Ducks refuse to go back in pond

[swampfox440]

I have to say I raised ducks for years and observed the same behavior . The ducks are smarter than folks give them credit for . I would bet there is snappers in the pond set some jugs with with 6-10 ' of block line and hooks with chicken necks ( they stay on good ) . Those critters love cloudy water because they can sneak up on their prey . There's two different kinds regular snappers that can grow very large and Alligator snappers . I don't know off hand what, or both types are in your area . I have trapped many in my day in fact where I live I have to clean 6 - 10 of them out every year . I just got one yesterday . When they lay eggs, they lay many . Good luck ! Good turtle fishing . As soon as you catch them out, don't ask me how, but the ducks will return to the pond .

 

[Roger Peck]

Ok so I have searched and read other threads about ducks not going into a pond. From what I can tell most of those were ones that didn’t go in the pond previously. We have 6 8 week old ducks. They had gone in the pond about 4 or 5 times and loved it. Then my husband and I went out of town for 5 days. It rained while we were gone. My FIL was here with the animals and he took care of them (but did not take them up to the pond during that time). We have tried 6+ times since we’ve been back (less than 2 weeks) to get them to go in the pond. They go to the edge and just stop. We’ve tried splashing the water to pique their interest and we’ve tried holding them in and calming them and (probably frowned upon) tried throwing them in. They just freak out. The water level is higher than it was when they were in before (and because of the rain a little murkier). As far as I know we don’t have snapping turtles (over the summer it was very dry and the “pond” was down to a puddle, nor minks, nor any of the other things I’ve read could affect it. I did see a post about maybe an electric current if it’s too close to a post but that would have been the case the other times too, right? For now I’m just going to keep leading them up there and know they have access to a water source even if they don’t want it. But any advice on how to get them to go in it? Ideally we would have had their coop near the pond but I wanted them closer to the house for predator protection at night. Whenever we lead them to their run they go directly into the kiddie pool. Do they just feel more secure being able to touch the bottom?

Picture is from April 8th the first time they were in the pond. They loved it, swimming around, diving under water, dunking their heads.

My (youngish) ducks are going through the same reluctance to go into the pond. We have however, had some occasional attacks on the ducks by otters and I wonder if that has made them all very wary. Otter visits can go unnoticed as they often arrive night-time.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If I were a duck I would be reluctant to go into a pond if Otter were in there.

 

[Sosalty]

I had a big snapper that slept 40 yds from pond. He'd travel to the water around 11pm, then return to sleep under a large boulder around 4am. Try laying some long string around the pond come evening and check it early next 'morn. Might work for both Otter and Snappers.