Anyone stock fish for their ducks?

[Niss]

Our ducks have a small (jump across in most spots, knee deep at most) steem and I'm thinking of trapping some minnows for them or buying feeder goldfish. Has anyone tried?

 

[Kevin565]

Be careful when feeding live food because it is a good possibility of spreading diseases if the fish are not from a reputable source.

 

[Niss]

Thanks, Hadn't thought of that.

 

[Amiga]

Good thoughts all around.

Last year I got some red comets (goldfish) and rosy red minnows, feeder fish, for the rain barrels. They got rid of mosquito larvae, as I had hoped. There was some mortality, but I ended the season with about a half dozen of each. They are living in buckets in the basement. I change their water regularly, feed them, and so forth, and plan to put them back in the rain barrels.

I have wondered about the disease concern, but do not know how to be sure, so I haven't given any to the ducks.

'Want to share, by the way, that the original minnows died but they apparently bred in the rain barrel and I have a second generation of minnows. The red comets are survivors from the original batch I purchased. For what it's worth.

 

[Niss]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I don't have rain barrels, as we use a system funneling all our gutters into a cistern that is then filtered for household use, but I love the idea.

What I was leaning toward was making a minnow trap to get some from a friend's trout stream...it somehow seems 'cleaner' than using store bought--and cheaper too, which I like.