Low maintenance ducks for pond?

[Sosalty]

I'd really love to have a few ducks in our 75' X 110' pond in close view of house. Possibly could take a drake now and then to keep the numbers down and wouldn't mind trying an occasional duck egg, but that's not important. Just want to look out the window and watch 'em swimming. Don't want to hug 'em or even name them. Important would be to take off on 3 day trips and not need anyone to care for them. There's coon, bobcat, and possums that come around but they get removed. Don't mind launching an island with a dog(duck)house or setting up an auto feeder, just don't care to increase my workload much, mowing and clearing brush is enough.

Would having ducks be realistic? I know next to nothing about poultry.

 

[DuckMom2017]

Unless you're trying to set up a buffet for the carnivores, there's no such thing as low maintenance duck

 

[Sosalty]

From the thread "Ducks on a pond. . . quote from DVT02 Oct 27, 2010

"We have two ponds, both smaller than yours, that our ducks stay on. We have no shelter or pen and have lost 6 to predators. We started with 12, however, two of the 6 we lost had contracted Avian Botulism, or "limber neck", which made them easy prey (I had them quarentined in a cage but a bobcat tore through the chicken wire...hard lessons learned) When we first got our ducks, they were young and still flightless. They made themselves at home quickly but would not go on the water for the first few weeks...thats when we lost 3 to the bobcat. After that, they began sleeping on the water through the summer months and all was well. Recently, when the tempertatures started dipping into the twenties at night, they started sleeping on the banks again and we lost one of our two drakes to a raccoon (the bobcat is no longer with us). Since then, the ducks have started staying the night on my neighbors pond...it is in the middle of a cow pasture and the predators can't ambush them as easily. I am currently building a loft in our barn that I hope to ecourage them to use on those extreme nights and also for nesting. It will be protected from climbing predators by a hot wire. If all goes well, they will come and go as they please and still have some protection.

All this doesn't answer your questions, I know, because I still don't know myself if I would do it differently. My remaining ducks seem to have matured and have learned to protect themselves, though we did suffer some losses. Sometimes I wish we had built a coop and pen, but then that would add to our daily time/work involved. We will see if our ducks continue to survive and increase.

The only advice I can give is if you go without pens etc., expect some losses. If you decide to provide some form of protection, prepare it BEFORE you get the ducks...and don't depend on chicken wire to provide that protection. You can make changes as you go, but, as in my case, once your ducks have complete freedom, it will be a bear trying to go to a cooped flock.

Either way, you will love muscovies, their comical personalities, and you will get a thrill every time those large birds fly overhead, then come eat from your hand.

"

Responses such as this would be helpful.

 

[Sosalty]

I'm pretty adept at trapping, 33 coon and possum off my 5 acres this Jan - March (along the creek; they rarely venture upland; pond 60yds up). By this spring, the perimeter will be all cleared of brush, large oaks will remain, with just a cattail stand below the dam. A couple of miles up the road they own about a dozen pekin white ducks with a dog house up on the bank. I can have the 4' x 8' mini island with shelter ?modified/doghouse and a batt powered feeder to go off at nite ready beforehand. We live in northern Alabamie so cold snaps aren't extreme. One fellow with Muskies on his pond says, "come by in May and he'll give me 2 or 3.

Questions;
1 edit: will muskovies use a coop that has food provided by auto feeder in the evening?
2 are there other good choices besides the Muskies? (leaning to this breed)
3 if feeding takes place away from the house, any reason they'll hang out at our house?

 

[DIGGIN CHICKEN]

get geese ... they eat grass like cows ... so in summer you don't really have to feed them all the time ... i like to give mine treats like cabbage ... in winter when the grass dries up .. i give them extra corn and of course cabbage .... plus ...they don't back away from a fight easily..they'll let you know when they pissed off ...but just as pretty to watch!

 

[Sosalty]

I came across a yard with geese Sat. Kids would run in and out of the house and amongst the geese, which didn't seem to mind. So, I'm doing lots of reading on geese and will consider them also. There's lots of questions I have about what it's like to care for geese or ducks. Looks like I'll be learning on my own. Really appreciate Dig Chicken chipping in. So long 'backyard chickens.'