Yes, really.
About thirty years ago, I took a picture of a house on a little inlet with a weeping willow out front and a little flock of ducks in the water. Man, I thought. That dude has his own duck pond. Nice.
Twenty years later, I bought a fixer-upper on a salt marsh in SC. With the Spanish moss hanging off the oaks, it was a dead ringer. As far as I was concerned, all it needed were the ducks.
After the renovation came the kids. They can make their own oatmeal now, so I figured it was time to make my move. After no small helping of marital discord, I acquired an oddball bachelor flock: two runners, three call ducks, and a Jumbo Pekin named Moby Duck.
I built them a large enclosed pen in deep cover with wide swinging doors. I envisioned a glorious daily spectacle, the running of the ducks, as the delighted little birds bolted for the water, only to be called back at sunset for a generous helping of peas.
I kept them fenced in until they thought of the yard as home base. I needn't have worried. The blasted ducks hardly leave their pen.
Four months later, if I'm willing to part with a large mug full of peas, I can lure them twenty yards to the water's edge, where they promptly Hoover up the peas before beating a hasty retreat.
I thought maybe the saltwater was the issue, but an unusually high tide brought some up into the yard, and good times were rolling. They played until the tide went out.
Does any of this sound normal? I think it has to do with Moby Duck. He rules with an iron fist, and I think he saw some bad things at his old place. The guy I bought him from told me he'd had a lot of trouble with hawks. Anytime the other ducks wander outside his comfort zone, he beats his wings furiously until they return.
I worried about keeping them out of our two ornamental ponds. More pointless anxiety. Those are thirty yards away in the other direction. I honestly don't think they'll ever get that far.
Thoughts?
About thirty years ago, I took a picture of a house on a little inlet with a weeping willow out front and a little flock of ducks in the water. Man, I thought. That dude has his own duck pond. Nice.
Twenty years later, I bought a fixer-upper on a salt marsh in SC. With the Spanish moss hanging off the oaks, it was a dead ringer. As far as I was concerned, all it needed were the ducks.
After the renovation came the kids. They can make their own oatmeal now, so I figured it was time to make my move. After no small helping of marital discord, I acquired an oddball bachelor flock: two runners, three call ducks, and a Jumbo Pekin named Moby Duck.
I built them a large enclosed pen in deep cover with wide swinging doors. I envisioned a glorious daily spectacle, the running of the ducks, as the delighted little birds bolted for the water, only to be called back at sunset for a generous helping of peas.
I kept them fenced in until they thought of the yard as home base. I needn't have worried. The blasted ducks hardly leave their pen.
Four months later, if I'm willing to part with a large mug full of peas, I can lure them twenty yards to the water's edge, where they promptly Hoover up the peas before beating a hasty retreat.
I thought maybe the saltwater was the issue, but an unusually high tide brought some up into the yard, and good times were rolling. They played until the tide went out.
Does any of this sound normal? I think it has to do with Moby Duck. He rules with an iron fist, and I think he saw some bad things at his old place. The guy I bought him from told me he'd had a lot of trouble with hawks. Anytime the other ducks wander outside his comfort zone, he beats his wings furiously until they return.
I worried about keeping them out of our two ornamental ponds. More pointless anxiety. Those are thirty yards away in the other direction. I honestly don't think they'll ever get that far.
Thoughts?
I tried everything after reading on the forum that once you get them on the pond you won't be able to get them back to their house. I had the opposite problem. I wound up moving my duck house about 10' from the pond under some trees then had to put a temp fence from the water edge around their house. Without the fence they ran all the way back up to where their house used to be. 
