Ducks and blueberry bushes

[DuckyDonna]

Hi all, I have 3 beautiful loaded blueberry bushes that we've been enjoying a lot. They are in my duck run and surrounded by fencing and bird netting all over.

Once the berries are done producing I need to take down the netting and redo the fencing anyway and I've been wondering would it be OK to let the ducks in around them or will they stip the whole bush and kill it?

The bushes are about 4' high and I'd love to give the ducks a place to lay in the shade but I don't want to lose the bushes.

 

[Isaac 0]

How many ducks will be in that area, and how big is your pen?

 

[Flyinbolts]

I'd say anything under 2.5 feet will be stripped unless you only have 2 ducks. Don't know if it'd kill the bushes.
As an option for shade you could put up a tarp on top and staple it to the frame - maybe over the side a bit. Would cast a nice patch for them without any problems plus be out of the rain if such happened during the day.

 

[DuckyDonna]

How many ducks will be in that area, and how big is your pen?

For now there will be 10 ducks and the area is about 30' x 40' approx. Once the 9 babies get older and if everyone acts right I'm hoping they can all be together so that will make it about 40' x 50'. The babies will be in a separate area for the next almost 4 months.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I'd say anything under 2.5 feet will be stripped unless you only have 2 ducks. Don't know if it'd kill the bushes.
As an option for shade you could put up a tarp on top and staple it to the frame - maybe over the side a bit. Would cast a nice patch for them without any problems plus be out of the rain if such happened during the day.

Ya, I think your right, plus I've got runners with their "long reach". I do have tarps out so they do have shade areas but I was hoping someone would tell me they'd just lay under the bushes and not tear them up. Pipe dream apparently.

 

[Flyinbolts]

Ya, I think your right, plus I've got runners with their "long reach". I do have tarps out so they do have shade areas but I was hoping someone would tell me they'd just lay under the bushes and not tear them up. Pipe dream apparently.

Actually my freaking KHAKI drake will JUMP to get the leaves off a tree in the pen. But the runner could care less. So I think you'll be surprised eventually.


Khaki Hopper
There's a reason his name is TROUBLE.

And with that many ducks and that area yea, it's all going to look like my pen. I have a 15x40 area & 20x12 area that are linked together. I'm looking to extend on another roughly 30x50 area this summer, along with the pond, an addition to the coop, and a run that's got hardware cloth for more room during the summer that's secure.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Actually my freaking KHAKI drake will JUMP to get the leaves off a tree in the pen. But the runner could care less. So I think you'll be surprised eventually.


Khaki Hopper
There's a reason his name is TROUBLE.

And with that many ducks and that area yea, it's all going to look like my pen. I have a 15x40 area & 20x12 area that are linked together. I'm looking to extend on another roughly 30x50 area this summer, along with the pond, an addition to the coop, and a run that's got hardware cloth for more room during the summer that's secure.

It is a big endeavor for sure. I can't even count the amount of 4 x 4's we cemented in and I'm so glad its done! It took us months and I thought it would never end. We had to do it in phases since the ducks had to be out there at the same time. Phase I took the longest time I guess because we were just figuring stuff out.

We put hwc all on the sides and down to the ground and boy, that was just a blast! Lots of bloody arms and legs. We put welded wire on the roof which was actually easier than the hwc on the sides. We used about a million washers and deck screws.

One thing we learned was to go all the way to the back of the washer bin (Home Depot) and there are whole boxes of washers that you can buy instead of doing it one by one.

I really love that I don't have to worry too much about anything getting them out there. I could probably not even lock them in their pens at night but I just can't do that and do see that in my future ever. I put my 3 wk old babies out there during the day about a week ago and last night they slept in their own big pen. I've got a double fence between them and the big ducks. I still worry but not nearly as much. I think I check on them about 25 times a day and my house is NOT near the barn. Good exercise I guess.