Duck Pond Advise

[Cushty mush 95]

I know it's in the wrong section but

I think itl get the most attention here ,

 

Ok I have 2 ponds about 10yrds apart

Roughly 25x 5/7yrds the other is about 15x15(yards)

 

I've seen the odd duck on there and have shot ducks on there in the past

 

I'm just wondering in order to bring wild ducks in would I be best

To clear that green slimy scum off ? And chuck some straw in? As I've been

Told it will prevent it coming back?

Or just leave it?

 

Plus how much to feed and how offton?

Ok cheers cm

[toby63 1,236]

Feed it once a day to start with and id leave the green scum so you can see if owt been swiming through it . Keep your eyes open to see if waterhens are using it and look out for feathers . If you do get duck droping in feed more often for a week or so before you shoot it

[Cushty mush 95]

Cheers mate

On approach I seen a moor hen with 2 chicks

What does that tell me?

[Alimac2 321]

First thing you need to do is a few days with the chainsaw :-)

[Alsone 789]

Barely straw if you put straw in as it breaks down and releases a liquid that kills agae.

 

You will find the extract for sale in pond shops but it's very expensive.

 

If the problem is blanket weed (which it looks like but it's hard to tell from the picture) - blanket weed is like a mat of hair:

 

 

The physically remove as much as you can, and treat the water with this stuff (it won't be cheap on large ponds though) - it's called Cloverleaf Blanket answer and on average keeps weed away for aorund 3 months per treatment.

 

It comes in different sizes as you can see:

 

 

Beyond that, there's not a lot you can do for blanket weed, it's the scourge of most ponds as cannot be permanently killed, only controlled.

[bbs 26]

Ps clean the scum off so the ducks can see it from the air

[bbs 26]

Weak round up dose blanket weed

As for feeding a black 5 galon buldets bucket of wheat will be able to feed approximately 75 ducks get rid of any coots as thay will chase off the other ducks

Old boild mushed potatoes are good for ducks spread around the margins

Posable to pen call ducks up the constant quaking brings the mallard in .

To start with feed a little bit when its all gone in a day feed more

Keep is poasted

[Coypu Hunter 486]

Moorhens nesting on your pond means you're pond's healthy, i.e. the water quality's good. Having them there will also help bring the ducks in, since the ducks will be confident that there's not too much danger if there are moorhens nesting.

 

Moorhens and ducks get on just fine, they don't see each other as threats. We have both on our lake, and they both eat the duck food!

 

Is that algae on the pond, or duckweed, or blanket weed? Can't see from the pic.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Coypu Hunter

[Cushty mush 95]

I don't no much about weed

But I'd say it's more like algae scum on top

No thicker than paper

I've had the permission for 4 years

Allways see 3/4 ducks on there

But it's very low at the minute still about 3 feet deep

I've never seen it like this before tho

 

Il give it a run round with a pool net and may

Chuck a bail of barley straw in it over week end

 

Just learnt this evening that an estate has put

300ducks down harf a mile away & that's the direction

They come from

 

Might be a busy pond lol

Thanks for the advise

Edited September 9, 2014 by Cushty mush

[Alsone 789]

The barley straw will take a long time to act as it has to break down 1st.

 

If it's NOT blanket weed (see pic above), then you could add some barley straw extract from a pond shop to get it started. (There's no reason not to add extract if it is blanket weed. Just be aware that it's not as effective against blanket weed). The Cloverleaf extract is still the best there is in my opinion, against blanket weed since the EU banned the only chemical that worked!

 

However, the extract can be expensive.

 

Also consider if there are other things you can add to remove the algae growth. eg is it stagnent in which case some aerating weeds may help (don't add unitl clear otherwsie they will die! - they add O2 & use some of the nutrients used by the algae), some swan mussels may help.

 

Also, an air pump may help as it introduces both oxygen and movement to the water.

 

You could remove some sludge from the pond floor but not all as you don't want to destroy the eco system.

 

There are also some "sludge busting" extracts you can add that contain bacteria that eat the sludge on the pond floor. (Won't eat it all just help reduce it).

Edited September 9, 2014 by Alsone