pond introduction

[mc3742]

My question is, I got 2 ducks in the fall for my pond. Being that it was late fall and getting cold I wanted the ducks to get to know their new home. They moved in with the chickens and have been living happily as a family. The pond is on the other side of the property and my question is will the ducks go back to the chicken area or will they take to the pond. I'd prefer them not to cross the yard. A guy gave me the ducks and that's why I got them to begin with. Thanks for any responses

 

[trainman]

We bought 8 ducklings from Tractor Supply in February 2 years ago. We kept them in the garage for almost 4 weeks when a groundhog came in and got in the cage. I assume looking for the feed. Anyway, we took them outside to a small cage/coop we had. As we were repairing the fence they snuck out and headed for the pond. They have never come back! They also don't use the new duck house we built and only come out for feeding. They live in the pond all year even during violent thunderstorms, snow and ice.

They seem to be too stupid to lay eggs in one spot or to actually nest. So this year we placed duck eggs under a chicken hen that just kept setting all Spring and Summer. She managed to get one egg to hatch and did a great job trying to teach it everything it needed to know. That duck refused to get near the other ducks or get in to the pond for 3 months. We finally managed to get her to stay with the other ducks somewhat by constantly throwing her in the pond with them and separating her from the chickens at night when we fed them all. I assume she figured there was safety in numbers so hanging with the other ducks was better than sitting by the coop gate all night exposed to our many nocturnal varmints. Very persistent duck!

The ducks are free range and no fences for them. They go anywhere they want and during the day when the chickens are out and also free ranging they wander into the chicken pen looking for anything to eat.

Anyway, if your ducks live with the chickens and the pond is on the other side of your yard there's almost a 100% chance they will be crossing your yard to get to the pond and back at night. Ducks are extremely messy and I make sure mine don't go in the chicken coop. Cleaning up from the chickens is enough work and adding a lot of really messy duck poop just isn't an option we need to deal with. They make more than enough mess around the pond with the poop and huge amount of feathers they leave around.

If I had my way they would all be in the freezer but my wife loves them and won't let me. They are fun to watch though.

Hope something here is of help.

trainman

 

[mc3742]

Tonight my wife and I took the plunge and moved the ducks to the pond. Those ducks were absolutely hysterical. They were playing in the water and having a wonderful time. The neighbors came up on their 4-wheeler and I believe the noise frightened the ducks, they got out of the pond and walked a wide path around the yard back to the chicken coop. The neighbor and I went back and caught the ducks again. Again they played but eventually did the exact same thing taking the wide path to the rear of the house, staying out of the reach of the dogs. Maybe these creatures are smarter than I give them credit for. Only time will tell....

Thank you for replying to me, you story was helpful and really made me chuckle.


Nathan