For Those with Natural Ponds

[sab]

Hey duck lovers - I have Pekings, one about 5 yrs old the other is 4. I just got 2 Peking ducklings. My older girls live with my chickens and think they ARE chickens. I have a natural pond and those 2 girls won't go near it. Like I said, they think they are chickens. My 2 new ducklings are having 'swim' time everyday. Hoping to have these 2 know they are ducks and maybe influence the older 2.

My questions - I've spent the evening reading about everyone's duck houses. About predators and protecting the ducks. I'd really like to move these 2 older birds OUT of the chicken coop & run and let the 4 ducks have their own space away from the chickens and utilize the pond. So I think I'm looking for a way to lock up the ducks at night yet be available to the pond. Does anyone have a housing arrangement that fences in a part of the yard containing the duck house yet has some way of accessing the pond??? In my thinking, if the ducks have access to the pond, they can escape any predator. I picture them swimming under a fence to access any of the yard they want, then swimming back under the fence to access their shelter.

So I think my question is -- does anyone with a natural pond have a shelter that is predator safe yet has access to the water?? I know I'm rambling on this so probably won't get many answers. I guess I'm asking to SEE the arrangements people with natural ponds have made for their ducks.

THANKS!

 

[Glenda Sue]

I have 4 cayuga ducks, two male ,two female. We have a small pond about 60 feet from thier coop. We also have welded wire and chicken fence around the pond all the way up to the coop. An electric wire runs along the top and the bottom of the fence to keep out raccoons, fox, cats, dogs, and what ever else might want to eat them. The only thing we can't keep out are the Hawks and owls. But they can go in the coop anytime they want. And we haven't had a problem with them. We don't lock them in at night. When their eggs hatch it will be a different storey. I had to put a small pool in the coop for the females because they like to lay eggs by water so they can wet them. I don't know if ducks would swim under a fence intentionally and be able to find thier way back if panicked. Especially at night.