[HappyHippy]

I have a very large pond (in the region of 30ft x 60ft) and would love to have some ducks and geese on it. There is plenty of room round about it and a lovely flat bit of land at the entrance into the field where I could build a house for them. I like the look of the Appleyard & Khaki campbell ducks and would probably go for geese only (no ganders ) but haven't totally decided on breed for them.
So, my questions are:
Will they share the same land happily ?
Will they share the same house happily ?
If the house I make is 5ft x 8ft with a pitched roof. Side height 2ft and apex height around 5ft how many foul could I house in it ? Roughly ? (I'm thinking it's around 1 square foot per duck floor size, and presume geese would need a bit more  )

Look forward to hearing all your replies (and Bruce is waiting for me to tell him one house or two ) Oh and I should say, it's right next to the pigs field, so hopefully the smell will keep Mr Fox away (but we have the gun licence if it doesn't )
Thanks folks  

[bloomer]

nice pond

does it have fish in?

know bugger all about ducks and geese except they taste good and poo everywhere!!!

[HappyHippy]

Thank you Bloomer 
My dad had it all re-dug about 20 years ago. It was originally the pond that held the water for the waterwheel on the old grain mill (going back around 200 years) but had gradually silted up and become really weedy and reedy (more like a marsh than a pond)
After it was all dug out and looking pretty the old man decided to stock it with around 200 small brown trout (I think he thought it would be a way for him to get fishing EVERY day ) Needless to say the local heron's quickly got wind of it, so I have no idea how many are left  There is a thriving population of minows, sticklebacks and at the moment, about a million frogs  Oh yeah, and a massive chub that someone caught while fishing. They thought was dead then once they were home they realised it was still alive and couldn't bear the thought of chapping it on the head again so put it in a 2ft fishtank and brought it up - it's probably still there as I doubt the heron could lift it, but then again there is an otter comes visiting so he's maybe had it 

[lazybee]

Yes ducks and geese will be okay together, but the gander will 'see off' the ducks especially this time of the year when you feed them or they get too close to his missus. They get a bit 'spicy' when they're full of hormones.

[andrew ford]

we have never had any trouble with ducks and gease in fact we once had a duck that thought it was a goase ands another duck thinks it is a bantam chickin

[HappyHippy]

Having had a particularly vicious gander on the farm when I was young I really have no desire to have another. This one used to go for dogs, the postman's van and most comically, my dad - who 'goose stepped' across the yard very quickly with thigh high waders on one day ! (If you'd ever seen my dad, you'd know he's not a small man and dealt with huge charolais bulls on a regular basis at this point and even he wouldn't take this gander on   )
Spicy drake I could deal with, but gander ? No thanks lol!
I know what you mean Andrew - our feathered friends (god love 'em) aren't the sharpest tools in the box ;)I have a chicken who thinks she's a cat ! Wants to curl up on your knee (or the kids knees) for a cuddle. Probably where the saying 'bird brain' came from 

Does anyone know about space requirements for inside the house ?
I've read (on an American site) that 3 square foot for ducks and 6 square foot for geese is the norm - I definately don't want to pack them in, but this sounds a bit over generous. Any opinions ?
Karen x

[Beewyched]

Hiya Karen 

I'm guessing the floor-space mentioned on that website is for if they are permanantly housed, 1sqft per bird sounds plenty for a duck to sleep in if you've got 4 or more.  We had Khaki Cams back in Wales (yep the OH wants them again) the eggs are 

The pond looks amazing by the way

[HappyHippy]

Thanks 
I don't want to over-stock them and squash them all into a tiny house but it did seem like 13 ducks in a 40 foot square house was perhaps giving them a really generous allowance 
Thanks for the advice 
Take care,
Karen x

[shetlandpaul]

they will make a right mess of your pond. how about a couple of smaller ducks. a few miles away in a place called brae they have a flock of geese that are headed by a really cute duck. they hold up the traffic heading for the health centre.

[princesspiggy]

we had khaki campbells (about , muscovys(2) and embdens(12) in same pond at one point, none of them used theyre houses, although they had one each, (except the broody khakis) the geese spent more time grazing down the field, the muscovy pair went one way and the khakis spend most of the day by the pond. we tried moving the geese to a bigger pond but they kept coming home. i would love to get some more geese (once the toddler can run fast enough!!) lol   good luck

[goosepimple]

Hi, I was just reading up on all your replies and was interested in your pond - we have just drained our pond - its a similar size and is a mill pond for our wheel too - we're digging it deeper in the hope of getting a wee boat on it.  We keep only Muscovies now - they can fly and more importantly they roost - you don't have to lock them in at night - we came here over a year ago but lost all the white campbells / khaki campbells and indian runners we came with - local game keeper said it was to otter (which have seen off all the mink seemingly) and not a fox, so we don't keep anything that can't fly.  The herons come and pick off the baby ducks (mostly the mallards which hang around).  We recently bought some Steinbacker geese (like Greylags) and they are a law unto themselves really but are pretty friendly but are seeing off the Muscovies just now.  Muscovies have been a delight - we have 2 sitting presently - they are friendly and calm and don't seem to mind the geese - we don't shut any of them in at nights and so far there have been no problems - the geese are quite big to tackle - we recently got a border collie too which seems to be spreading her scent around and putting off any predators.  All good so far.....

[HappyHippy]

Thanks for everyone's replies 
Goosepimple - you've probably just saved the lives of countless ducks 
Here was me thinking "Yeah, I'll stick some ducks there. It'll look all pretty and I'll get some eggs" because it's such a thriving wildlife pond and lots of interesting birds and animals visit, including..........................a family of otters 
I love the otters, and the fact that they are in the area BUT I'd never even thought of them as a threat  and I certainly don't fancy feeding them with duck  especially MY ducks 
Looks like it might be geese after all then, I've got the numbers of a couple of experienced keepers from the Scottish Waterfowl Ass. so I think a couple of visits and a bit more research is needed before I go buying anything.
Thanks for the input 

[john2708]

hi i have kept ducks and geese together for years and the live together fine they will destroy all plant life in your pond and for me on my pond/river heron,pike and crows take most of my babies if i dont catch them and put them in the broodie house i have. Aslo ducks are good at braking down the banks of your pond muscoveys are god to keepdont go in the water for too long great mothers and like otheres have said like to perch

[goosepimple]

Hi, yes - otters are known for their clan behaviour when seeking food so don't often go alone which can obviously be a problem - our ducks were quite big and I couldn't believe something smaller than a fox could get them but they went missing one every few nights - our pond and river are big and we just couldn't get them in at night and there was nothing we could do - like you I love otters and they are protected so its all just part of the food chain in the end.  The gamekeeper said you have to think about rivers (presumably you have one if you have a mill pond) as highways for such wildlife and he said we would just have to get used to death - what's alive around here is what's managed to get away really.  Hopefully our dog is putting any in the area off coming - we certainly haven't seen the herons this year since the dog came.  Do recommend Muscovys though - they come in lots of colours and the roosting thing's great - non of that shutting in thing.  While on that subject we have also hens that roost in trees rather than a house - its amazing seeing them all up there - just provide a wee stepping ladder thing up a tree and once they get the hang of it they much prefer it to a house - they're so much safer - they go really high sometimes in all weathers - they teach their chicks to do it too - the chicks sit under their mum's wings - very cute, very safe and non of that shutting in / opening up thing.  Nature finds its own way......good luck. Goosepimple

[shetlandpaul]

a big dog otter is quite a sight. we had one cross into our bottom field yesterday. they do follow streams as this one was heading to a small loch from the sea. if they are at fault not a great deal that you can do. unless you want to net off the area around the pond. if you get a chance watch them they are very intresting. we are luck in that they are out during the day up here. and they will take ducks.