Waveney
member
Reged: 05/04/2007
Posts: 1247
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Wild ducks (a male and a female) keep appearing on my pond and it seems obvious that they are looking for a new home.
They are very scared of us and the cat. Luckily the cat is terrified of them as well as they are bigger than her!
Can anyone give any advice as to what we should feed them or what to do? I don't want to disturb them unduly but I also don't want them disturbing or eating my fish. The koi carp would probably put up quite a fight but still! I have left them some small piles of wild bird food but am not sure if they have eaten it.
As they are a pair I wonder if they are lost or have been driven off from somewhere else and are looking to breed.
Any help from anyone who knows anything about ducks gladly accepted!
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anne1005
member
Reged: 09/01/2008
Posts: 855
Loc: manchester
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We have wild ducks on our pond. They have eaten all the frogspawn and as many baby frogs and newts as they could get their beaks on! We feed them stale bread and they are soo cheeky they come knocking on the french doors with their beaks. OH says we should really feed them corn so am looking at our local animal foods store to see when I go on tuesday.
anne xx
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Waveney
member
Reged: 05/04/2007
Posts: 1247
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Thank you Anne, OH was sure I wouldn't get a single reply!
The frogs gave up the ghost a long time ago but I'm quite fond of the newts although they are in another little pond mostly.
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Jenniferpl
member
Reged: 15/04/2008
Posts: 293
Loc: Abbeywood, South East London
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Hi Waveney
How lucky you are to have wild ducks, 3 have moved into the fountains at trafalgar square, but I don't think that they will do nearly so well as the ones on your pond. Dont feed them too much bread it fills them up but doesnt give them the nutrients they need, much like us really! You will probably find that they will compete with the Koi for their pelletts. If you are serious about feeding them you can get of duck food from amazon for £5.00
1.5kghttp://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=duck+food&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=689538369&ref=pd_sl_2yga5vlpum_e
and here is some general information about ducks
http://www.callducks.net/feeding_ducklings.htm
of course you know that they are looking for a place to raise their family, so hopefully you will be an aunty to ducklings soon! There is information about feeding ducklings on the site too, oh yes they will make a hell of a mess of your garden!
Good luck with them
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 Jennifer
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Peeps
member
Reged: 10/02/2008
Posts: 46
Loc: Dorset England
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If you are happy for them to stay, put netting over your fish pond and dig them a small, shallow one in a corner of the garden if you have room. And they do love fresh water in it now and again, even ducks like to 'have a bath' and keep clean!!
I have 2 pet ducks and a couple of bantams and buy 'mixed corn' which suits them all. Most pet shops sell this in small bags starting about 2 pounds. One tip, any food you put out for them, put as close to the house as they are happy to come. If it's in a quiet part of the garden, everything else will eat it - crows, mice etc.!!
Good luck and enjoy them!!
Peeps x
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Chicketarian
member
Reged: 13/06/2007
Posts: 124
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We have a natural pond in our front garden which for the past year has been home to a pair of moorhens - last year they had two broods, though the first lot disappeared mysteriously. We live down a quiet lane so fairly sure that they were not run over, but the second brood followed soon after so we persuaded ourselves that they had simply left home. The parents left for a short while during the winter but have been back now for a few months and are quite happy to wander round our back garden picking up the birdseed that falls out of the feeders - other than that we do not feed them. In the last few weeks there has been a pair of ducks who turn up randomly and are 'squatting' in the nests that the moorhens build - they generally have 2 or 3, guessing that they make some decoys as well as the actual incubating nest. Anyway, my main worry is that the ducks will scare away the moorhens, but so far they seem to ignore each other, again we are not putting out any food. We have several large koi and who knows how many crested newts and a healthy population of frogs as well so it's quite a little eco system going on out there. We rarely feed the fish but so far everyone seems to be OK and we've decided to leave them alone as much as possible. We had a pheasant hen that used to come into the kitchen looking for food and I don't think I could cope with a brood of ducklings!
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