Attracting Ducks

[hr3]

I have a small pond and would love to have ducks stay for more than one night and leave,, The pond is about 40 by 80 and 20' deep with one side having a sloped entrance to the water the rest of the sides are shear walls. On the shallow end there are some catninetails growning,,

What more do they want ???

 

[Army grunt]

Its all about the depth of the water, A pond for ducks is very shallow because the stuff they feed of of grows on the bottom they need to be able to eat it.
Army grunt

 

[20 20]

I have to side with Army grunt on this, your water hole may be to deep for there breeding and living needs????

 

[nybirdman]

Puddle ducks,mallards,blacks,woodduck ect. feed in water six to twelve inches deep,what they are doing now is using your pond for a resting area and moving on to feed.If you want them to stay you must provide feed and shallow water....maybe extend your shallow end and plant wild rice.If you provide this you might want to put up some wood-duck nesting boxes.

 

[Egon]

Cracked corn just may extend their stay. Of course you must also consider that some may be transient migrating ducks who will stock up and then vanish on a favorable wind.

 

[charlz]

My pond is similar to yours, a little wider and maybe not as much shear wall. This suites my domestic ducks just fine. I do feed my ducks cracked corn. Wild ducks come in and out and will hang out for weeks at a time as long as the corn bowl is providing an easy meal :laughing:

 

[dave1949]

Maybe get a couple domestic ducks for 'decoys' and put out some feed. I think ducks are less wary of landing when they see other ducks.

I think it's common for mallards to inter-breed with smaller domestic ducks. They can be very tame if they feel at home.
Dave.

 

[quackaddict]

Your pond sounds like a good set up for diving ducks, but not puddle ducks. Like has been said, puddlers feed in less than a foot of water(normally). However, you can feed them cobbed corn. It floats in water that's too deep for shelled corn.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

I have a small pond and would love to have ducks stay for more than one night and leave,, The pond is about 40 by 80 and 20' deep with one side having a sloped entrance to the water the rest of the sides are shear walls. On the shallow end there are some catninetails growning,,

What more do they want ???

I've put in a couple of wood duck houses...also scatter some cracked corn around when I feed the fish...lastly, 3-4 broken bales of barley straw for cover and nesting...the barley straw will also help to keep your pond clear ( I usually sink one in the deep end).

 

[studor]

You might also try a "hen house" nesting platform. If you really want a sure thing get a couple of clipped wing females and put out feed. I have a similar pond in front of the house and thirty acres of marsh behind. The ducks will never stay in the front pond for more than a few hours. If you have any similar distraction near you (like a big shallow body of water) they will not likely hang around in your pond regardless of efforts.