Duck advice - nature not cooking!
 

We have a medium sized fish pond and recently had a visiting duck which nested in a nearby flowerbed and we now have eleven 10-day old ducklings which we are happy to have for a few weeks (see other threads) before they fly off into the big wide world.

However we now have another duck turn up and lay 8 eggs in same area. This new duck is not made welcome by the current residents and can be quite aggressive and have a go at the ducklings – she tries to drown them by holding their necks underwater. All about territory I suppose.

So what should we do? Destroy the new eggs or see how it plays out?

Please no replies along the “let nature take its course” line as I really don’t want to start collecting dead ducklings from our pond.

Advice needed. David

Problem solved

http://www.lotsofrice-hayes.co.uk/roast%20duck.jpg

Try having 40 to 50 adult birds hanging around your house!! :eek:

I've given up with them now, I just let em crack on and do what they want! The mating rituals are especially barbaric. I once threw a (little) stone, hoping to discourage two males from what looked like raping a female. The moment the stone left my hand the males moved, the stone hit the female on the head!!! I've not got involved since then :D

Hi David,

Just had my folks round so asked them.

This is a really difficult one, if you touch the eggs and try to move to somewhere further away the mum will abandon. The easiest way is to relocate the new borns (how old are they?) by making a pen with chicken wire and stakes. Give them an old washing up bowl or similar and they will happily play in that. If it isn't possible to move them then you could be in trouble.

If separating them failed and you were only left with the choice of moving/destroying the eggs my folks would put them in a box in the airing cupboard and they would hatch. Only problem is then you would have to hand rear them. Great fun if you have the time but quite hard work.

If you go down this route I could advise on what to do etc.

Otherwise let nature take it's course which can be very cruel to see.

Good luck

Chop

Probably best to let them sort it out themselves. They might even come to a compromise in the end.

Les

Only 11. We've got to care for 16! :thumb:

http://www.speebee.demon.co.uk/ducks.jpg

We've got ducks. Noisy buggers. :mad:

Geese are noisier I think. Fantastic guard creatures.

There is a newly hatched family of 6 Goslings on village pond. Very handsome family with one parent marching/swimming in front and the other parent bringing up the rear in military style. Unlike ducks where mum seems to do all the caring on her own.

The rogue nest in our garden is now devoid of eggs. They just disappeared overnight. Not my doing I assure you. We can only think it was a fox and our dog was scrabbling in the garden at some point near the back fence so I am guessing that is where a fox jumped over. There was also a hell of lot of quacking at about 1 in the morning a couple of nights ago. Can't think what else it could have been as surely rats would have left a mess and scavengers like Rooks don't operate at night?

David

Awwww...........look at the ickle ducklings! Like ickle humbugs! :luvlove:

Those are the female ones!

Les :D

Good advice here. :thumb:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1626,...246197,00.html

That's the best description I have ever read. They do look like humbugs :lol1::lol1:

We have been watching another duck 'asleep' in the flowerbeds for the last fortnight. Yesterday she popped out with 8 ducklings in tow :thumb: They had a dip in the pond and then disappeared, don't know if they're still around or gone to a more des res.

Well at least you tried :D :D

Ahhhhhh ....... Love threads like this

Consider yourself lucky. We have a badger sett about 20 yards from the back door. Hungry badger cubs make a sound that I would expect to hear from a human child being tortured to death. The adults destroy my lawn unless I keep them supplied with over ripe fruit and parsnips that have gone slimy. It would be much easier if they would eat stuff that is still edible for humans, but they aren't interested, so I have to keep a stash of battered apples and slimy parsnips from end of Feb until about July, when they all disappear. The cubs are really cute though, and play like lambs