Added some ducks to the little pond

[wjoerob]

You say your duck used to sit in the trees? Must be some new kind of duck feet...

 

[EddieWalker]

The reason I bought male ducks was to avoid breeding. While baby ducks are cute to look at, I don't want to deal with what I consider the negatives. More mouths to feed. More poop. More bait for predators. The two we have really are just about perfect. They do their thing and are nice to look at. It's really worked out well for us.

One funny note is that our ten year old daughter had to do a class project on feeding her pet. This was before we got the cat, so her only pet was the ducks. She tried different foods for them to eat and watched what they liked the best. Then when she turned it in to the class, it turned out that she was the only one to have pet ducks!!! She really liked that.

Eddie

 

[meadowlarkponds]

All this talk about bass eating baby ducklings makes me think....if you were interested in raising very large LMB in a pond, maybe that would be a potential source of natural protein and part of a natural cycle. Baby ducks are usually available in early spring when the bass requirements for protein are highest.

 

[EddieWalker]

ML,

You are the TRUE bass guru!!!!!!!!! I love it. hahhaha

I don't have any bass in that pond, just catfish, bluegill and minnows. I did think about putting some Rouens into my big pond, but without an island for protection, decided against it. There are way too many preditors down there and I don't want to have to feed them either. There's no way that they would survive on their own.

Eddie

 

[charlz]

Eddie,
I know you have rouens, but Charlz, what kind do you have? We don't have a pond yet, but we are working on having one dug this winter and the idea of pond ducks sounds pretty cool. So I am extremely interested in learning from all of you guys.

Well, I think they started out as Khaki Campbell and Black Crested but they are pretty much a mix now The Khaki Campbell's lay a lot of eggs... pretty much all over the bottom of the pond but once in a while they will leave one on the grass or the 'beach'. If you want the eggs I have read that you need to lock them up at night so they will lay their eggs somewhere you can get to them. Supposedly they lay their eggs right around dawn/early morning.

We had a skunk coming around this past summer and he pretty much kept all the eggs they tried to hatch in check, no peep-peep's this year.

The ducks are pretty funny to watch. In the summer they have a routine where they will go around the house feeding, take a nap, go down the ditch feeding, take a nap, go around the garage feeding, take a nap etc. etc. It is fun to watch the little ones try and chase dragon fly's etc. all over the pond.

I'll see if I have some pics.

Charles