Ducks for insect control?

[jofanx]

I had Khaki campbell ducks before, and I kept them in the pasture with the geese and other livestock (about 7 acres) I never had any problems with them getting out of the fence. I didn't have a pond back then, but now I do. Do you think Muscovies would stay in a fence in that situation?

Mine can climb over my 4ft chain link fence (they have claws) but they usually don't. I think in the 3 years I had them before, and the one year this year after a hiatus, that's only happened maybe twice because they got spooked by something really bad and happened to be against the fence. It's pretty hilarious to watch a duck scale a fence perpendicularly. The only other time they do is when they climb their run, and only if they know I have food when I come to feed them or I'm letting them out in the morning. It's basically a wall of duck.

Edited to add: Just to let you know it's HIGHLY unlikely they will jump the fence (with their clipped wings) but that there is a small possibility.

 

[dianneS]

Mine can climb over my 4ft chain link fence (they have claws) but they usually don't. I think in the 3 years I had them before, and the one year this year after a hiatus, that's only happened maybe twice because they got spooked by something really bad and happened to be against the fence. It's pretty hilarious to watch a duck scale a fence perpendicularly. The only other time they do is when they climb their run, and only if they know I have food when I come to feed them or I'm letting them out in the morning. It's basically a wall of duck.

Edited to add: Just to let you know it's HIGHLY unlikely they will jump the fence (with their clipped wings) but that there is a small possibility.

Do you think they'd be any harder to contain than a khaki campbell? My fence is typcial woven wire field fence attached to four rail, split rail horse fence. I don't know if the larger holes would be harder for them to climb or not?

I would give them so much space to range inside the fence, I can't really see any motivation for them to escape?

The khaki campbells and my geese would only panic and want back into the pasture if they accidentally flew over a fence, they never deliberately tried to escape and "run away"! Would muscovies be similar?

 

[jofanx]

Mine would much rather stay in our yard so like yours, if they accidentally get into the neighbor's and something spooks them, they try to come back as fast as possible. They would most likely not bother trying to escape.

 

[Cigo]

I also highly suggest muscovies. Mine live on our large pond during the warm season. No coop, no additional feed, just out in the wild. Then they live with my chickens during winter. They never stray very far from the general vicinity of their pond during the summer. I can't make any guarantees but based on my own experience, if you've got a water source and consistent source of food they won't bother trying to leave the boundaries of your fence. And if they do it won't be for long. My females can fly but they only really do it for roosting. My male is far too heavy to get off the ground (yet he's somehow the best at evading predators), so flying ability and desire depends on the individual bird.

 

[Cigo]

I'll also add that if you want ducks that will be crazy about your pond, musvovies won't really be it. They love water and swimming and will use it to their advantage, such as to escape predators, but they're not like dabbling ducks with it. Mine stay right next to the pond all day resting or foraging for food but they only get directly into the water to swim maybe a couple times a day.

 

[dianneS]

I'll also add that if you want ducks that will be crazy about your pond, musvovies won't really be it. They love water and swimming and will use it to their advantage, such as to escape predators, but they're not like dabbling ducks with it. Mine stay right next to the pond all day resting or foraging for food but they only get directly into the water to swim maybe a couple times a day.

That's okay, they don't need to be crazy about the pond. I'd just like something to use it more than the geese. I'd also like something that might eat the mosquito larva and excess tadpoles and such, since I'm not sure that the geese do that?

Muscovies are starting to sound pretty good! I may actually keep a few of my guineas and let them patrol the yard for bugs and ticks while the ducks patrol the pasture for flies. We should have a significant reduction in bugs with both on duty!