I need to vent about my muscovies. I swear they have a death wish.
All summer, they ignore the pond, and hang around the poultry pens. That is, except for one (Old Mama) When fall arrived, they followed her, and all started hanging around the pond. Soon they were spending the night there. There were 9 of them, 3 boys & 6 girls. The pond is near a wooded area that is an area wildlife follow across a valley that is mostly open fields, which means that the ducks are choosing to sleep in the area closest to any possible predators. You can see where this is going....
Some of them were coming back up to the poultry area most nights, and either sleeping in the pen with the Swedish ducks, or under the chicken trailer. I thought they had gotten the message that, as their friends went missing, that the pond was not a safe place to sleep. Or not. Last night, none were in the pens. This morning, I only saw 3 scovies - Old Mama, one of the white-headed girls, and another that I couldn't identify. They were at the edge of the pond which has only a small pool of open water. If - big IF - they are near the poultry area tonight, I can have one of the dogs herd them into a pen and keep them from free ranging in the future. If they insist on sleeping by the pond, they're probably doomed.
The other night, our neighbor whose fields are on the opposite side of the woods, was out hunting coyotes/foxes with a red light and recorded call. Stupid ducks!
All summer, they ignore the pond, and hang around the poultry pens. That is, except for one (Old Mama) When fall arrived, they followed her, and all started hanging around the pond. Soon they were spending the night there. There were 9 of them, 3 boys & 6 girls. The pond is near a wooded area that is an area wildlife follow across a valley that is mostly open fields, which means that the ducks are choosing to sleep in the area closest to any possible predators. You can see where this is going....
Some of them were coming back up to the poultry area most nights, and either sleeping in the pen with the Swedish ducks, or under the chicken trailer. I thought they had gotten the message that, as their friends went missing, that the pond was not a safe place to sleep. Or not. Last night, none were in the pens. This morning, I only saw 3 scovies - Old Mama, one of the white-headed girls, and another that I couldn't identify. They were at the edge of the pond which has only a small pool of open water. If - big IF - they are near the poultry area tonight, I can have one of the dogs herd them into a pen and keep them from free ranging in the future. If they insist on sleeping by the pond, they're probably doomed.
The other night, our neighbor whose fields are on the opposite side of the woods, was out hunting coyotes/foxes with a red light and recorded call. Stupid ducks!
