Hottentot and Ringed Teal Ducks

[HottentotTeal]

Ok, I found a thread about people with ant problems and they suggested putting the food in a larger dish surrounded by water And/or also sprinkling food grade DE around the feeding area.

I planned to use DE.

I originally bought some SweetPDZ, but after reading the bag, it says it's not for consumption by humans or animals.

Therefore, I am going to head to the feed store shortly and see if they carry food grade DE.

I'm gonna go out right now and do the food/water dish trick.


Sadly, i don't think they are eating their normal food yet.

I put out the feed with only half a spoon of cracked corn. I can't tell if they made a dent in it or not. It's right where they lay down on the bank of the pond.

I then went back to the pet store and bought 12 large crickets and dumped 6 of them in the bowl. the bowl is pretty high like 3 inches, so it's hard for the crickets to get out unless they realize they just have to jump out, which they don't.

I checked a short while later and the ducks seem to have eaten them at least.


Also, they as usual ate the 10 or 12 tiny goldfish pellets i tossed in the pond.

At least they are eating something, although I don't think this is a very good diet for them.


I am just hoping they are still very nervous about their new home. This will barely be their 2nd full day in there.


Again, thank you for everyone reading my thread and replying to my questions.


Oh yeah! I also bought that pump system I mentioned a post above. I got it all ready to place out there, but i need to cut into the sight barrier or mesh. I would rather cut into the wooden boards, but i could always use zip ties on the mesh i guess. I bought a 50 or 100 pack of them earlier. Either way, I gotta figure out a way to cover or patch the hole so they can't get through, but i only need a certain amount for the hoses and power cord to go through.

I'm going to get a second opinion on that from my father in law. We still need to make a little shed/house for them and i wanted to make one for their food to be covered.

The hurricane missed us, but we are still getting a lot of rain bands still, so it's raining pretty hard all week.

I rigged up a temporary roof over a small part of the aviary, like where they like to sit on the edge of the pond and to more importantly keep their food dry.

I'm gonna go get some 2'x4' treated plywood boards and i will have more area that i can cover with them.

 

[HottentotTeal]

I forgot to upload these from last night as well.

I took a pic of each one:

We have a feed store in town that seems to have food grade DE. I am going to go there in an hour and see if i can pick some up.

I was thinking it might be a good idea to first put it on the outside perimeter of the aviary, like on the little moon pebbles that surround the outside.

 

[HottentotTeal]

I got back from the in-town feed store and they had 2 bags of food grade DE.

I bought the small bag for now.


They sell bales of Hay and Alfalfa. I thought i read somewhere on here that straw is preferred over both, but that hay is preferred over Alfalfa. Maybe because alfalfa has a lot more calcium?


Anyways, when i had a hamster, i used to buy some food from this feed store and the brand name was called Oxbow.

They apparently sell several types of bagged Hays.

I was looking at these two primarily for bedding:

Orchard Grass Hay
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1526

Organic Meadow Hay
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1533


They also have Western Timothy Hay which according to the web site has :"low calcium content for sensitive digestive tracts for rabbits."


I don't really know if the ducks would eat this hay, as my primary purpose for this would be to use it as bedding.



They also have this:

Eco-Straw Litter
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=3581



And I keep forgetting that I already have a bag of Equine compressed pine pellets.

I haven't put anything out yet because i am supposed to build their little shed later today and also it has been pouring rain the past few days that putting any litter down on the ground would make it too soggy.


Any thoughts would be appreciated on the Oxbow hays above.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

either would be fine, they arent going to eat it, and if they do calcium is really good for them anyway. I wouldnt use any pelletised stuff though,there's a good chance they would eat it if it's small, and possibley get impacted by it. and hay or straw if fine as long as you change it out as is gets dirty, once a week or so is usually fine, in dry condidtion you can go even further. Just dont want it to get caked with poo or wet and moldy is all.
Pine straw works well to and isnt as prone to quick rotting or mold

 

[drafthorse39]

I

this thread! Beautiful ducks!

 

[HottentotTeal]

They are finally eating regularly.

I think the problem was 2 things: they were still getting adjusted to the aviary and ANTS!


I dug up a thread or 2 on ants using the search button and some people mentioned putting the food dish in a larger dish and fill up the larger dish with water to keep them out.

Well turns out that is pure brilliance! No more ants and it also lets me know when they eat because i can see little remnants of soggy food in the water portion of the larger dish, showing they were eating it and washing it down.



Also, as Boggy said in the other thread, they just don't eat that much. I was putting too much food in the bowl, so now i am putting just a little more than a tablespoon of food in the dish for the both of them. Even that is too much really.


I cleaned up a little of the food they got on the jade pebbles around the bowl and I sprinkled a little food grade DE a little further out on some of the dirt to get rid of the remaining ants. They are real small ones so i don't think they are the kinds that would normally bite. They were getting a few bits of food that was spilled on the pebbles.


I also cleaned the pond with a pool skimming net. It's surprisingly clear still. I still plan to put in the water pump and filter though. The rain chances go down today quite a bit and i should have some time to work on that as well as the shed and some of the wood work that needs to be done still. We wanted to cover up the mesh seams on the inside and outside.


I found one of the large crickets from yesterday still alive, so I think you are right in maybe i should try to see if i can find some mealworms. I'll check Petco, although it seems they are eating fine now. I only put 2 little goldfish pellets in the water portion of the food dish this morning. The pellets are round and about the size of a BB.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

thats great!

 

[HottentotTeal]

ok maybe a tablespoon isn't enough!

I went to get the food dish and replace the water dish with a new one for them this morning and the food bowl was completely empty!


Will they stop eating when they have had enough or will they just eat everything i put out there?



I have been putting food out at 7am (pickup leftovers at 9-10am) and 6pm (pickup leftovers at 9pm) daily, before, when they were not eating much.

Also, how long is too long for keeping food out? I don't think i will have a problem now of left over food, once i get the portions figured out, but is 2-3 hours ok if it is dry? That was normally when i would go check the food and just throw it away if they didn't eat anything. Again, I think they will be eating regularly and left over food shouldn't be a problem now, but i just want to be safe on this.

 

[HottentotTeal]

Ok, I put in a pump, filter, and hippo spitter. The filter is under the house since it's kind of big. I just ran the water hoses underneath the sight barrier in probably the only spot that is possible to put them through.

Also, here is my feeding setup, to minimize food getting tossed all over the place. It also provides water for them, although they still use the pond sometimes. I remove everything about an hour later and replace it with a bowl with just fresh water. I only have the plastic mat in there with the food, because it can get slippery and i don't want them getting hurt on it.

Still working on the little duck shed/shelter. It's almost complete, but i need to paint and do some touchup work on it before i put it in there. It's about 18/12 inches tall and 2 feet wide and about 12 inches deep.

 

[secretquail]

WOW!!! What an amazing set-up! I have a lot to live up to! Great job, and keep the pictures coming!

You said the filter is under the house? Does the filter not have to be at the lowest point? Boy, that would make life a bit easier!