[Womble]

Hi Folks,

I am on the committee for our local community woodland, and as part of this, we had a pond dug last year.


I went for a walk there today, and found a flock of seven ducks had taken up residence (see photo). Their colouring (Welsh Harlequin / Silver Appleyard ish) makes me think there's no way they're wild ducks, and that they've been dumped by somebody. They are also relatively tame.


Since the pond was only dug last year, I don't think there's going to be enough natural food to sustain them during the winter, so I'm wondering if I should try to catch them and adopt them.

Any thoughts folks?

[twizzel]

You could offer some mixed corn every other day during winter? They will soon tell you if they’re hungry.

[Fleecewife]

Is there an island on the pond otherwise they will be food for foxes? Even a floating platform with a shelter, anchored to the bottom would help.  I know foxes can swim but it might put them off.

[Womble]

No, there's no island or similar. It's supposed to be a wildlife pond, and it's only fairly small, and my experience of ducks and wildlife says that having seven ducks in a wee area like that is only going to duck things up in a way we don't want.


I also don't want to feed them, or for others to feed them, since again, that will duck up the ecosystem by increasing the fertility of the water.


I'm currently thinking of trying to catch them. We have room for perhaps three of them here, followed by crispy pancakes for the drakes and re-homing for any other girls?  They're fairly tame in that they'll come within a couple of metres. I'm just not too sure how to actually catch them!

[twizzel]

A big net and lots of patience 

[Womble]

.... and possibly a kayak! 

[Fleecewife]

A trail of grain right into your trailer - easier perhaps to lead than to chase?

[doganjo]

I'd have had them at my old house, but neighbours here wouldn't be keen on continual quacking.  You've plenty of space for all of them - no need to kill excess drakes.

[Womble]

Possibly Annie, but I'm a bit worried they might be mostly drakes, which wouldn't be good.

I counted three definite ducks and one definite drake, but I wasn't sure about the rest. We already have enough passengers here without adopting more though, and I have to be sympathetic to Bill, since he was here first!

[Steph Hen]

If it’s a small pond seven ducks will empty it of life. If it’s purpose was for wildlife then I reckon catch, trap or remove them one way or another. Maybe when you have a go they’ll all just fly away, problem solved!?

[Womble]

OK, so help me here - the big drake looks like well, a big drake. The others are a mix of Welsh Harlequin sized ducks and a couple of smaller ones (I'm not sure if they're young, or a different breed). IME such ducks (well the big ones anyway) can't / won't fly.

Am I right folks?

[harmony]

OK, so help me here - the big drake looks like well, a big drake. The others are a mix of Welsh Harlequin sized ducks and a couple of smaller ones (I'm not sure if they're young, or a different breed). IME such ducks (well the big ones anyway) can't / won't fly.

Am I right folks?

I don't think they'll fly. If you can make a pen (four hurdles with netting) and can get them to go in for food you should be able to catch them. Get them well away from the water though. Yes, they look like Harlequin/Appleyard types.

[RCTman]

Would it be worth advertising to see if someone has had theirs pinched?

[arobwk]

Or reviewing what you have stored in your freezer to see whether stuff might best be defrosted and eaten to free up space for something "fresh"!

[Womble]

No, I don't think they were pinched ducks. Why would you steal a flock of ducks only to then abandon them?  I think it's far more likely that somebody bought them but then either hadn't realised how much work / mess they are, or that they had to move house and couldn't take them with them, so finding them a nice pond to live on probably sounded like a good idea.


Anyway, they're with us now. We were down to just three aged ducks, so we have plenty of room for more. We managed to catch them by putting feed into a wire gabion cage and then pulling a string to close the door when they were all in.

I'll get some better photos later, but here are a couple I took last night. We think there's only one drake and all the rest are ducks. We also believe they're quite young, but what does everybody else think?

P.S. For the record, I think they're gorgeous!