Park ponds

[GCrumb]

Nearby city is restoring some long washed out and dried up water-features in a downtown park. One of them is called the duck pond. I expect people will expect to feed ducks there, and that people will dump ducks there.

It'll be a while before this is finished and I want to send the council a proposal suggesting the ducks be managed and provided for in some way.

Vending machines that give healthy waterfowl diet? Signage against duck dumping?

What kind of shelter would semi-feral ducks benefit most from?

Is there a way to get domestic ducks to nest in predictable spots so it's easy for a worker to come along and oil the eggs to control the population?

Are there any rules of thumb about how many ducks a pond can handle before it gets gross?

Any other ideas?

 

[awkwardkale]

I think that’s a great idea! Im new to duck keeping, and just learning about wild waterfowl in general, but I think a proposal with guidelines is fantastic.

That way your town can be educated about ducks and also protect them! I think people definitely shouldn’t be allowed to dump their domestic ducks there, they won’t live very long and I think they can actually transmit diseases to the wild ones (and vise versa probably).

It would be super cool if they could provide healthy duck food, or even just some kind of sign that tells people what are good treats vs. what are bad ones

I’m not sure about the limit to how many ducks can be in a pond without it getting gross. I bet itd depend on the size and how it’s being filtered.

I honestly don’t know a lot about duck nesting habits, my pekins have yet to give me any eggs or babies.
As far as shelter goes, I’ve seen little houses out in the middle of ponds for them! It’s safer than one on land since less predators can get to them that way. Again, I’m not an expert by any means but I’ve heard good things about those
Also! Welcome to BYC I’m fairly new myself

@Miss Lydia do you have any advice? Thought I’d tag you since you know a lot about ducks

 

[GCrumb]

As I understand it, really wild ducks won't swim up for a hand-out, they're shy. Canada geese may act shy in wild areas and tame-ish in town but ducks are not so bright?

So I am guessing most of the feedable park ducks are domestic ducks or hybrids, who need care and should be fed, and coaxing the wild ones close with food and tame domestic ones as 'live decoys' is not a good idea.

Evidently an effective pigeon-control for cities is to put up dovecotes and a pigeon-feeding area in or near places where people like to feed pigeons, discourage/ban feeding in other locations, and go into the dovecote once a week to replace all the eggs with dummies. http://www.picasuk.com/area_wide_control.html

I saw a photo of a 'this pond is for wildlife, do not feed' sign in Utah but these pigeon-control researchers found that pigeon-feeders did not heed bans but were mostly willing to go to designated feeding areas.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

As I understand it, really wild ducks won't swim up for a hand-out, they're shy. Canada geese may act shy in wild areas and tame-ish in town but ducks are not so bright?

So I am guessing most of the feedable park ducks are domestic ducks or hybrids, who need care and should be fed, and coaxing the wild ones close with food and tame domestic ones as 'live decoys' is not a good idea.

Evidently an effective pigeon-control for cities is to put up dovecotes and a pigeon-feeding area in or near places where people like to feed pigeons, discourage/ban feeding in other locations, and go into the dovecote once a week to replace all the eggs with dummies. http://www.picasuk.com/area_wide_control.html

I saw a photo of a 'this pond is for wildlife, do not feed' sign in Utah but these pigeon-control researchers found that pigeon-feeders did not heed bans but were mostly willing to go to designated feeding areas.

We go to the lake every year and I bring healthy snacks to feed the wild ducks
Within a few days those wind ducks will eat from my hand and they are waiting at our boat in the morning for treats
I enjoy bonding with the wild ones while missing my flock back at home for the week
I think the wild ducks would get use to humans being around
Canadian geese on the other hand I stay away from

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think that’s a great idea! Im new to duck keeping, and just learning about wild waterfowl in general, but I think a proposal with guidelines is fantastic.

That way your town can be educated about ducks and also protect them! I think people definitely shouldn’t be allowed to dump their domestic ducks there, they won’t live very long and I think they can actually transmit diseases to the wild ones (and vise versa probably).

It would be super cool if they could provide healthy duck food, or even just some kind of sign that tells people what are good treats vs. what are bad ones

I’m not sure about the limit to how many ducks can be in a pond without it getting gross. I bet itd depend on the size and how it’s being filtered.

I honestly don’t know a lot about duck nesting habits, my pekins have yet to give me any eggs or babies.
As far as shelter goes, I’ve seen little houses out in the middle of ponds for them! It’s safer than one on land since less predators can get to them that way. Again, I’m not an expert by any means but I’ve heard good things about those
Also! Welcome to BYC I’m fairly new myself

@Miss Lydia do you have any advice? Thought I’d tag you since you know a lot about ducks

I think these are all good ideas. I'm just hesitant to say if I'd be in support of it because a couple counties over from us people must dump their ducks there at a local park with a nice pond and When driving by I have seen many Pekins but come fall they are all gone. so either they get picked off by predators or they catch them and do something with them. Last few years I won't even go by there it's too sad.

 

[awkwardkale]

I think these are all good ideas. I'm just hesitant to say if I'd be in support of it because a couple counties over from us people must dump their ducks there at a local park with a nice pond and When driving by I have seen many Pekins but come fall they are all gone. so either they get picked off by predators or they catch them and do something with them. Last few years I won't even go by there it's too sad.

That’s so sad poor babies