Want ducks in my pond

[AlbertC]

I have a 1 1/2 acre pond that is about 70 ft from the corner of my house. I would like to have some mallard ducks or similar type ducks at my pond. I sometimes see these ducks in the pond but as soon as they see humans they fly off.

Was wondering if you can purchase some ducklings would they stay at the pond or would they probably fly off as son as they could. I guess I am asking can these type ducks be somewhat domesticated so that they would stay in my pond?

Thanks

 

[CobyRupert]

Yes you can get ducks as chicks. And if you feed them and they get use to you they'll be domesticated (or semi-domesticated)

We had some duck chicks a few years ago. They were pretty domesticated, my daughter would bring them in the house! Then some friends said "You got ducks? Our city doesn't allow them, can they come live at your place?" Somehow they all bred, and we had a couple batches of chicks hatch and next thing is we had about a dozen or two. Their eggs were just as tasty as chicken eggs.

What a pain in the *ss they were. Not as bad as geese, but pretty close. I couldn't walk across the lawn without them squawking, in a "Oh, don't chase us! We're so scared! Please don't chase us!" kind of way. Meanwhile I'd be: "Shut up! Nobody is chasing you! Not even going near you! Doth protest too much!" Or if driving a vehicle they purposely run out in front of you and squawk "Don't hit us!!" Real A$$holes!!

Then come spring, the brothers would gang rape the sisters, and gang rape their mom. Very noisily too! One can only watch so many noisy incestual duck gang rapes before it gets real old. Eventually they all either disappeared (flew off or something ate them) one by one. I swear I had nothing to do with them disappearing. .... but I know I'm suspected. Hated them.

 

[Thomas]

Are you really sure you want ducks??? they can make mess,wild ducks coming and going far much better.

 

[Maxify55]

Same here!!!
Water fowl are a mess.
Usually territorial and aggressive.
But, Hey, we might be a couple of guys who are crazy and not know what we’re talking about.
Please, you’ll love sharing your place with other animals over which you have absolutely no control and are usually very upset cause you haven’t or won’t feed them.

 

[AlbertC]

Ok - scratch that, you guys have convinced me that I don't want any ducks.

We used to have Canadian geese but I finally convinced them to leave and they did make a mess. I guess I just thought a smaller duck like a mallard wouldn't really be a problem.

 

[bunyip]

I swear they crap 4 times their own body weight a day or it just seems like it.
We had muscovy ducks, less noise but what a mess.

 

[NorTracNY]

Yes, they are messy. We got a few Muscovy ducks. Fairly entertaining, but certainly a lot messier than chickens. We ate a few, but may have made a mistake on who to keep. We kept what appeared to be the alpha male. It is now noted by the place which we order pizza from for the delivery guy to watch out for the guard duck.

 

[bcp]

Was wondering if you can purchase some ducklings would they stay at the pond or would they probably fly off as son as they could. I guess I am asking can these type ducks be somewhat domesticated so that they would stay in my pond?

Thanks

Sounds like most duck problems are when they are not in the pond.

Maybe you could make your pond more attractive to wild ducks, but not try to make them more tame.

How To Attract Wild Ducks to Ponds (Best Methods) - Pond Informer

Bruce

 

[tractorshopper]

I also had ducks. Brooded 6 of them one year after I built my pond. I fed chicken scratch periodically to them after adulthood and my neighbors would give them bread and what not sometimes too and the 5 that made adulthood stayed around. But....

I then had the same issues as CobyRupert. My 5 turned into about 25-30 or more the next year. In March or April I think is when the started all the chasing and it was a crazy amount of breeding taking place. They took over the joint. Pooped everywhere constantly; driveway, patio, porch, parking areas, carport, steps. Began chasing and nesting again the next year and I got rid of all the nests I found (all but one), so add 12 more at that point. They would run not only my acreage, but started running the neighborhood every day.

I think they eventually found the lake about a mile away, because the finally left and never came back. I was very happy when that occurred. If I were to do it over and wanted about 4 of them on my pond, I'd spay/neuter them and that would be manageable. Not worth it to me though.

 

[9973720wb19]

I have a pond. Each winter get Geese - they land in my front lawn, swim in the pond, and stay most of the day - probably between 100-120. And...we like them! They're the type that crap too. But we enjoy hearing them, watching them swim... My wife tells me she knows I'm coming home because the Geese squawk quicker when I'm coming up the drive. We kind of miss them in the summer. The only thing I don't like is when I scrap my mowing decks at the end of the cutting season and it smells like...well you know. They really don't bother us...and we like to think "they like our place".