The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: wolfie on February 01, 2009, 06:23:54 pm
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We have a smallholding in West Wales, which we moved to end March 2008. We inherited 6 geese who had never lived indoors and slept in front of the house (lots of goose poo - not ideal) and at their nesting time attempted to make nests on the raised flower beds in front of the house, destroying everything in the process. We have a large pond, and since acquiring a selection of ducks (rescue, auction, gifts) and three more geese all have taken up residence on the pond or by the pond. My husband made a beautiful duck house (modelled on a Forsham design) which is beside the pond and which all refuse to even enter. Our question is that, given we have at least three drakes (Silver Appleyard, Aylesbury and ?muscovy) we would like some accessible eggs that we can try and hatch in an incubator or put under a bantam, or even better, we would like to encourage the ducks to lay/nest in a safe place where they may be able to brood their own eggs. What kind of nest boxes or nest arrangements should we try and make and where should they go? On the water (like floating platforms) by the water or on a safe bit of bank? Also any ideas about encouraging the geese to lay somewhere where they don't destroy flowerbeds and we can find the eggs (last year the dogs occasionally brought an intact one home from a field but it was very hit and miss). All ideas gratefully received!
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At my previous home I had a big barn with a run about 60 sq metres, with 6ft fencing. The ducks and chickens could come and go as they pleased and the ducks just laid eggs where and when, whereas the chickens went into the nest boxes to lay. Down here I have a small shed and run for the 3 ducks and a drake and they are let out into the garden regularly, the 9 chickens and cockerel have a taller (Focus garden type)shed with perches and a nest box. Hens lay in nest box, ducks on floor of shed (yuk) but if let out before 10 am I get no eggs from them, they are probably laying in the garden and we have loads of magpies who will steal them. When I moved down here I put all my birds inside their sheds and kept them inside for 4 days(with food and water ::) :D ), then kept them in their runs for another two weeks. I have a stream running through the garden so the ducks could swim away anywhere, anytime. But they know where their home, shelter and food is now so tend to go back in their run at teatime - dusk, or when I entice them in with the food cup.
So I suggest keeping geese inside their shed for a few days, feed them inside for a few days more and don't let them out till gone 10 each morning.
I'd be interested if that works for geese as well as ducks ;D
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Our ducks have to go in a hen house over night, as they don't have access to a pond and we have lots of foxes in the area. As they lay in the house ( 9 o'clock here lol) , sometimes in the nesting box, one broody duck actually produced some ducklings in there late last summer. It was not an ideal situation and I am hoping to have a new "birthing and nursery area" ready later in the spring. I hope to tempt them with either a marked cooked egg or a replica egg to sit and lay where I want them to. I did not encourage them last year to nest in the garden (they tried! The Blue Swedish being the most stubborn and I hunted her eggs down every day in a different place, never found them all), as they have to go inside. My plan is, should one get broody, I'll move the whole nest and try to lock the duck in with it, too...You probably know that most ducks are lousy mothers, they just didn't seem to care about their offspring. It was quite traumatic to loose 4 out of 5 ducklings to bad weather and the sparrowhawk in a matter of days, but I will try again, better prepared this time! I wish I had known about this forum last year, it would have saved us some trouble!
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You probably know that most ducks are lousy mothers, they just didn't seem to care about their offspring.
I leave my duck eggs under broody hens, the only problem being that if the duckling goes near another duck or the pond Mum goes bananas (not a problem if you don't have a pond or stream) It is funny to see the mother hen flapping round and creating the most unholy racket ;D ;D ;D The only time I lost a duckling was in a dreadful rainstorm where the others all had gone inside except mum and duckling who had been swimming in a basin at the time - when I went out to check them when it had stopped, not even thinking about any of the water containers filling up to such a level, I found him drowned and mum hen sitting beside the basin, dripping wet but still alive . It was a sorry sight. I'd never seen sheet rain like that nor since. I don't even know how he managed to get into the basin yet.
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My ducks have taken to the pond, nesting on the Island at nights. Its proving incredibly difficult to get them into the duck house at night, they sort of sit on the water just out of reach, laughing at my puny efforts to encourage them in. Any one any ideas on how to solve this? I miss the duck eggs.
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Have you tried putting down marked boiled or replica eggs or enticing them with food? They probably drop a lot of eggs in the pond or can you see them on the island? Do the ducks go into their house during the day? At least they are probably safe from predators on their island...It took an awful lot of training to get them into their house at nightfall even without a pond - to stay there is just their natural instinct. Tricky...
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Muscovy ducks are generally very good sitters and mothers. ;)
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Muscovy ducks are generally very good sitters and mothers. ;)
mY experience was overly so!! Too many young drakes hatched - big greedy messy muscovies.
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Funny you say that - we do have quite choice of breeds, but the only surviving duckling from last year is most likely a drake...Muskovies are the only breed we haven't got and ours really are rubbish at mothering. I'll need to lock any broody duck in with her eggs and young as we don't have hens or Muskovies to look after any ducklings and a summer in the open for wee ones was not worth trying... Muscovies are just too big for the overnight accomodation lol.
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I am not a terrible fan of muscovies, I do find them generally messy/ greedy/ bullying.. etc, but in their defence, I do think they are wonderful mothers.
My favourites are calls and runners. Not very original, but my favourites.