons and hour should be good enough, ya think?? I found out quickly that, attaching a regular garden hose really restricts the flow really bad. I’m looking for speed here, let’s get that nasty water out ASAP!! So I headed back to Harbor Freight and picked up a couple 50 foot “Fireman Style” hoses.
These hoses are awesome, 2 inch diameter for max flow rate and they flatten out for easy storage. The only issue I ran into was at the top of the pump where the hose connects it would kink all the time. This had to be fixed now!!! So after diggin’ in my mess of random parts I have in the garage I found this 90 degree pipe fitting and a threaded coupling. To my surprise it was the exact size I need. How cool is that??
I have all kinds of random stuff like that and most of it I have no idea why I keep it around. Then it is times like this when those random parts come in handy.
These ducks like to make a mess, let’s just say that. The pond gets tons of grass and grass roots in the bottom of it. Around the pond there used to be nice grass...not anymore, straight up mud. These blades of grass settle to the bottom and clog the pump up really fast. So about 10 times during the process of pumping out the pond, I would have to stop the pump, pull it out and clean it. How Lame!!! I needed to figure something else out to help with this clogging problem. Adapt and overcome!!
I needed to create some sort of pre-filter for the pump. Something to block the majority of bigger debris from clogging the pump so fast. So I took a bucket and cut it in half and drilled about 1 million 1/4 inch holes in it.
Now I can place the pump inside this half-bucket and drop them into the pond together. Of course this was after rolling out that hose out on the ground in perfect bowling form.
Striiiiike!!
I must have put just the right spin on it, the hose curved perfectly around the Duck house where I typically drain some of the water for the ducks to play in.
As you can see, after a week this pond is pretty gross. They spend quite a bit of time in their new and improved pond.....poopin’ and what not. Even when it was below freezing they would hang out in there. After breaking the ice for them in the morning. I’ve caught them sleeping in there a bunch of times during the day.
Commence Pumping!!
They like to stand back from the hose and wait for it to flood, then they start digging little holes with their beaks, making a weird )I don’t even know how to describe it)noise.
After giving them a spot to play, I connect the other section of hose and spread some of that poopy-pond water on my trees, blackberry bush, and in other planter boxes.
While I’m watering these trees and planter areas I use the garden hose to stir up the nasties on the bottom of the pond. I don’t know but I’m hoping this ducky poopy water will act like a fertilizer of some sort. Whatcha think???
My pre-filter worked great!!! I didn’t have to clean out the pump one single time before the water level got too low it couldn’t pump anymore. Perfect!!!
The last bit of water in the pond is loaded with grass pieces and ducky poo and the pump just can’t get it out. So I made a scoop from a vinegar bottle and scooped the last bit out, dumping it on the trees and other planter areas.
Fill’er Up
It’s really funny because all the ducks gather around the pond as I am filling it up. Waiting impatiently do dive into that fresh clean water and get wild.
While the pond fills up after being emptied in record time :pat on the back: I clean up the pump and hoses. Look what little amount of space those hoses take up. Using the handle from the discarded top portion of the bucket, I reattached it to the bottom half. Perfect little carry handle and it all fits in the holey half bucket filter.
Time to invade the Duck house and gather up the eggs this morning. We have 4 females and 2 males and all four hens are laying eggs now. Even though it is winter time, we have been getting close to 4 eggs a day.
Looks like we got 3 this morning. One of them dropped on in the yard yesterday afternoon when we let them roam around the yard. They just drop eggs everywhere I swear. I found one in the pond a few weeks back. I mean really, lay and egg in the water????
Pool Party
While the ducks get all Duck-Wild in the pond. Let’s head inside and clean these eggs up and put them in the fridge with the rest of them.
This dozen duck eggs has some serious weight to it. Close to 2 pounds, when I placed them on a scale. One of our ducks lays some big’ol eggs compared to the others. Check out the size of this egg.
We just hard boiled about 20 duck eggs yesterday to make egg salad sandwiches today. Plus I have another dozen that I made Duck Egg Omelettes with this morning. I’m not going to show you the end result because that would ruin it for my contender in Round 26 of Food Fight Friday. Here, how about a blurry picture, then you can let your imagination run with it.
Well thanks for stopping by the Splattstead, it’s not really a homestead but we do enjoy growing fruits and veggies and have a few animals. So I don’t know what you would call it...other than our home.
These hard boiled Duck eggs take it to the next level. OMG!!! The flavor is outstanding, just a sprinkle of salt and down the hatch...Tasty!!!
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how can you just think of eating a duck after you treat them under your own roof? I do not think you could kill one and cook it! Anyway, your story is really nice, and it must be a lot of fun to have these animals running around the garden. And they are so impatient to go in their bathtub, just like the kids! They are very funny and what beautiful eggs they produce ! Well done!
I would have a tough time killing and eating these fun little guys, my daughters heart would be broken. They have such funny personalities it wouldn’t feel right I can tell you that much.
Thank you
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You're Crazy 😜.
Maybe start selling some eggs or chicks...
Normally we eat them as fast as they produce them. This time we saved them up for a big batch of Egg salad sandwiches. I’m getting started in the gym this week, I just came up with a shake that has over 1200 calories and over 120 grams of protein. I will show you tonight when I make it. Muahahaha
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🏋️♂️🍕🦆🍳
Ha ha ha, they look so happy. This is like paradise for them. They are really enjoying the bath. Great job and nice photos.
They are really fun to watch. When one runs across the yard for no apparent reason, here some the rest of them. Almost like lemmings or something.
Yes, they do love it when their pond gets all cleaned out. That is probably when they get the craziest.
Thanks for stopping by and the kind words.
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Ha, I'm glad I'm not the only one that keeps a bunch of random parts and pieces around because "it'll come in handy one day".
Do you have any plans to let a few of the eggs hatch and wait til they plump up to eat them? I don't know about you but roast duck is one of my favorite meals.
I often ask why I have certain things laying around, then this one instance tells me why. Lol. Every now and again I toss some stuff out.
You know, I haven’t really thought of it, Nor have I ever had roast duck before. The only way I have ever had duck was jerky. I have a brother that is an addict when it comes to duck hunting. He just breasts them out, thin slices the breasts and then smokes them into jerky. Plus the ducks he gets are as “organic” as it gets. Lol. These Indian Runner Ducks are pretty tall and slender, I’m not sure how well they will “fatten up”
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Duck jerky, now that sounds like a treat! I've never came across that before, I may have to make some here soon. Years ago I got sick of having turkey every Thanksgiving and Christmas and managed to convince my family we should do duck instead. It's quite tasty, as long as you like dark meat.
Ha, I imagine anything with runner in the name probably wasn't meant to be fattened...
Just a little tip for duck jerky, thin slice it and marinate for like 3 days. My brother know from hundreds of pounds of jerky. They meat is more dense and doesn’t have any fat. My brother goes hunting all winter long and ends up with multiple 1 Gallon freezer bags full of duck breasts. I better hit him up and go rob his freezer. Lol
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Those ducks must be so excited to finally get into their clean pond. You really are dedicated to always set out time to clean it up for them, i really don't know if i will be able to do that.
I like your idea of using the pond water to water you plants, it definitely is a good source of fertilizer for them.
And oh, those eggs! I wonder how delicious it will be🤔😋
Sometimes I wonder if I should clean it a little more often. It takes about 15-20 minutes to get it cleaned out so it’s not that time consuming. These guys can make a mess really fast.
Their eggs are delicious!! Especially hard boiled with a dash of salt. I made omelettes not too long ago and they were very very good. Plus they are huge. Lol
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15-20mins? Wow! I actually thought it took longer to get it all cleaned up. You can definitely make it twice a week since it is not that time-consuming. Well, except if you have so many things on your plate that needs to get done. You know, my sister hates eating ducks (she has never eaten one) because of how messy they can be. "They are such dirty creatures", she will say.
Quite different to the really small eggs of geese... I hope to try the Duck egg someday...
haha! howdy jlsplatts! what a fun and informational post, gotta love those ducks, I don't often hear of people keeping ducks and then being able to eat their eggs, very cool! great job on this post.
Thank you kindly sir. Ya these guys are a lot of fun. After doing some research we decided on them over chickens. They are better at handling at the cold and they are less prone to many of the disease than chickens. Plus they don’t tear up your yard as bad I guess
Howdy again sir jlspatts! Well that is so interesting, I didn't know that. So more people should be going for the ducks then, logic would assume. And the size of those eggs, wow! Plus they're highly entertaining. lol.