advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Cook for 50 minutes on gas mark 6
Mix in red wine from California
Add garnish and serve

😉

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say that WOW, you're so lucky. Enjoy watching them.

Love
Rosi x

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

That is so lovely! You must have a nice pond. Sorry, I don't know much about Duck nutrition.

Donna.xx.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

I would go to the feed store and get duck food (or ask for what they would recommend)for them. If that isn't possible, go online and see what you can find on what they eat. probably ground corn and the like. We raised a few batches from eggs and kept them on lakes we were living on before.

My dad put out a "fence" in the water to keep the babies in. We would feed them twice a day. They do love bread too. They were so cute, they would follow us around going "peep peep peep".

And no Caveman you brute -- we didn't eat them.

They formed a returning flock that came back year after year. It was fabulous.

The danger here of course is domesticating them and people (I'll not mention any suspects...) then taking advantage of that and capturing them.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Caveman......you are so cruel!!!

Those poor little ducks!

I love ducks......if i had a garden and a pond i would definately keep a few ducks!

Kate
xxxx:D

(Take some pics if you can for us conspiritualist.......)

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

I have actually heard that bread is bad for ducks and other birds due to the gluten. Not sure if it's true, it's just what I heard...

RE: Quack Quack

My mom and dad have a pond and they used to have ducks. We started feeding them and eventually they began waddling to the back door and tapping their beaks on the door! In the summer they would actually waltz in if the back door was open and poo on the floor if we didn't feed them!

Then we got a couple of doberman pups. For a while they were actually scared of the ducks! Then it got to a point when the dogs grew up and thought 'Hey, wait a minute...we're bigger than them now, and they look quite tasty!" 😀

Hence they flew away, thankfully before feathers were shed.

But I have changed my mind from my original post. I would say gas mark 5 😀

RE: Quack Quack

I disagree with the red wine - I'd use Madeira. And I'd gas6 for a while and then put them on a low heat.

Seriously though - didn't they mess up your garden last year?

They are terribly pretty and cute. And ducks have more personality than chickens.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Sorry I havn't got any advice either....but I'd love to see a piccy [sm=1syellow1.gif]please

xxx

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

ORIGINAL: reikidonna

I have actually heard that bread is bad for ducks and other birds due to the gluten. Not sure if it's true, it's just what I heard...

I think you may be right. Certainly bread and milk is said to be bad for hedgehogs, although often given to them.

Roger, if you put "duck food" into Google UK you'll find a list of online suppliers of duck food, especially in the sponsored links.

Caveman will also find a number of recipes 😉

Laura.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

I've just remembered something! My friend in Florida used to feed the ducks every single day (the back of her house backed onto a river), they were so used to it they would come to her back door every day. She would boil a big pot of white rice, they seemed to love it.

Love
Rosi x

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Thanks guys,

the cooking thing was well funny (but I won't show it to my wife) since we've moved here I've had to give up lamb and mutton and because of it, I'm notallowed to eat goat either... & I have to tell you home made goat curry is the nuts. Yum Yum!
And becuase it's a little village I can't even hope to be invited to a West Inidian or Indian shin-dig (like I used to be all the time) to taste goat again- we aint in London no more.

We moved into this village in March many years ago (when we abandonned the sprawling council estate my kids grew up on) and we have to drivepast fieldsto the house... they were full of lambs playing and prancing about.... no lamb in my house ever since 🙁

Now 'she that must be obeyed' don't eat duck either, I have to sneak off with pals for a bit of crispy duck and pancakes...& come home looking like I've had an illicit meeting in aHotel with a 'mucky lady':)

Re: Pictures, I'll take some tomorrow in the sun when they are out but I dont know how to post em on here?

Sharon, it wasn't the ducks that messed up my garden or pond.... it was a massive heron that attacked all my Koi (that I had reared since babies for over 8 years) but they were so big that all the heron managed to do was mortaly wound them but couldn't eat them all, my garden was scattered with dead koi covered in blood... I had 14 beautiful Ghost Koi... now I have 4 left that guard carefully.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Re: Pictures, I'll take some tomorrow in the sun when they are out but I dont know how to post em on here?

I don't know how to do that either, but I believe you have to have a picture hosting site - like Photobucket or Image Shack. If you do a search here, I'm sure you'll find some "how to" posts. Probably in General Discussions. Any difficulty, PM me.

Laura.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Re: Pictures, I'll take some tomorrow in the sun when they are out but I dont know how to post em on here?

ooo fab[sm=1syellow1.gif]...I'll post them on for you if you want, you'll just have to email me the photos
Love
Amy
xx

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Oh, that must have been awful Roger. We've got a pond - with a couple of koi, but mostly the less expensive fish. And occasionally we get herons. Our pond has fairly good green cover, so recently we haven't been troubled by them.
But yesterday, I had a client sitting in a chair in my studio with her back to the window. We were doing a tapping/emotance session and she was in a trance-like state, and I was doing the monotonous voice thing -and I looked up and saw a heron standing on the roof of my neighbour's garage, eyeing up our pond. I can't tell you how much tension was going through my body, as I tried to bring that particular part of the session to a close, and then open the window, lean out, wave my arms and yell something choice at the bird. She laughed, particularly as part of her treatment had been for anger management - and for swearing!
Normally the herons get dive-bombed by the magpies and crows, but for some reason there seem to be fewer of those birds this year, and more songbirds. Which is nice.
Incidentally a duck and two drakes tried to settle on our pond last year - I thought that was immoral and chased them off.

Sharon.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Oh my, sorry to hear that! We have herons who eat our koi and goldfish as well. What I did was to take a fairly large clay flower pot and break it in two. I turned each piece into a "cave" for the fish to hide in (placed on their sides) when threatened and it has saved the remaining ones. I also placed more plant matter in the pond to offer more cover.

Our chickens were very messy, I'd imagine ducks would be too. But if I lived in a rural setting, I'd have them for sure. Can't wait to see the pics!

I'd not heard about bread and all that being bad -- they didn't die or act sickly all those years of eating it. But it was not the staple, the duck food was.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

ORIGINAL: spinal music
I can't tell you how much tension was going through my body, as I tried to bring that particular part of the session to a close, and then open the window, lean out, wave my arms and yell something choice at the bird. She laughed, particularly as part of her treatment had been for anger management - and for swearing!

[sm=rollaugh.gif][sm=rollaugh.gif]

ORIGINAL: spinal music
Incidentally a duck and two drakes tried to settle on our pond last year - I thought that was immoral and chased them off.

[sm=rollaugh.gif]Yeah right!!... Sounds more like 'lady garden envy' to me madam [sm=scratchchin.gif]

ORIGINAL: American Woman
Oh my, sorry to hear that! We have herons who eat our koi and goldfish as well. What I did was to take a fairly large clay flower pot and break it in two. I turned each piece into a "cave" for the fish to hide in (placed on their sides) when threatened and it has saved the remaining ones. I also placed more plant matter in the pond to offer more cover.

Thanks AM, luckly 'she that must be obeyed' discovered if you surround the edge of the pond with with pots and stuff- a heron cant figure out if he can step over into the water properly or not and so doesn't risk it... but I do spot him on my roof sometimes... I told him, if he'd killed a Koi to eat it or two ... I'd understand, but just murdering them and leaving them gasping and bleeding.. I aint gonna forgive him for... strange, it seems he understands!:)
PS. I wondered, I know you are American, but is your name also a nod towards 'Lenny Kravitz' too?

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

:Dactuallyit is the result of very little imagination... I couldn't think of a name for myself and resigned myself to American Woman(I'm sure someothers who-shall-remain-nameless could think up one or two LMAO). 😉

There has to be something better... 😮

PS
are pictures of the ducks forthcoming?

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Heres the little stars themselves;)

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

& more

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

so kute...thanks Roger[sm=1kis.gif]
Love
Amy
xx

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Roger

'lady garden envy'

.[sm=jump1.gif][sm=jump1.gif] Is there another word for that?..........

They are really cute, and your garden looks bloomin' marvellous.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

🙂Yeah funny aint I for an old boy?

Anyway, I have to admit that 'bloom & garden' is the work of 'The Good Lady'... I'm such a lazy git and tut and moan if she even just wants a rock moved...But the weeping blossom tree is all mine as is the pond and both tended by me though... Yeah I know still a bad man eh [:-]

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

OHHHHHHHH! How darling!

Ms. R. Consipitualist, or should Iaddress you as G. Lady?--Your garden is absolutely beautiful. Those pictures were very nicely done -- Roger, your tree is lovely. The pond, the sweet ducks, and setting;all elements together make for your own little paradise. Very nicely done all around.

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Thank's AW, I shall let'She Who must Be Obeyed' that you complimented the Lady's Garden 🙂
It is lovely just there, I often meditate near it, the shrubs around it are hung with differing chimes and bells the sound they make from small breezestogether with the sound of stepped waterfall into pondand the larger amount of songbirds weve had this year is perfect to sit in and watch the little birds wash themsleves on the steps of the waterfall, the smells of the different plants and flowers, watchingthe fish, the frogs, the occasional dragonfly, the toads...the butterflies... the bees...I have newts too... I could go on....sorry, yes at times it is my own little bit of paradise; it really is.
[sm=sandrine.gif]

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

<hugs> I'm so glad for you 🙂

RE: advice please mallard mum & 13 chicks in my pond

Welcome to the world of ducks we have a pond with ducks and have been a sanctury for the local rescue center to bring abandond chicks for about 4 years now. One female mallard we rescued3 years ago has breed in our pond for the last two years she has just hatched 12 chicks deep joy and hours of such delight and fun.

To feed it is best not to feed bread or not too much they love snails and slugs but not if slug pellets have been used. We feed our ducks on a mix of layer pellets (chicken food) and mixed corn. Hope this helps