Ours use the community lake at the bottom of the property. I asked the Lake Association for permission in advance, and the none of the neighbors ever complain. Who doesn't love ducks, anyway? But it is important to ask the ownership (whether that's an association or whatever), because the ducks will go where they please. Mine forage in the neighbors's yards, and the neighbors's chickens forage in mine. It's all good.
Mine do come home at night *most* of the time. The trick, I've learned, is to feed them only in their pen and only in the late afternoon. They learn quickly to assemble in the backyard and wait for me to open up their pen and feed them. They will sometimes choose to skip a meal and spend the night on the lake. I have never lost one to a predator while they were sleeping on the pond. Generally, mine like to stay down there when it's snowy and/or icy. I think the water feels better than hard, cold ground. They'll also sometimes sleep down there in summer, presumably because the forage is so good they don't mind missing a meal once in a while. But they never do it two nights in a row--those layer pellets are too good to miss very often.
Good luck however you decide!
Mine do come home at night *most* of the time. The trick, I've learned, is to feed them only in their pen and only in the late afternoon. They learn quickly to assemble in the backyard and wait for me to open up their pen and feed them. They will sometimes choose to skip a meal and spend the night on the lake. I have never lost one to a predator while they were sleeping on the pond. Generally, mine like to stay down there when it's snowy and/or icy. I think the water feels better than hard, cold ground. They'll also sometimes sleep down there in summer, presumably because the forage is so good they don't mind missing a meal once in a while. But they never do it two nights in a row--those layer pellets are too good to miss very often.
Good luck however you decide!
