The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Dizzycow on January 13, 2012, 12:30:07 pm
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Help! I'm desperately trying to catch three of my eight Indian Runners to sell to someone who is collecting them tomorrow. They're on a pond, and I've made a corral to feed them into. That works, but I can't get close enough to pen them in, they dash of in a blind panic and back onto the pond. Any suggestions as to how I can catch the bloody things? I've now wasted the entire morning. :-\
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hello vikki a piece of fence wire formed into the shape of a Sheppard's crook so you can catch there leg simples :farmer:
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I'll give it a go, Robert, thanks. Getting close enough to them might be a problem though. I'm exasperated!
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duck for dinner tonight then ;) :farmer:
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Only if I shoot them...!
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Try herding them with a long bamboo cane into an outhouse. Do it very quietly and gently and it may work, good luck. :)
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I will do, however they just keep going back to the bloody pond, and I can't get them out. It's quite a way to the nearest shed. Helllppppp!
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where do they roost? if its off the water, just wait till dark and pick them up when they are asleep ;) its the only way i can catch my muscovies ;D
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Ooooh, really? Won't they wake up and panic and dash off? If not, that sounds like an excellent plan. They roost on the side of the pond. I'll give it a whirl tonight - so far nothing has worked!
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All i can say is mine don't!
gotta be worth a try if you haven't caught them before dark!
let it get dark though, not just after sunset. i catch mine at about half seven this time of year if i have to do something to them ;)
they are slightly thick when sleepy!
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Thankfully mine all behave ::)
but i know my neighbours down the road, use a large fishermans net to catch them, providing you can reach the middle of the pond
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I was going to suggest a net, but you have to quick and accurate ;D
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I used to find it hard to catch mine as well but we do have a shed and a door so I just tricked them into the shed with food then caught them....Ducks are very hard to catch, you need a few people!! No ducks now though as they were far too noisy!! :&>
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I do not envy you,how are you getting on? I sold my runners last year,they were just the worst nightmare to catch-I could not believe how fast the run-hence runner i s'pose ;D
In the end was had two lengths of weldmesh and cornered them,then I had to go over and round them up.Still,this took us ages and even though they are lovely,charming and all the rest of it,I am actually pleased they have gone to a more suitable home!
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The 2 of us use an old thick curtain ( the dog thinks he helps too) to round up our muscovies then dive on one with the curtain to smother it and thus subdue it. They are difficult to catch so we settle for whatever duck is slowest ot the most stupid. I have never caught all of them sleeping and they never go in their duck house at night - besides catching them in the dark and mud with their baths full of water smacks of ITS A KNOCKOUT.
Tell us how you caught them please.
Good luck.
Martin
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I bet I'd have been ace at It's a knockout then ;D :D :D
:&> :&>
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this might be worth the diesel to come over and spectate only thing is i know vikki would rope me in on the roundup ;) :farmer:
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It's a knockout rural style ;D ;D
I'm in ;D ;D :trophy:
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can i play too?
ooh, wot's the prize? ;D
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Its a case of them fooling us and us fooling them!! good luck!
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Long washing line/rope with triangle bits of plastic bag tied to it ( like bunting) need a post or some one on the other side of the pond use that to drive them off.
If that fails throw the kids in !!! ;D
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Did you catch them? :D
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NO! AAARRRGGGHHHH! I'm definitely up for hosting It's A TAS Knockout here, whoever catches a duck gets a bottle of sloe gin! Hee hee!
Blasted things. I'm waiting for the inevitable to happen anyway, as they don't come in at night. We have a pheasant pen near us, the keeper shot 16 foxes in 3 weeks just before Christmas. (Hope that doesn't open up a can of worms, it's a business.) He thinks that we're being used as a release site, as that's an unnatural number of foxes to have in one place, particularly territorial dog foxes. He can't believe that the ducks haven't been killed. If I sell the three which have been requested then I have a better chance of getting the other five into a house at night, eight is too many for my little duck house.
But I'll have to catch the wretched things first. I'm like a Benny Hill sketch, just add music as I chase them round and round the pond, and spring out unexpectedly from behind trees. What a waste of time, too.
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I would defineteley play my Joker with the thick curtain whilst wearing waterproof trousers and elbow pads to cushion any falls.
I have to catch a muscovey today ( cassoulet on the menu) - the sunken bath and little paddling pool are frozen solid so less chance of being splashed but a nasty shock if I fall thru the ice!
I will put a clock on it for you.
Martin
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Robert would love to comment on your dilemma Vikki but you will have to wait till he gets out of the bad baby corner. ;D ;D
Try looking for someone who has a brilliant aim, I clunked my neighbour's bantie with a piece of wood, what a lovely dinner that night :chook:
Our first venture into sheep, it took us 3 weeks to catch the b...ards, but Robert's ingenuity and perseverance paid off.
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good luck, Vikki! I use a large net, but even that's not easy on land...I don't envy you just now :&>
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Sorry - I missed this thread earlier.
Do you ever feed them?
Assuming you do just make sure you feed them somewhere you can catch them. If there is no shed or pen nearby then rig up something, maybe some sheep hurdles or a bit of fruit netting held up with electric fencing poles.
Feed them in there for a couple or three days without hassling them and then close whatever gate you have rigged up and you should get them. Maybe if they are that flighty try fruit netting round and over the pen, then when they are in you can collapse the sides and they will be netted
To drive ducks use an 8 ft bamboo cane with a duster or something tied to the end as a flag. Work slowly so as not to alarm them You can use 2 of these as extra long arms if necessary.
Also buy a large strong fishing net, I have a bad back and I find it useful for catching any birds.
I too can't stand noisy ducks but the two breeds I have now are both nice and quiet Cayuga and Miniature Apricot Crested (http://www.crestedducks.co.uk/)
Both types are reasonable egg layers, and the spare males are good quality. I particularly like the Crested Apricot as they will work round the garden on slug patrol duties and seem to do very little damage.
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Robert would love to comment on your dilemma Vikki but you will have to wait till he gets out of the bad baby corner. ;D ;D
Ha ha! What has he done, Lillian? Naughty Robert?! ;D
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WOuldn't mind some ducks again especialy as we got one of our guest to dig a huge pond out for them!!!!! It used to be funny seeing my husband running up the garden in my pink dressing gown with duck food early in the morning just to shut them up from thie quack quack quack etc....they were very pretty though and I did love thier charactors except the male would try to get his way with the chickens all the time......
We did have a patterdale cross lakeland terrier and he got loose in a park once and the only way I caught him was to lay down on the grass,.....to the amusement of others I am sure!!!! Children seem better at catching them then us adults..
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What happened to yours, Sandy? I must have missed that somehow....nice to see you're posting back on here :bouquet: :&>
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My hubby was getting angry at thier noise and although no neighbour said anything, we felt they may be a bit annoying so they went for a long holiday to a wonderful place, Peel Farm Shop, there the Drake has a lot of ladies to sort out!!! I miss them but not the noise!!!!!
Later in the year I may re consider but we have a few things going on so maybe not!!
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We might be one step closer....... Today they ventured (for food) into my very un-sophisticated holding pen, gleefully nicknamed Soweto by my neighbour. Sniff. Now I just need to stop them from escaping when they see me. I need some of that weed barrier stuff tied around it, or something. But eight panicking runners in a confined space worries me a lot, don't want any broken wings. God, chickens are a dawdle compared to this.
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My runners flap and squawk like mad if I corral them but despit heaping up in a great pile they never hurt themselves or each other :)
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I herd mine using a leg crook and a 4 year old - he's fast ;D
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Vikki,
Robert has been put in the bad baby corner for a couple of days for telling the truth as he sees it. ;D ;D ;D
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Tell Robert he may have his specs confiscated!!
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When we had a duck pond in the middle of the enclosure in Cornwall and the ducks would not get out of it to go to their shelter I used a long piece of old hosepipe as a whip on the water behind them to make them get up the ramp onto the land and then two long canes to direct them into their enclosure and house......................
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Buy yourself a large fishing net (the type on a handle that kids use to go fishing with to catch tiddlers - except much larger). Just swoop it down over the bird (one at a time) and you've got it. You can gently get it out of the net without harming it.
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Ducks are cert not as daft as they make out!!
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Vikki, you not got these ducks caught yet? as Robert says it would be worth it to come over and see you trying to catch them. ;) :wave:
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I must have misread, lill - you must have been writing "and help you trying to catch them" :&> :&> :&> ;D
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I'm thinking that by this time you are going to need several people and a long length of netting to herd them into a corner and then drop the net over them. Each person select the duck they're going to catch and swoop ;D ;D
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No, Lillian DEFINITELY meant watch me trying to catch them! Put that man back into his corner immediately. :P
I might take my camera out with me and record my efforts for you all to ridicule.
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i take it they are still eluding capture :farmer:
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oh vikki, remember they won't run that fast with a broken leg, have you tried a long wire and at the one end make a loop to catch them by the neck, ;) :&> :&>