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blossom

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 100
Location: Pays de La Loire, France

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 11:00 am Post subject: Duck questions
I'd like to get some ducks, maybe Indian Runners, as slug eaters but I have some questions... Will they eat our toadspawn/frogspawn? Will they eat all the veg greens? Will they eat water lillies?

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 12:05 pm Post subject:
yes no no. but they will crap in your lilly pond and turn the water green:thumbup:

blossom

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 100
Location: Pays de La Loire, France

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 12:26 pm Post subject:
Oh dear, I like our toads. Their singing in the spring is one of my great pleasures in life. Might have to not have ducks then

T.G

Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 12:30 pm Post subject:
Have ducks but don't let hem have access to the pond, make them their own?

Midland Spinner

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 2931
Location: Under a green roof

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 1:02 pm Post subject:

We don't keep ducks, but we get wild mallard on the ponds every spring.
We still get frogs - we hear them through the bedroom window on warm evenings - there just aren't many tadpoles. which might be a problem this year as the freeze seems to have killed a lot of frogs to judge by the number of sad bodies we found when the snow melted.
I agree about ducks making a mess of the pond - our pond always looks a bit startled by the time they leave in early summer.

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 2:03 pm Post subject:
and they are really messy................. but good fun to watch.

blossom

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 100
Location: Pays de La Loire, France

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 2:57 pm Post subject:
Are they messier than geese?

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 11 3:16 pm Post subject:
Well, they aint as aggresive..... Ive had two attacks this week from our gander - one of which almost broke my middle finger (left hand). Talk about almost getting necked! The geese 'recycle' the grass in large, but tidier piles of poo, the ducks squirt...... At least you can see (and avoid) the goose poo.

Acorns

Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Posts: 30
Location: Nottinghamshire

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 11 8:26 pm Post subject:
We have 9 Indian Runners and they like to dig holes all over our paddock, they also refuse to go in at night. We also have a goose who does'nt dig holes and goes to bed with no fuss at night.

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 11 1:16 am Post subject:
Ive got a friend who also says the same thing about her ducks not going in at night... Our duck house has a big back door that opens against the fence - thus creating a U shaped area....we just open this door at dusk and the ducks have gotten trained to just shuffle in...

blossom

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 100
Location: Pays de La Loire, France

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 11 8:33 am Post subject:

We don't have a gander for precisely that reason. Our 6 girls are really tame and will eat out of my hand. They are good as gold at going in their house at night so it seems that ducks are altogether different!

Do ducks eat frogs and toads or just the spawn? What about newts?

If I got just two ducks on 2.5 acres would we still have lots of mess (though I guess it breaks down pretty quick?).

And does anyone have any tips for getting them into their house at night? We are very rural here and Mr Fox is ever present

earthsoul

Joined: 10 Feb 2011
Posts: 320
Location: Ceredigion West Wales

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 11 8:46 am Post subject:
I find my ducks much much less trouble than my geese, I also get many many more eggs from my ducks (even considering the numbers). And having watched my ducks dismantle and eat a frog the other day I would say yes they do eat frogs......

T.G

Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 11 11:02 am Post subject:

ducks will eat what they can, some will eat frogs others won't, we had one duck that found a nest of baby mice and ate them.

We have muscovies and KC but had IR's in the past as well as a few others, all ours ducks geese and FR hens come in at night by themselves. One of he cockerels tends to go up in the trees overnight just because he can, and if we are late putting the geese away they are found loitering by their pen door.

In the summer they will come out of the 6 acres they are roaming and wander down the yard to there pen, at the same time they would in the winter in the dark. Soon as the ducks see the geese going in they come in.

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