Pond vs Garden

[Beccatrix]

Hi all!

I'm looking for placement feedback/what would you do? For spring, we ordered pre sexed, all female birds from Metzer: 4 Cayugas, 2 Buff, 2 Blue Swedish, and 2 Pilgrim Geese and 2 Buff.

We have 13.5, mostly wooded acres. 2 are marsh and we have a .5 acre pond that connects to the marsh (with a lot of wild birds). The far bank belongs to neighbors we've never met. The pond is very far from their house (at least 15 acres?) And not visible from mine (maybe 5 acres away?).

Predators (including a TNR'd feral colony of 7 adults), ease of care/observation, and eggs are all considerations. So is labor; I have a chronic pain disorder and my husband pulls a lot of weight.

We could put their house and run behind the house, next to the garden with supervised foraging and duck tractors. Walks to the pond would be an option. Then we'd figure out filtered and heated stock tanks.

Placing their house and run near the pond is an option. They'd have tons of duck weed and tadpoles. We'd feed and lock up at night. I realize this will likely result in more lost birds due to overnights on the water and other obstacles/predators, as well as more eggs in water. In winter we'll provide heated water buckets.

Ultimately, they'll be pets first, as well as layers and garden helpers.

 

[CoriM]

It sounds like you're asking if you should put their house close to yours or close to the pond. My personal preference would be close to my house and then put some sort of small swimming area in for them. You'll need to easily access their house for frequent cleaning, feeding, etc. If they're pets, you'll also want to see them and enjoy interacting with them. I can see my duck coop from my kitchen window and I love checking on them and having them close by so I can easily do the duck work. I have a neighbor with a nice pond that is only about 50 yards from their house. We live in the woods. Every year she purchases about 10-12 ducklings and every year they get picked off. It's a little bit sad, so if you plan to put yours down on your pond, plan for them not to be pets. She originally had hoped she could get hers into a barn at night, but it turned out to be too hard for her to get them in. Also, her ducks lay eggs into the water and they had to get a rowboat to go out and fish them out. So evaluate why you're getting the ducks and make the best choice from there for your situation.

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[Beccatrix]

It sounds like you're asking if you should put their house close to yours or close to the pond. My personal preference would be close to my house and then put some sort of small swimming area in for them. You'll need to easily access their house for frequent cleaning, feeding, etc. If they're pets, you'll also want to see them and enjoy interacting with them. I can see my duck coop from my kitchen window and I love checking on them and having them close by so I can easily do the duck work. I have a neighbor with a nice pond that is only about 50 yards from their house. We live in the woods. Every year she purchases about 10-12 ducklings and every year they get picked off. It's a little bit sad, so if you plan to put yours down on your pond, plan for them not to be pets. She originally had hoped she could get hers into a barn at night, but it turned out to be too hard for her to get them in. Also, her ducks lay eggs into the water and they had to get a rowboat to go out and fish them out. So evaluate why you're getting the ducks and make the best choice from there for your situation.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences!!