Over population of Muscovy ducks

[Kris5902]

I'd make getting rid of your drakes the highest priority. Following that, you have to decide just how many you actually WANT to keep, and build a fully fenced-in pen with a roof for them that they stay in. And then keep whittling down your flock to the target number. I know they're tough to catch but you just...have to....there is no other way.

I can imagine your neighbors frustration with them in her yard - that really is your responsibility as all these offspring of the original 3 are not wild/feral

Bleach is definitely a terrible way to go about it though. I'd reach out to her and inform her that you do understand her issues and you are taking steps to remedy the problem, she doesnt need to take things into her own hands and kill the birds. If shes not receptive to that you can try informing the authorities - you're not supposed to poison any animals, wildlife or other peoples pets, and youre also not supposed to just dump chemicals into your backyard either.

^^^x2 try to communicate clearly with the neighbor and outline what you’re doing about the situation. Poisoning the puddles with bleach is going to wreak havoc on the environment! Really, really not ok. She is going to kill a lot of other non nuisance animals too.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I wish you the best on rehoming and coming to a solution with your neighbor. I am so thankful I don't have any close. People think nothing of letting their dogs bark 24/7 but boy don't let a duck come into their yard. Been there many years ago with dogs our neighbors at that time had.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I'd make getting rid of your drakes the highest priority. Following that, you have to decide just how many you actually WANT to keep, and build a fully fenced-in pen with a roof for them that they stay in. And then keep whittling down your flock to the target number. I know they're tough to catch but you just...have to....there is no other way.

I can imagine your neighbors frustration with them in her yard - that really is your responsibility as all these offspring of the original 3 are not wild/feral

Bleach is definitely a terrible way to go about it though. I'd reach out to her and inform her that you do understand her issues and you are taking steps to remedy the problem, she doesnt need to take things into her own hands and kill the birds. If shes not receptive to that you can try informing the authorities - you're not supposed to poison any animals, wildlife or other peoples pets, and youre also not supposed to just dump chemicals into your backyard either.

It might be better to catch the female ducks first. With only one drake, many ducks could still lay and hatch eggs, but with few ducks and many drakes, there would be less eggs and thus less of a chance of more ducklings being hatched.

 

[Mira123]

Here is their website
https://www.duckhaven.net/



Also I know some SPCAs take ducks

Thank you. I have sent them a message.

 

[LT71689]

It might be better to catch the female ducks first. With only one drake, many ducks could still lay and hatch eggs, but with few ducks and many drakes, there would be less eggs and thus less of a chance of more ducklings being hatched.

too many drakes and not enough hens could easily lead to serious harm or death to both the gang-mated hens and fighting drakes. This would turn into a literal blood bath.

I'd suggest the OP get rid of ALL their drakes. Or if they really wanted to keep one or two, simply collect the eggs and stop letting new ducklings hatch. Once the ducks are actually penned up properly this shouldnt be an issue.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

too many drakes and not enough hens could easily lead to serious harm or death to both the gang-mated hens and fighting drakes. This would turn into a literal blood bath.

I'd suggest the OP get rid of ALL their drakes. Or if they really wanted to keep one or two, simply collect the eggs and stop letting new ducklings hatch. Once the ducks are actually penned up properly this shouldnt be an issue.

That’s a good point. I was under the impression that the OP wanted to eventually get rid of all the ducks.

 

[LT71689]

That’s a good point. I was under the impression that the OP wanted to eventually get rid of all the Muscovies.

to me it sounds like the OP has ALL muscovies - just way too many of them, and they're continuing to hatch new ones as they're not penned up and the OP cant collect all of their eggs to keep the numbers down. Penning them up so that eggs can be found and taken away would certainly help but I dont think they want to try to keep the whole 100 duck flock (and neither does their neighbor) so getting rid of all the males will both cut down the current number and stop the repopulation. Both getting rid of the males (and additional females) and penning them would be ideal since the neighbor wants to kill them for being on her property

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

to me it sounds like the OP has ALL muscovies - just way too many of them, and they're continuing to hatch new ones as they're not penned up and the OP cant collect all of their eggs to keep the numbers down. Penning them up so that eggs can be found and taken away would certainly help but I dont think they want to try to keep the whole 100 duck flock (and neither does their neighbor) so getting rid of all the males will both cut down the current number and stop the repopulation. Both getting rid of the males (and additional females) and penning them would be ideal since the neighbor wants to kill them for being on her property

Ah, I see. I knew that the OP has all muscovies. I didn’t want to create confusion by saying that they wanted to get rid of all the ducks, since “ducks” can also be used just to refer to females. Though I’ve had ducks before I’m not too knowledgeable about them.

 

[Ratchnick]

If the male to female ratio is roughly 1:1 i would think that if it was going to be a blood bath it already would be.

 

[Mira123]

That’s a good point. I was under the impression that the OP wanted to eventually get rid of all the ducks.

Actually I did rather want to keep a couple. I've ordered a pen that they'll not be able to escape from, but it won't be here till after Christmas. This morning I see the neighbor putting out poisoned corn. Very not nice of her. The whole thing is making me nauseous. At this point I don't think we'll be keeping any. Nor will I make any kind gestures to the neighbor anymore. I won't be mean or vindictive, but I'll be darned if I'll go out of my way for her either.
So, once we catch them one by one, into the pen they'll go if they're not all dead from her foolishness. Then people who do want them for eggs can easily pick out which one they want and take it away.