Will a wild mallard hurt my babies?

[duckmom20]

We became proud and dutiful parents to 5 ducklings on March 25 (purchased from Tractor Supply) - one only lived a few days. We live on a 7 acre pond so we have hopes that they can have free access to the pond...one day. For now we have built them a lovely duck condo, as my hubby calls it, and have them in a fenced area where they are in the woods but can play in a yard area with a bit of pond access too, all within the fence. A few years ago the pond was visited by a mallard pair who never left. The neighbors feed them and the male is very fat. A few months ago his girlfriend disappeared but he is too fat now to fly away. We usually see him swimming around but he never comes to our house. At least, he didn't until we moved the ducklings from our garage/front yard to the new pen during the day. Now he stays on our shore line and swims around outside their fence.

I do not know what breeds of ducklings I have for sure, nor the gender, but so far we are guessing two cayugas (one is getting a green head, so I am guessing one male and one female), a rouen (whose feathers have come in brown mostly all over) and a gray mystery breed. I have become far too attached to my babies to let some wild mallard come in and hurt them. But I wonder if he just wants companionship? Should I expect him to be planning evil deeds or will he be nice to them?

 

[Bean15]

Male ducks aren't very nice when it comes to living with new ducks, especially babies. My males will attempt to reach through our fence and try to get at the new ducklings. He most likely isn't looking for any kind of friendship with your babies. Roosters will do the same, and try to hurt chicks. (My roo will walk along the fence when the chicks are free-ranging outside, and crow at them) Because he is a wild male, keep them away from him just to be safe.

 

[duckmom20]

That is what I was afraid of. Most of their area is safe from him (since he can't fly anyway), but if he gets on our dock, he could jump in their pen and he would not be able to get himself out without our intervention. We will have to do something in that area.

What about Canada Geese? As much as we have tried to make our lake unfriendly to them, they show up every day. They could fly right in to the pen. We basically have someone in the house checking on the ducks every hour or so and giving the geese something to be afraid of, but...

We do bring the babies in each evening to the garage. It is still getting into the 40s or 50s at night and I don't feel they are ready for those temps quite yet, from what I read.

 

[duckmom20]

That is what I was afraid of. Most of their area is safe from him (since he can't fly anyway), but if he gets on our dock, he could jump in their pen and they would not be able to get himself out without our intervention. We will have to do something in that area.

What about Canada Geese? As much as we have tried to make our lake unfriendly to them, they show up every day. They could fly right in to the pen. We basically have someone in the house checking on the ducks every hour or so and giving the geese something to be afraid of, but...

We do bring the babies in each evening to the garage. It is still getting into the 40s or 50s at night and I don't feel they are ready for those temps quite yet, from what I read.

 

[Bean15]

I have an issue with hawks in my area, and even a few bald eagles. Since I raise smaller breeds of ducks and chickens, they can be carried off by a hungry bird of prey.
To prevent attacks by hawks or any other animals like stray cats and coyotes, I have a pen made with a wooden frame that I covered in chicken wire, pulled TIGHTLY so it is a strong barrier, and heavy duty netting stapled to the top of the pen (it's about 10 feet tall) to keep birds out. An enclosure like this can assure that you won't have to worry about your ducklings during the day.
From your pictures it looks like the pen extends out into the water, and the fence is only a few feet tall. You'll need some kind of roof or netting if you want to keep those geese and mallards from flying in.
How old are they? they look old enough to be outside all night in those temps. you can always put up a heat lamp in the coop to make sure they don't get too cold. I usually provide plenty of straw and they're fine. Ducks are quite the hardy animals.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Male ducks aren't very nice when it comes to living with new ducks, especially babies. My males will attempt to reach through our fence and try to get at the new ducklings. He most likely isn't looking for any kind of friendship with your babies. Roosters will do the same, and try to hurt chicks. (My roo will walk along the fence when the chicks are free-ranging outside, and crow at them) Because he is a wild male, keep them away from him just to be safe.

x2, except roosters, in my experience, roosters leave chicks alone.

 

[Bean15]

x2, except roosters, in my experience, roosters leave chicks alone.

lucky