Garden vs. Ducks [urgent help jeeded]

[danideer]

I really need help with this issue. If I can't come up with a solution, my parents will make me get rid of my six ducks, which would break my heart.

Yesterday we moved the duck pen from our garage to the backyard. The yard is quite large and backs up to a lovely creek. The idea was that the ducks would free range along the creek during the day, only returning to their pen at night for safety. Today was their first day out on their own. For awhile, they sat in their pen and refused to come out. Eventually they did and ever since we have NOT been able to keep them off our patio and out of our flower beds. We put some of that decorative fencing stuff up but they just keep finding ways to get around it! They refuse to get more than 10 feet away from the patio and will NOT go anywhere near the creek, let alone down the embankment for a swim. They've destroyed whole beds of flowers in just a few hours time and my mother is furious. Until I come up with a solution to keep them out of the flowers and can encourage them to go in the creek, they have to stay in their pen which really isn't big enough for them to be in all the time.

If we can't find a solution, the ducks will have to go. I've raised them myself and love them to pieces. Certainly someone here can help me out???

 

[sourland]

Adequate fencing, either for the ducks or the flower beds, seems like the only solution.

 

[Buckas]

Will your ducks follow you? Are they still not going to the creek? try leading them to the creek with a tasty treat like cut up tomatoes. It sounds like they miss you and want to stay close to the house. Perhaps if mama duck (you) goes to the creek they will too.

 

[Amiga]

I don't know if the creek is the best idea, either. I have visions of them floating downstream and not coming back.

Fence is what I use to protect gardens. For daytime, to protect the garden and not the ducks, plastic poultry fencing can be used. But at night, how are you keeping them safe?

 

[danideer]

Wow I forgot about this thread! Guess I'll give everyone an update.

We managed to protect the flower beds with decorative garden fencing. The smallest of the ladies could get through it, but they eventually quit. Now the ducks only come up onto the patio if it's getting to be about dinner time and I'm not moving fast enough for their taste. They also seem to like to poop all over the front step into our sauna and dirty up the glass door, but so far I've kept things cleaned up enough that my parents haven't protested too much. The only issue my mom has with them now is that they do tear up the grass a bit. Back towards the creek our yard gets pretty mucky and with their constant trampling through there the grass can get pretty then. I've found that temporarily fencing these patches off allows them to recover. They don't get in the creek much, at least not straight from our backyard. They have a few times, but only on really hot days. I suspect they go off in the woods and get in at a shallower spot. The current isn't strong at all and they always come back. Actually they don't even go into our neighbors yard despite the fact that there's nothing keeping them from doing so! They seem to make the perfect suburban ducks. At night they go into a chain link dog kennel that's covered in chicken wire. I've found raccoon feces around it, but the suckers never found a way in and it seems they've given up. Recently we've begun to find an egg every morning, so I'll be adding nest boxes to the enclosure soon!

 

[coppercloud]

what type of ducks are they?

 

[veronicasmom]

Good job!!! Glad you are able to keep your ducks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd like to add a bit of warning, it doesn't sound like you have a secure house for your ducks to go into at night. If not and they lay up against the chain link at night eventually a raccoon will stick his arm through and grab one of your ducks and believe me from what others have said it isn't a pretty sight to come out to in the morning. If you haven't done so I'd get hardware cloth and wrap the first 3' from ground up all the way around so nothing can get inside and grab one of your ducks. Preds don't give up easily. Plus mink and weasel can get through a 1" hole from all I've read and they will kill and eat ducks. Not wanting to scare the daylights out of you just trying to pass on some valuable information from others that have lived through an attack unfortunately most of the ducks don't.

 

[Amiga]

Regarding hardware cloth - use the metal kind, not the plastic. Raccoons can tear right through plastic fence. And they will reach through chicken wire and grab ducks.

 

[danideer]

The chicken wire completely covers the kennel. While I'd love to have a nice coop for them, this is the only type of enclosure allowed in my neighborhood. We aren't allowed any sort of outbuilding (never buy into a neighborhood association. Worst decision my parents ever made!) So far we haven't had any problems with predators, but I appreciate the concern!

@veroniasmom: Thank you! Now I just have to convince my mom to continue to care for them when I head off to college next fall!

@coppercloud: I have 4 Pekins and 2 cresteds.