godlovesu2
Hatching
- Nov 1, 2018
- 2
- 0
- 4
I inherited 4 ducks in September. Well, to be honest, some friends who had 9 ducks went to China for a month. I told them I would try to take care of them. I was going to try to get them into their dog crate and bring them to my house so I could care for them. I could not make them go into the dog crate house thing, and gave up trying. They were fine for at least 3 weeks, and then one day when I went over to feed them there was only 4 ducks instead of 9. I called my son and daughter-in-law and we managed to capture the remaining 4 and brought them to my house.
They found the pond after almost a whole day and then I could not get them back into their house at night. The 2nd day, there was only 3 ducks. After this, the ducks stay in the middle of the pond all night. They now can fly and take off, if on land,whenever they hear anything move and fly right back to the pond. I finally converted an old shed into a duck house, spread a nice layer of mulch and hay. When feeding them, I have caught them and put them in this house, but they immediately get out as fast as they can. I thought by not making a huge deal out of it they would willing go in, but that's not the case. I could definitely capture them and put them in the house, but I am quite concerned about taking away their natural protection. right now they can fly, and they stay in the middle of the pond all night. both of those (flight and protection while in pond) will be taken away if I attempt to protect them in this henhouse.
I have neighbors who had really well built, fenced duck and chicken houses that preditors have gotten into and killed many of their flock. I pretty much know that most of you will tell me that the only way to protect them is to make sure that the house is well fortified and that they go in it every night. Am I totally nuts to think that perhaps they are better off without that protection?
by the way, since my friends are currently traveling for school purposes at least every other weekend the decision was made to let the ducks stay here until next October. I'll add one more fact. I was quite reluctant to take in the ducks, I grew up on a farm and know all about morning and evening chores and had no desire to start doing them again, especially in New England winters. However, I really do love these 3 ducks and really don't want anything to happen to them. I live on a hill, so fencing, etc is extremely, extremely difficult ( especially in November) and I want them to be able to get to the pond daily. My other option is to ask my neighbor who has ducks if she would take them in. I worry that her ducks may "pick on" these ducks. Sorry this is so long! Thanks for the help
They found the pond after almost a whole day and then I could not get them back into their house at night. The 2nd day, there was only 3 ducks. After this, the ducks stay in the middle of the pond all night. They now can fly and take off, if on land,whenever they hear anything move and fly right back to the pond. I finally converted an old shed into a duck house, spread a nice layer of mulch and hay. When feeding them, I have caught them and put them in this house, but they immediately get out as fast as they can. I thought by not making a huge deal out of it they would willing go in, but that's not the case. I could definitely capture them and put them in the house, but I am quite concerned about taking away their natural protection. right now they can fly, and they stay in the middle of the pond all night. both of those (flight and protection while in pond) will be taken away if I attempt to protect them in this henhouse.
I have neighbors who had really well built, fenced duck and chicken houses that preditors have gotten into and killed many of their flock. I pretty much know that most of you will tell me that the only way to protect them is to make sure that the house is well fortified and that they go in it every night. Am I totally nuts to think that perhaps they are better off without that protection?
by the way, since my friends are currently traveling for school purposes at least every other weekend the decision was made to let the ducks stay here until next October. I'll add one more fact. I was quite reluctant to take in the ducks, I grew up on a farm and know all about morning and evening chores and had no desire to start doing them again, especially in New England winters. However, I really do love these 3 ducks and really don't want anything to happen to them. I live on a hill, so fencing, etc is extremely, extremely difficult ( especially in November) and I want them to be able to get to the pond daily. My other option is to ask my neighbor who has ducks if she would take them in. I worry that her ducks may "pick on" these ducks. Sorry this is so long! Thanks for the help
