Creek on Property...Would they Swim Away?

[Dotty Duck]

Thanks, I really want to make this work but I also want to cover all my bases first

. How high would the fence need to be to keep them out?

Wow, the ducks would love that creek. Hope you manage to get it fenced. I use 50 cm high chicken wire where I need to keep my girls (who can't fly) out of certain areas of the garden.

 

[ducksinarow]

That is a big creek. It looks lovely. Hope you figure something out. My ducks are envious.

 

[Freakmonger]

How far does the creek flood during the winter, some seasons we have excessive flooding in Washington, just something to consider.

 

[hokankai]

That's the creek at its highest point. I think I'll try it without fencing the creek (give the ducks limited free range only when we're home) and see what happens. The creek snakes back on our property further back in the woody area, so as long as they come back to their pen before dark they'll be ok. If they leave...I'll just get more ;P.

I figure if I only give them a couple ours out of the pen they don't really have a chance to go too far unless they don't want dinner!

 

[iluvsedward]

To be honest, I think they will be fine and you shouldn't have to fence it. But you should definitely coop train them first so they always want to come back home when it starts to get dark. They might want to even sleep on the water though because its safe from predators. Gooooooood luck!!

 

[Carcajou]

I like your creek hokankai!

A word of caution about letting domestic ducks sleep on the water - they will be susceptible to predation by owls. I once lost two ducks to owls at night before I changed my management system to ensure they go in their coop every night. That makes it imperative to coop train them so they want to go in at night. Fishers also prowl at night.

Best of luck!

 

[hokankai]

How do you prevent them from sleeping on the water? We usually round up our birds anyway, but sometimes let them go in by themselves. I would NOT want my ducks out during the night. I've lost a chicken to an owl at dusk and a couple to coyotes early in the morning when the run didn't get shut.

 

[Carcajou]

With my first go at keeping ducks I couldn't keep them from sleeping on the water. I had a smaller coop then and one night they just refused to come off the pond, just kept swimming away and that became the end of those three going in at night. I didn't know about herding them with flashlights at that time so don't know if that would have worked or not. I eventually lost two of them at night during the winter and I am pretty certain to owls. The drake I still have somehow managed to survive.

When I started over last spring I built a larger coop surround by a fence. I had to keep the drake separated from the new ones (all girls) until they were full grown. They stayed in the pen and were trained to go into the coop at night. All this time the drake stayed on the pond. I feed lightly in the morning then feed again in the late afternoon. The ducks come in to the enclosure when I bring out the afternoon feed. When I first started this method I had to herd them into the coop at night because the drake was reluctant to go in though he did willing follow the ducks into the pen to get food. Now they go in on their own most nights. The key is to get them into the enclosure in the afternoon. Sometimes I have to lure them into the enclosure with lettuce.

 

[tdgill]

glad to hear its going better for you this time around I gotta laugh every night when I put my ducks away... they literally race me to the enclosure. I think its the peas. lol. They love their frozen pea treat!

 

[hokankai]

Haha I have so much to learn about ducks, I had no idea they sleep on the water. Not sure how they would stay put on the creek though, maybe in the summertime. Luckily it isn't too deep or wide and I think I could herd them back...but yeah I'm not planning on keeping them out that long