Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations disturbing runoff

I have a neighbor who's building a 10 by 40 chicken coupe about 70' from my 1 acre pond.Will this runoff cause excessive algea growth or any other future problems?

If the bank is sloped so the runoff will enter the pond from there you will have some problems. Algae growth, possible harmful bacteria, and feathers floating around the pond are some of the obvious ones. Hopefully you and your neighbor are good friends and can work on a solution. Good luck.

I don't know much about chicken poop or dairy cows either for that matter, but Lake Fork Texas is a world renowned big bass lake, and is located dodwnstream from Hopkins County, the dairy capitol of Texas. The entire drainage area is surrounded by dairy farms.

George, there must be a pretty good vegetative barrier between the lake and the majority of the dairy farms, or there could be big trouble in the lake. The uncontrolled run-off from a single dairy farm can devestate a pond/lake or stream... multiple farms would obviously be worse. So the farmers in that area are certianly doing something right as have the planners involved.

A small stream in my home town was wiped out by the accidental, (Ya right), release of liquified cattle waste into it from an outdoor storage tank. The stream is now devoid of fish life.

Now that little bit said, as long as their is sufficient vegetation and not to much of a slope between the coop and the pond I think you should be alright Rev. But certainly if you can convince your neighbour to position the coop further away it would be better. Even the feathers like Robert says could carry disease or at very least be annoying. (P.S. Just imagining the smell of a full chicken coop in the midday sun of August makes me glad not to work on a farm anymore.)

Pottsy and Others,

You are correct that there is ample vegetation in the drainage area around lake Fork, Texas – but absolutely no contribution from the dairy farmers as to lake management.I have fished the lake many times and observed cattle grazing at lakeside.

I find this subject most interesting because of the number of trophy bass produced each year. This lake has produced 202 trophy bass over 13#’s since inception of the “Bud Share a Lunker” program began in the 1980’s, in cooperation with Texas parks and Wildlife Department. The bass are donated for their hatchery program.

16 of these bass have been over 16#’s – 18.18# being the largest, and the LMB record for the state of Texas.

This total represents 58.72% of the all entries for the state – so there is something going on here. To my knowledge, this has not been studied.

There are of course, many differing ecological zones, geographical as well as geological, causing many differing soil types and water chemistries. However, one dominant fact stands out in my mind, and that is the dairy industry on the Lake Fork watershed.

In contrast, Cooper Lake approx. 30 miles to the north, has produced only 4 entries to the program, and has little or no dairy industry on its watershed. It is however in a different eco zone, being primarily Blackland Prairie watershed, with Lake Fork being Post Oak Savannah and Piney Woods sand and clay watershed.

Maybe Bob Lusk, Nick Smith and others will weigh in on this. I believe it merits some serious thought, in particular about nutrient levels.

george

George, another reason Lake Fork has produced a number of trophy bass is due to the enforced (and generous) slot limit in place for LMB.

I would not propose that the dairies play that significat of a role in Lake Fork and it's LMB production. I believe it is a combination of slot enforcement and participation from the TP&W to make it a champion bass lake known around the world.

There are many other factors that play a role in trophy LMB production on Lake Fork such as ample fish habitat and structure for breeding and prey ambushing. Since it is also a "young" lake, there are many benefits that are advantageous to its LMB production.

To say that it is directly correlated to the dairies might be a misrepresentation.

Thanks Trent for your input - I agree completly with your views on slot limits and the great job TP&W has done - but it has done a good job on all the neighboring lakes and none produced the numbers that Fork has produced. It's an amazing lake!

It has produced more of the Lone Star Lunkers than all the rest of the lakes in the state of Texas! That takes more than just good lake management. It is a nutrient rich lake - why?

Some "pollution" can actually increase fish production and size in the shortrun but in the longrun can have detrimental effects. Obviously manure etc. is a form of fertilizer.

However a pond vs. a larger body of water can only handle so much without problems regarding too much BOD etc.

A reservoir near me once had the fastest growing bluegills in the nation due to leaking septic tanks and some raw sewage. However eventually the lake became so fertile it worked against that, and became less hospitable to gamefish species and then carp became the primary fish produced.

Thank you for the info , I may build a retaining basin to reduce the amount of runoff , this pond has 40 acres of runoff anyway .water recycles frequently. thank's

Believe me, why Fork is so good and Cooper isn't has been widely and much discussed around these parts.

Opinions are as follows:
Fork was well managed. The existing ponds that would be flooded by the lake were rotenoned and then stocked with brood fish which would fill the lake. Some ponds got bluegill, some minnows... So when the lake was filled, there was a more or less established prey / predator base.

Cooper was not so well managed. Soon after being stocked, it had a hugh overflow, water was over the spillway by 4 to 6 feet for days. May have washed lots of fish out.

I have also heard it surmised that Cooper may have contacted bass fever in the past.

As said before, all these are opinions. Opinions are like hineys. Everybodys got one and yours stinks! ;-)

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

Is there anything to be learned from the larger reservoirs that can be applied to raising “trophy bass” in private waters?
Is a pond a microcosm of a lake?

By the way it was Lake Fork that had the fish kill virus a couple of years ago, that has led many to speculate on the decline in numbers of Lone Star Lunkers (Bud ShareLunker) program. To date for 2002-2003 season, Fork has only one entry, where as of Tuesday, Lake Ray Hubbard has produced 2 LMB over 13#’s. Maybe I am studying the wrong lake.

The good news is that for the 2001-2002 season, “private waters” produced 3 entries out of 16 statewide.

Fork did supposedly have LMB disease, but I dont think that is why it is declining as a fishery. The reason that it is declining is that it has not been managed. TPWD put in the first fish, and have done little since other than stock some pure Florida's. (according to lakeforktexas.com, the last time it was stocked was 1997.)

F1's are the fish that get big. A 50/50 cross between a Florida and a native. There are few or no F1's left. They have all interbred so much that there are no pure fish left to produce F1's.

Due to the amount of money that Fork has brought Texas, I do not know why the don't stock F1's or at least stock more 100% natives and 100% Floridas. But till they do, the record will most likely not be broken.

Yes Fork is an excellent lake, and one that got that way for a multitude of reasons. Good management, excellent habitat, productive water, they all are important.

I don't think the dairy input is the sole reason for it's success. For example, one of the lakes I manage, Lake Waco, receives a tremendous amount of inputs from dairies. Belton does to a lesser extent. Yet neither one of these would be classified as trophy bass lakes. Bad management then, you ask? Maybe, but I think not. Different goals is one reason. Not everybody wants to fish for trophy bass. Different habitats, higher cloride amounts in the water, etc. No two lakes are even close to the same.

And just to put the record straight, Fork has been stocked every year with Florida bass since 1995. The latest stocking was in May of 2002, so there definitely is some misinformation floating around out there (boy am I surprised :rolleyes: ). It appears that the information on lakeforktexas.com is a little dated.

Great exchange, guys! I love this site.
Going back to the original question..keep runoff from the chicken coop away from your pond, period. No control over how much, or when, leads to problems. Want fertilizer? You add it, when the pond needs, and the quantity needed, and specific ratios you need.
Know what the white stuff in chicken waste is? More chicken waste. That stuff is "hot", and can create serious problems quickly with a pond.
Several years ago there was a problem in east Texas, with chicken farmers spreading chicken litter over their property. Trouble was, manure had small amounts of arsenic in it, and arsenic was collecting in soils. Arsenic was placed in chicken feed, for a specific purpose, but passed straight through the feathered creature, with waste, then onto soils.
Stay away from chicken house waste. Make sure the neighbor stays neighborly.

My neighbor is just about finished with this coop!If i build a small pond to catch the runoff will this help any at all? although their will be some discharge from that pond because the way the ground lays, besides there is no way i can keep my stocked pond isolated from it .will bales of straw help in any way of limiting this nutrient level, pond is 1 acre with a 10" drain pipe, i have a huge volume of water entering my pond other than from his coop any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe offer to plant the small pond full of emergent aquatic vegetation, and submergent if deep enough. I'm sure you'll get some ideas for what will do good for your region.